Advice on Antivirus and security applications

I installed Comodo yesterday but wasn't sure whether it included the anti-virus program since I couldn't find any mention of "anti-virus" in there. So, I had to turn back on my Norton anti-virus program just in case (I know Comodo installation wizard said to uninstall any firewall before installation, which I didn't follow for the sake of "what if" in the case of installation failure or problem).

Could someone help me with regards to how to ascertain whether the Comodo program I installed contained the anti-virus program?

 

Re: Which Anti-Spyware App Do You Prefer?

Hiya dolphinocean

IMO, for malware scanner/removers, suites or bundled apps are inferior to stand alones.
The good news is that there are excellent free stand alones that often outperform their payware competitors.

For a resident antivirus scanner/remover I recommend EITHER AviraAntiVir Personal (free) OR avast! Home Edition (free).

You can download either by using the MajorGeeks home page >Anti-Virus.

To see how Avira AntiVir and avast! test out against eachother and others, go here: http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report24.pdf
Scroll down to #3 for the test results.

The results are always the same. AntiVir always wins and avast! always a close second.
I prefer avast! since it has a pre-Windows boot scan that can come in very handy.
AntiVir and avast! update themselves automatically.

For other malware types I recommend using both of these resident scanner/removers: Ad-Aware (free) and SpyBot S&D (free).
You can download both byusing the MajorGeeks home page >Anti-Spyware.
These two programs require manual database updates but using http://www.majorgeeks.com/ as your browser(s) default home page (as I do)
will alert you when they and other programs you use have updates.

I should mention that I use ZoneAlarm (free) as my software firewall.
You can get it using the MajorGeeks home page >Firewalls.

I tried the free Comodo firewall once but it kept forgetting the while list so I went back to ZoneAlarm.

Happy trailz,

 

Re: Which Anti-Spyware App Do You Prefer?

Thanks for your advice, Fleabus. I've downloaded the AviraAntiVirus but haven't install it yet. I still don't know whether the Comodo firewall I installed has the anti-virus program running or not. If it does then I can't have two anti-virus programs running at the same time. I wonder does Comodo calls its anti-virus program "defender plus" or something?

 

Hiya dolphinocean:

Its been a while since I tested Comodo. When I did it was just the firewall and no other components. There was no antivirus. Just the firewall.

Now I’m seeing this: http://www.comodo.com/home/download/download.php?prod=firewall
It looks like during the install you would have been been prompted to choose either both or either.

I don’t know what you chose.

If you google uninstall Comodo you will find, many have trouble uninstalling it.

To uninstall it I would first look down in systray (expand it), look for anything resembling Comodo Internet Security (CIS), Comodo Firewall (CF)
and Comodo Anti Virus (CAV). R-click the icon(s) >choose disable and ignore any warnings.
Not disabling the residents beforehand may be the source of uninstall issues.
Windows doesn’t like to remove programs/files it sees as running/active.

Then Start >Control Panel >Add or Remove Programs >Select any/all of the above program references >Remove. Restart.


If still no joy, I spotted this util:

How to Uninstall Comodo Firewall?
http://thecooltools.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-uninstall-comodo-firewall.html

… all at your own risk of course

Happy trailz,