Yes, the scanning takes a loooong time. My previous anti-virus, the Russian one that starts with "K" was very quick and was very user friendly. I would have gone back to it but couldn't find a good price and CA is free. Besides being slow, I had to call tech support twice already because my Outlook was having problems and apparently the CA firewall was not allowing updates or something like that...not sure exactly but next time this happens I will need to disable the firewall, start up Outlook again then enable the firewall...humbug.
Depending on how many files you have on your computer, it may take a long time. I usually just have it scan my primary hard disk and no my back one.
I've heard of some people having problems with the CA firewall. If you continue to have issues, I would remove the CA firewall and replace it with either a free version of Zone Alarm (CA firewall is based on Zone Alarm's product) or use the Windows Firewall.
I used Norton security suite for years but got tired of the drag it puts on the system. And I was tired of paying for it. I switched over to CA a month ago and so far I am very happy with it. It doesn't seem to soak up system resources. It is not as convenient as the more well-known brands (for example, CA doesn't appear to offer scheduled scans) but it does the job more than adequately. I don't mind the long scan times--I don't sit and watch it anyway.
Thanks, I dumped the CA firewall and now using the Windows Firewall. Not sure why but today I couldn't download this large file in my yahoo account and decided to disable the CA firewall and sure enough I was able to download the file. Do you think the Zone Alarm is better than the Windows firewall?
MikeL,
CA does have a schedule scan for the virus checker. Look in the Options section after you click on the Open Advanced Settings in the CA Security Center.
Hemajang,
Windows Firewall is a fairly simplistic firewall that blocks only incoming attacks. If you have a virus that is trying to send out information, Windows Firewall will not stop it. Zone Alarm checks both directions and so it will catch those kind of events.
I'm not sure why CA Firewall is problematic for some folks and fine for others but that same reason may cause Zone Alarm not to work. But it's worth the try to see if it does work. If you have problem with Zone Alarm too, remove it and use Windows Firewall because it is better than nothing at all. I also assume your computer is behind a hardware router which also provides added incoming firewall protection.
Kiman, me again. Another problem with the CA antivirus this time. Besides the very long scanning time, the scan quarantined 4 files (wextract.exe, A01412912.exe. wextract.exe, A01412913.exe) and all were under the infection, win32/glenwiry.P. I tried looking up those files and on some sites they were calling these CA false positives and that it prompted a windows file protection alert to install your windows xp service pack 2 disc, which is exactly what happened on my computer. Do you know anything about this and what advice would you give me?
I just scanned the CA website and there is a blog about those files being picked up as a false positive. It also said that CA has fixed the problem as of today so, I suggest you update your CA and see it still shows those files as being infected. If you still show a problem, I'm sure there will be more on-line on how to fix the issue. False positives don't happen a lot but they do happen.
I made sure my CA Virus Checker was updated but the files that quarantied yesterday due to the false positive were still in the quarantine folder. I had to go into the quarantine and restore those files manually. Then I ran a full scan on my computer and no files showed any virus.
Aloha, I have a free (provided by my work) copy of ZoneAlarm 7.0 which I blame for many computer ills - slo-o-o-ow startup, lockup of system resources, repeated requests to authorize access to the same program... but I don't have the experience to know if these are endemic or native to ZA. If CA's free (through Oceanic) product is based on ZA, am I wasting my time in uninstalling ZoneAlarm and installing CA?
John,
Yes, CA Firewall is base on Zone Alarm so probably if you had problems with ZA, you will have it with CA. I'm not sure why but most computers have no problem with ZA and some do?
Would you believe it takes about 2 days to do a full scan. If I'm to do a partial scan, which folders should I scan? I'm assuming I can skip my data files.
I'd never use any Zonealarm product on any of my personal or corporate machines, the software's notoriously "not smart" that it requires tedious input from the user nearly all the time. It's absolutely fine for those who are computer-type people who enjoys being prompted for everything, but when you look at the general public which may include moms, dads and others that may not be computer saavy, Zonealarm is at best a mediocre product. Zonealarm's advertising did a great job in making you think that their outgoing firewall control is good but it really isn't. All it basically does is monitors outgoing events/actions by your computer and prompts you "yes or no". So if you hit Send/Recieve, it may prompt you with "Outlook has ... do you wish to... yes/no?" If the software was truly "smart", it should be able to differentiate legit actions and those that aren't without your input, automatically.
I'm from the school of thought that in regards to antivirus, anti-malware/spyware, something's better than nothing however that doesn't mean that you should skimp on quality. CA's a much better choice than Norton's and I have tested both in great detail. The point behind using products for security is also to maintain productivity. What's the point of using a protection solution if it impairs your computer's performance year-round? That'd be like buying a nice car and driving it around with 4 flat tires with 20 bags of rice all the time.
The best antivirus software I've personally tested and confirmed by many independent companies is Kaspersky, which is found at www.kaspersky.com if you're going to pay for antivirus software, this is the one to get, nothing else comes close. I was shocked at what this product detects, I haven't been able to test their spyware/internet security suite software (as I have no need a new product in this area) but their antivirus is absolutely amazing.
hemajang, that's a long time. Either you have a lot of files or your cpu is being overworked. If you don't want to do a full scan, you should at least scan the Windows directory.
Security is a double edge sword, you have use some computer power to keep your computer from being taken over completely. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to filter good and bad programs using a firewall, so you need to tell the firewall what you want it to do. If it was made more automatic, then the bad guys would have more opportunity to fool the firewall. I've also heard some good things about Kaspersky but I have not tried it either.
I finally gave up on CA security suite and returned to Kaspersky anti-virus when Best Buy had a sale for $20, otherwise its a pricey $59. Full scan now takes a little over an hour where CA would take over a day...still a mystery as to why. Kaspersky has a very organized and easy to understand interface and does not slow down my computer as much as CA during scanning. Another problem with CA suite was the firewall would interfere with my downloads and I had to disable that feature as you had recommended. And lately would get error messages on the firewall and anti-spyware features.
I understand that Kaspersky is not compatible with ZoneAlarm. Is there another firewall you would recommend?
I'm not sure why it taking so long. I have not heard anyone else with that problem but there is probably something interacting with it. The only other firewall I use is the Windows XP firewall. It's a basic one. I also have a hardware router connection so that acts as a firewall too.
