no anti virus

this is just a question
a friend of mine has said that he and i do not need to have any anti virus and that the firewall that comes with windows xp is all the protection i/we need.
i asked him why he does not like anti virus and he said " that he does not like it running because it slows down his puter".
he has about 6 years more expierence with computers than me. but i think he is very very wrong.
Is he?

i ran leak test and failed.
i have avg anti virus now and just got a new firewall ( spf )
and installed sp2 on my good computer ( when my bad one is fixed i will install it on that one as well. chas is helping me with that one )
anyways i think it is dumb to use only a firewall as protection

 

Short answer, your friend is wrong.

There are hundreds of thread's here at MG from people who have anti-virus programs running, that have still managed to get infected from virus's/Trogens/spyware, so if your silly enough to not run any you will have problems sooner or latter.
Window firewall is not the best either.

As far as slow down from running anti-virus depends on what your running, some do hog resourses, some dont.
All pc's are not created equal, some are slower than others, regardless of the programs they run.
My PC's speeds are not effected by antivirus/spyware programs that I'm running at least not that anyone would notice.

If you follow your friend advice better make sure you back up stuff, youll need it when you rig is full of garbage, I wouldnt keep any personal/financial info etc on your rig cause someone will sure to end up with it sooner or latter, unless your lucky, do you feel lucky?

 

i will pass this and all other replies to my friend
i did not listen to my friend on this one.
it will be hard to change his mind.

 

Well, sooner or later, the odds are good that you'll get to say to him, "I told you so." Not that it will do him or you any good, of course.