Avast:1, Nod:0

[R.Richards]

Another reason, why I trust Avast! over many of the other antivirus programs. A friend of mine is an avid Nod user, and refused to install another antivirus program on his computer until...recently when he noticed his computer was acting strangely. He said he had performed his normal spyware/virus scans as normal, but after going to a few "unsavory" sites, he noticed that his system just wasn't performing properly. I told him to perform a few online scans and he found several infections/trojans that the online scans were able to remove which Nod, never detected. We were both very surprised, believing Nod should have caught this malware. After these scans, I told him to temporary remove Nod from his system and install Avast!. He performed a thorough scan of his system and found more trojans and a worm, which Avast! very easily took care of. Needless to say, Avast! is now on his system on a more permanent basis and Nod is currently off his rig. I guess this just proves that in terms of antiviruses, free can beat paid at least in this instance!

[polonus]

Hi R. Richards,

Tell your friend that av-scanning is only part of the story here. The other side of the medal is keeping your operational system updated and patched (yes for all of the proggies your run) and have a hunch of things you do online that can put you in serious trouble (taking risks and the wrong attitude). Some people do not realize that without a proper av-scanner and firewall installed they are likely to be infected within half an hour, and that is no exaggeration on my part, these are facts.
Windows out of the box, visiting certain sites without the proper protection and fully patched software, being open to malicious scripts, transversal redirects etc. can run your computer in the ground, and don't blame a malicious hacker, it can be just the rogue malware from the guys that have your "best" interest at heart, oh just click this pop-up or message. Bingo. And a lot of folks that venture out on the Internet have no more knowledge than "you can click right, and left, and if that does not help you just click it away". Sad world, really, and some earn big money keeping this this way,

polonus