Eli the Computer Guy

Archive for the ‘Antivirus Software’ Category

We mandate that all of our clients use McAfee antivirus for their computers.  Of course mandating the use of a particular antivirus program creates friction with many clients, but there is a very good reason for our policy.

What many people do not realize is that antivirus software effects every aspect of how you deal with your computer. It can warn you of bad programs that are trying to install themselves on your computer, and they can prevent you from installing Adobe Reader.  They can prevent hackers from taking over your system, and they can stop your email from working.

The thing about security software is that hackers and viruses exploit security holes within the every day functions of your computer.  So to keep hackers out they block your ports.  The problem is you need your ports to be open to surf the Internet.  Now if you know what a port is and why it’s important you have a good chance of configuring your antivirus software so that it doesn’t interfere with what you need to do, BUT if you’re calling me or my staff to fix your problem then you probably have no idea how to configure your software.

Now what you should consider beyond whether Consumer Reports says about a particular piece of antivirus software is good is that they all are configured differently.  They all have very different sets of menus and ways in which you tell them what to prevent against and what to allow.  And if any of the wrong check boxes are marked you are going to have problems. (Which means when you get your computer home you are going to call me complaining if you can’t get on the Internet because you’re assuming it’s my fault and that I should make it right for free.)

If you are a consultant or run computer shop I advise that if nothing else you simply pick one product to sell.  Whether it’s McAfee, Norton, Panda, Bit Defender, etc. you should pick one product to become an expert at and stick with it.  As I said they all have their particular quirks, and they ALL can cause hell on a system.   The better you know the product the easier it will be to diagnose any problems that come from using it.

We use McAfee for a few simple reasons:

1. Year in and year out McAfee is always ranked among the top 3 in antivirus software.  The top 3 rankings always include McAfee, Norton and then some new company.  The new company usually rockets to the top spot and then drops out of the top 3 by the next year.  I have seen this with Trend Micro, Bit Defender and recently Kaspersky.
2. It doesn’t cause as many problems as Norton.  I have seen Norton block people from using the Internet and even seen it prevent them from printing.  It’s default security settings can be way to restrictive for average users.  I have made a ton of money simply by going to peoples homes and businesses and reopening port 80.
3. It’s not complete crap if you mess up the settings.  I have seen many companies pay good money for antivirus software only for it to be absolutely worthless because no one set it up properly.  It didn’t update.  There was no real time scanning and there were no full scans performed for YEARS.  At least with McAfee even if you muck it up it will still do a decent job.

As I said all antivirus software has quirks.  We have a special recipe for installing McAfee that has worked well over the years. We:

1. Use the Custom installation option and ONLY install the antivirus software and possibly the site advisor software.  Don’t install the Firewall or Spyware software.
2. Once installed disable System Guard.  This is the component that asks if you want to make changes to your system.  Half the time I don’t know what it’s asking so I know my clients won’t know.  The problem is that if you deny access to something that needs access you can create a world of problems.
3. Disable all Alerts.  My clients don’t know what the alerts mean, and wouldn’t have the foggiest idea about what to do when they get them.  All the alerts end up doing is worrying my clients.  This is one of the few times I ascribe to the motto, "Ignorance is bliss.".

Over the years I have had many arguments with employees about mandating McAfee as the sole antivirus software that we will support.  After dealing with enough problems that were brought on by antivirus software they now fully agree with the policy.

We have migrated our first client to McAfee’s Total Protection Service and have been pretty happy with the results. McAfee Total Protection Service is an anti virus, firewall and browser protection suite that is managed and administered through McAfee’s servers.

Since this is an SAS (Software As A Service) offering it requires less resources on the client machine. To install the software you simply go to a website given to you when you make your purchase and run and installation routine. After that the protection routine is entirely controlled by McAfee. The software will automatically update and scan. And you can go to a web console to view the current condition of your computers.

Software compliance is s snap because McAfee tracks each computer so you know if you have enough licenses or not.

Once at the console you have the ability to create group policies for the firewall software and assign them to different computers.

Overall we have been very happy with the results and will begin migrating all of our clients to this service within the next few months. As a consultant I have found anti virus software compliance to be one of my major headaches. This system is easy to use, track and add licenses to.

We do not have “in the wild” results for how McAfee Total Protection Service handles viruses, but I have had great success with their products to this point.

If you’re interested please take a look at their site at: http://shop.mcafee.com/Products/TotalProtectionForSmallBusiness.aspx

After years in the business I have come to more than a few opinions on different types of software. My venom towards Norton has a special type of passion for me. The pure pain that it has caused my clients is well beyond compare.

The main issue I have with Norton is that it blocks users from doing normal tasks. By "protecting" users many times the software prevents them from even getting on line. Basically the firewall software will block port 80. Port 80 is required for people to be able to browse the web. If you know what you are doing you can fix this issue, but if you are the average user you end up having to call someone like me.

Additionally I have seen Norton block software from working properly, and have seen it prevent computers from even getting IP addresses.

My advice to you is to at the very least disable the Internet Security protection (the Firewall). If you decide to uninstall Norton there is a chance that after removing the software that you will still have problems. If you do download the Norton Removal Tool (Just Google it). This will rip out any parts of Norton that were not properly removed.

After you remove Norton I would suggest that you use McAfee. My warning with McAfee is that when you install it choose the custom installation option and then only install the Anti Virus software. Do not install the Firewall or the Anti Spyware software. The Firewall software that is part of XP and Vista are fine for almost all clients.