How often do you scan or computer for viruses and/or other risks?

[Katilian]

SamuelRSmith said:

BenKenobi88 said:
Never. I used to have an anti-virus installed, but it kept messing with certain games.

I uninstalled it and haven't bothered getting another. Haven't had any major problems in about a year. I have Vista.

 

My story is identical to yours.

I believe that anti-virus software installs viruses on people's computers just to make themselves feel useful. Anybody with anti-virus software always gets them. People without them (like me and Ben, here) never have any trouble.

 I haven't run antivirus in 5 or 6 years now and I exclusively run Windows (though I do run Linux in a VM when I need it). Common sense is the best protection against viruses. Run a hardware firewall, keep systems patched, don't click on random email attachments, etc..

  On a side note, one feature of Vista (which gets ignored) is the fact that IE7 runs inside a sandbox. Obviously this doesn't make it impenetrable (e.g. a flash exploit was used recently to gain access outside the sandbox), but this is a great step in making an OS more idiot proof.