Topic: DAMN THESE AUTOUPDATES.....

[Pugnate]

I use my PC as a multimedia setup as well with my TV tuner and DVD drives hooked in, so I watch all my shows and DVDs on the comp. Now it is a given that every hour I will have at least one anally retentive software asking for an update. The worst part is that I can't turn these off. Some of them actually seem to enjoy many updates a day, like McAfee 7.0. It asks me a gazillion times a day if I want to update. And whenever there is even a minute update available, it will ask for it. Sometimes I kid you not, I will update, and then twenty minutes later it will ask me to do another update! It is worse when I am watching Family Guy and eating my food that is nice and hot, when there is an alert smack in the middle of Peter's fat face.

Meanwhile Windows Update is fine, but when it finishes installing an update it will ask me to restart my comp. I normally ask it to wait, but then the bitch freaking monster will keep reminding me every five minutes. Sometimes I am in the middle of something important, like talking to a client, or my parents, or some documentation. But it is far worse when I am watching a movie and eating dinner. FUCK!!!!!!!

The following bug the shit out of me for updates:

McAfee (almost three times a day)
HP Printer Software (Sometimes)
Install Shield (The newest version that came with some game has an auto update thing that can't be turned off)
Windows Update (Not so bad, unless it wants you to restart the comp. Then it just wants to rape you.)

BTW this was meant to be a half serious thread so I am not really pissed off. Just very very annoyed.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Yay for AVG being not as intrusive as McAfee or Norton!  That was one of the things I really hated about Norton when I used to use it.

[iPPi]

I've been using Norton for years and while it is kind of bloated and stuff, I've never had it ask me to reboot my computer or anything.  My computer would slow down somewhat when it was updating virus definitions, but never to reboot.

Windows Update will ask you to reboot all the time, and it keeps asking you to reboot if you decline.  I hate that.

[Quemaqua]

Speaking of which, why the hell was AVG telling me over and over again that it was going to make me pay for it or it was going to stop functioning?  Anybody else notice this?

[TheOtherBelmont]

Yes, you have to update to the newest free version (7.5) or else you will keep getting that message. I did and I'm not getting the messages anymore.  You can download it here on the orange tab that says Download Free Version.

[Quemaqua]

Huh.  Go figure.  The messages actually did stop eventually, but I didn't realize there was a newer version.

[Cobra951]

Pug, if you use either of the big anti-virus companies, you're asking to lose control of your PC.  I hate Norton in particular, with a passion, but MacAfee is not much better.  Try AVG, as has been suggested.

Other intrusive shit I usually figure out how to disable, even if it means identifying and terminating threads in the Windows task manager.  Some shit has the nerve to start itself back up after I terminate it.  That needs a special search and destroy.  I've gone as far as replacing startup programs with a do-nothing little program I wrote long ago.  Then it doesn't matter how convoluted or system-ingrained the startup procedures are.

You should always be able to start stuff up when you need it, and disable it when you want it out of the way.  Nothing designed to seize control of your system forever gets any respect from me.  You can probably find helpful info online on anything which is ruining in this way the enjoyment of what you own and paid for.

[scottws]

I use NOD32 and like it in some ways, but not others.  The interface is unintuitive and confusing.  It can't seem to scan encrypted folders no matter how you try to run it.  It does e-mail scanning, but not if you use an SSL connection.  That sort of thing.  But it does a full system scan quite quickly, is low in resource usage, is otherwise unobtrusive, and gets very high marks in terms of its protection.

I've tried Norton, McAfee, and AVG in the past.  Norton was horrible and bombed my system (and another at work).  McAfee was horrible too, I felt like I couldn't configure anything about it and it was so slow.  I hear McAfee's corporate stuff is much better than their SOHO stuff. AVG was nice in that it was free and legal, but the free version was very picky about what you could and could not configure and it gets very poor marks for protection.

I hear that Trend Micro's product is very good, but painfully slow in terms of its scanning.  The rest of the pack (stuff like Panda) just aren't that good all around.

[Ghandi]

Yeah I use McAfee and the autoupdates are annoying, but I'm willing to take a little annoyance for the added security that I get. I did wish that it wasn't such a system hog, though.

[Pugnate]

I found a way to turn them off. But the reason why they are so annoying? McAfee checks for updates every 4 hours. But I second what Ghandi said.

[iPPi]

Wow 4 hours?  Norton checks once a week for me.

Can't you set how often it checks for updates?

[Xessive]

Go AVG. McAfee is only good if you get Enterprise v8.0 (at least) which is what we got from the university. AVG is a great alternative. Norton is computer control loss horror, plus hugely unnecessary resource hog.

So yeah, based on all the posts so far you're mathematically obliged to go with AVG