Is Outpost any good as an Anti-virus ?

[Gemkeepur]

Hi all,

First time poster here and apologies if I'm asking for the impossible answer

I really do like Outpost Firewall. It seems to have the least problems if all you want is a straightforward firewall and yet allows experienced folks to tinker & tune their setups to perfection.

My question concerns Outpost and its virus protection capabilities. Prior to purchasing Outpost I have always used Trend Micro's PC-Cillan and have to say it has dealt with all the virii etc etc thats its come across. In conjunction with that I have always used Blackice Defender but was unhappy with its inability to deal with the leaktest issues.

So now I use Trend Micro Internet Security but they have added a firewall module which IMHO is useless . Yet whenever I attempt to install Outpost it states that I'm on the road to Hell and should refrain from having two firewalls. Even when I disable Trend's firewall module Outpost still finds it and tells me dire stories .

Does anyone know of a workaround for this or should I simply dump Trend Micro or even dare I say it Outpost Firewall.

If someone can convince me that Outpost can stop virus's and trojans etc like dedicated AV software should perform then I'll gladly stay with Outpost. If that cannot be acheived is their any AV software that co-exists happily alongside Outpost.

Maybe someone has experience that AVG runs well with Outpost or possibly there is an Addon that might give Outpost more ooomph in the AV department.

To be honest I am loathe to loose Outpost and Trend Micro appears to be quite inflexible, however in terms of firwall knowledge I am a simple nooby.

All advice and help is greatly appreciated.



Regards

p.s ... love this Forum too.

[MTDay]

AVG and Outpost here - very happy with it. Outpost itself has no antivirus scanning, but has done a sterling job of fielding hostile email attachments - one feature I would NOT be happy to do without, as unlike other methods, it's easy to get the attachment if you DO want it.

I might swap AVG for one of the other free ones, Avast or Antivir PE - I've been hearing good things about Avast.

Clamwin - http://www.clamwin.com is another one that might be worth adding as a secondary scanner - I wouldn't rate it as ready to be your primary antivirus, and there is NO on-access capability.

[optikl]

You can easily uninstall the TrendMicro Firewall, using the tool called PCCTool.exe, which is in the TIS folder. Double-click on the tool and go to the Uninstall Tab (E). There you will find an option to uninstall the firewall. Do that and then retry installing Outpost. It will work. I've done that.

TrendMicro makes a decent AV utility and you can use it without running the firewall, contrary to what you may find in the "Read This' file that comes with the product.

[Gemkeepur]

Many thanks all,

I had recently found the PCCTool utility when I had to purge the cache when the manual update failed to work and I did notice the Firewall removal tab.
As optikl states it removes the Firewall module easily, (once my Lavasoft Adwatch was disabled) and now I'm a very pleased user of Outpost along with TrendMicro.

Its good to know that if I do not renew my subs to TrendMicro next year then AVG works alongside Outpost as well.

Thanks again

[optikl]

Many thanks all,

Its good to know that if I do not renew my subs to TrendMicro next year then AVG works alongside Outpost as well.

You might want to look at other alternatives to AVG. It's not in the same league as an AV that Outpost is as a PFW.

I can think of better choices.

[GravityFX]

Try using NOD32 AntiVirus www.nod32.com

[chrisclu]

come on optikl no proselytizing
I use the paid version of AVG and couldn't be happier. I used the free version for about a year and wanted to support them. Their tech support is great. I also love the small footprint and speed of AVG.
Chris

[GravityFX]

The NOD32 is the best true I've used the AVG, and others. But there is nothing compare to NOD32 by speed and protection. Also it supports multiple os, like for exp linux

[optikl]

come on optikl no proselytizing
I use the paid version of AVG and couldn't be happier. I used the free version for about a year and wanted to support them. Their tech support is great. I also love the small footprint and speed of AVG.
Chris

I think if I were proseltytizing, I would have made a strong recommendation for my personal choice of AV, like you just did .

Seriously; I notice you run BOClean, which is an excellent safeguard (and product) against the kinds of malware AVG has no chance of detecting.

[DonKid]

Hi Folks,

I agree with Gravity, Nod rules in speed, detection and resources too...unbeatable.

Best Regards,

DonKid.

[MTDay]

Everyone has tales of antivirus success/failure...
Brand X found one that brand Y missed, false alarms (I had one from Antivir).

While you should only use one resident scanner for on-access protection, it's good practice to use as many on-demand scanners as you have available.

Lets say you have 3 - if 2 or all 3 call it a virus, then you can be pretty certain it is.

If only one of them does, then you may have to asses the possibility of a false positive - if it's an officially sourced program update, check with the site, as they'll probably have to announce it if there is a false positive issue with a particular antivirus.

[A884126]

As MTDay said it true that everyone got his own tale of AV.

Personaly I am using NOD32, Norton, F-Secure on my machines. At work it McAfee, but this is another sory.

You can also read this very good paper http://www.nod32.com/about/article070607.pdf from Medical Strategic Planning Inc.
A good reference is Virus Bulletin

Anyway if you are happy with TrendMicro just keep it.

[Gfile]

I LOVE NOD32 simply its IMON feature rules actually scans incoming Http ports to detect malware and virus before they land on the system unlike all the rest of
the AV out there.

[Paranoid2000]

Another good freebie is BitDefender Free - their free version does not include background scanning so it can only be used for on-demand scans but it is one of the top performers in malware detection.

Those interested in seeing detailed AV performance assessments should check out the AV Comparatives site.

[eilegz]

Try using NOD32 AntiVirus www.nod32.com

agree fast, detects more only compliant its about how they clean the virus its not very good about cleaning anyways if u dont like this kapersky its a good option too, everything its better than norton, mcfee and panda.