Would your way of virus checking work well for the mild mannered computer user?
What do you mean "my way", nothing, than one big scan?
I guess most computers don't have quite the quanity of dumb little files that I do.... tons of source code and random applications.
First, IMHO I believe viruses have been on the decline for some time now. Spybots, phishing, spam and other ways to make money (directly or indirectly) has largely replaced the mindless spreading & destruction of viruses. But AV makers want to stay in business, so they will continue to fear monger the masses. (In the bad old days I had one definite virus (a COM+floppy infector IIRC) and one probable trojan (which I powered off when I got suspicious).
But you're right that AV programs could be more discriminating about what files are scanned - like restricting themselves to executables and pseudo executables based on magic codes (bytes at the beginning of files, like MZ for EXEs).
I think there is malware out there definately... the SpamBot crap attests to that.
I guess one approach would be something that sits on your network but outside your computer, ala a firewall or what not, but is smart about detecting bad behavior like being zombified, suspicious IRC connects and outoging email ...
And if you happen to have a laptop that *doesn't* have Windows or Mac-OS on it? Do you still have to have anti-viral software on it?
I'm thinking of getting a Mac just to avoid having to deal with malware.
But most antivirus programs allow you to tell it to ignore certain types of files, or certain directories. Maybe that will help.
Anti-virus is still immensely useful for email scanning. All it takes is one user to get exposed, and suddenly a third of your internal email traffic is virus-laden shit, not to mention the same crap replicating across your network drives with seemingly innocuous names.
Also, the "scan every file as it's created" thing is a Service which can be disabled or preferrably stopped by (enabling if necessary in Start-button Advanced prefs) the Administrator menu under Start -> Programs. It'll be Norton something or Symentec Something Service.
Hmmmm....when you were a kid...around six years old, I think....a friend opined to your Dad....Kirk's built more like a John Deere than a Mazzaroti. So, you've been given a tractor category before....
Heh! I had forgotten about that.
The funny thing was, in gym class, I had some fair amount of "burst energy" (So I was less terrible at sprinting and could do a fair amount of situps in a minute) but terrible at longer hauls, like running a mile on the indoor track. I think then that tractor comment always irked me because of that.