What should I buy? Have 10 systems, need best Virus, best price! 3

[patriotreviewcom]

Ok, it's time.... unfortunately it's too dangerous out there.

I have a church with about 10 machines. What solutions are people using to Virus protect?

The problem is, is that we probably cannot afford (or have better things to put the money too) than to have to pay $400-500 PER YEAR for Virus licenses and updates.

Is this just the facts of life, or is there a better price out there for good Virus protection!?

someone?
thanks.
tv

 

[JimInKS]

AVG by Grisoft is FREE for personal and non-comercial use. I have it on one machine at home and it seems to be a pretty decent product.

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

 

[patriotreviewcom]

Could that be used for churches?

 

[carrr]

Well, this is from the Grisoft EULA:

"2. You may install and use only one copy of the Software for single home or non-commercial organization computer protection only, irrespective of the number of times you download the Software or the number of licenses you purport to accept.

3. You may not use the Software on a network or more than one PC."

 

[diogenes10]

Im not going to weigh in on what's best or worst, but in relation to cost - 3 ideas if you are in US.

1) Watch the sunday papers for rebate specials on McAfee and/or Symantec products then ask the office staff to help out by each one buying one and submitting rebate paper work.
(Church could advance money to be refunded by employee when rebate received.)

2) Check out major on-line auctions-suspect you can buy cheaper there-also keep in mind that McAfee and Symantec include virus protection in some utility packages-in some cases you might find utility package cheaper than just virus package.

3) I do not have technical background to be absolutely certain of next comment, but I'd think you could go back at least one year in the product line (ie 2002 versions instead of 2003 versions) without major loss of functionality. This would probably also save you money on purchase price. You could then make somekind of rotating update plan so you didn't have to buy brand new software for every system every year.

In terms of updating, Symantec and McAfee both used to provide downloadable definition files that did not require subscription payments.

This does place the responsibility of downloading and applying updates on the individual users-if the head pastor would support you in this, you could basically say this is the best stewardship approach we can come up with and if you cannot help us by doing the updates in a responsible manner, we can no longer let you have access to internet.

If you need to check the machines now prior to making purchases of something, you can do on-line scans -- sites are referenced in other posts, or if you post back with the specific question-others that know those sites can tell you what they are.

 

[dbMark]

Try F-Prot from

http://www.f-prot.com

since they have always had good prices complementing their top-notch products. Currently, for a corporate network, it is USD $5 per workstation per year with a minimum price of $50, and a sliding scale so that any licenses over 100 are only $2 each. There is a non-profit discount too but not below the minimum price.

I've used it for years, and am very satisfied. And they consistently rate among the best in virus detection. You can easily find more expensive software, but hard to find anything less expensive though.

 

[patriotreviewcom]

WOW!!!! FPROT is $50 for everyone!!! SWEET! And you say it is good quality?!

This is probably what I will go with! EVERYONE WAS HELPFUL AND I VOTED FOR ALL OF YOU! BUT I THINK DBMARK just found my solution!

This is how a Forum is supposed to WORK!

 

[dbMark]

F-Prot for years (and still does) distribute their DOS version available free - for personal use. They received 6 100% detection awards from Virus Bulletin (

http://www.virusbtn.com)

from May 1999 to June 2003. They are based in Europe which may explain why they don't advertise or get much shelf space in the stores elsewhere. Most people only know about the handful of most popular companies and don't search any further, but pay a higher price for the convenience. It appears that F-Secure is an affiliated company, since F-Prot refers you to their website to look up virus descriptions..