Dr Nick

Hi everybody!

Stupid question of the month? Maybe. But go with me on this for a moment......

I am very security concious. I never open attachments from people I don't know. In fact, I don't even open e-mails from people I don't know.

If I get an e-mail attachment from somebody I do know and don't know what it is, I send it to my hotmail account after a few days and let Hotmail check it for viruses (I wait a few days to be sure Hotmail is updated with the latest signatures).

I have a hardware and a software firewall.

So, is my av software just wasting valuable PC cycles? I have never had a virus on my home PC and my software has never had to stop me from getting one.

Cheers!

Iain Young

Yes.

There ways other than email to get your pc infected with viruses. Virus checker doesn't really take much cpu time, and it's better to be safe than sorry...

IMHO of course

Iain

rogp

Just a thought but if you so worried about CPU time why are you running a software firewall as well as a hardware solution?

Either you trust your hardware firewall or not? Surely?

I would say that you sound like a competent user, but unless you are completely isolated from the Internet there is always the risk of a virus infecting your PC by one of the increasingly cunning means.

I believe that any responsible PC user should have current AV software installed and running. Being 'careful' isn't enough and its what many of the self propogating variants rely on.

That't not a tirade directed at you particularly

Roger

lightning101

Also script blocking, popups, and dialers - don't come from e-mail, but are detected by virus checkers.