Anti virus stuff???
Discussion
Can anyone help i bought a lap top a month ago for work and i want to get some anti virus stuff(preferably free haha!) and something that can check the computer to see if everything is okay.
I use the computer for work and is connected via broadband to the internet all day.
Any help would be good
Thanks
I use the computer for work and is connected via broadband to the internet all day.
Any help would be good
Thanks
AV - try www.avast.com/ free software.
Install latest service packs and IE, and any other security updates on windows update.
DONT use IE tho, use Opera or Firebird (both free - and better than IE) - only use IE for the few sites that dont work in the alternatives.
Dont ise Outlook for internet mail, find.use another pop3 mail program.
Either use windows firewall in XP (SP2) or try zonealarm or whatever.
Download and install anti spyware software such as adaware.
Install latest service packs and IE, and any other security updates on windows update.
DONT use IE tho, use Opera or Firebird (both free - and better than IE) - only use IE for the few sites that dont work in the alternatives.
Dont ise Outlook for internet mail, find.use another pop3 mail program.
Either use windows firewall in XP (SP2) or try zonealarm or whatever.
Download and install anti spyware software such as adaware.
RobDickinson said:
For god's sake make sure you've got a firewall installed or you'll find that you're riddled already.
Yep - without proper protection/updates your PC will be shafted after maximum of 20 seconds. The web is no longer a safe place to play.
I was astonished to find this recently.
Mate bought a laptop, got it home plugged it in and away he went.
When I got round about an hour later to install a firewall and AV package on its first run it found 127 viruses/trojans and other nasties.
Quite amazing really.
search google for stinger and download
That'll search your pc for now
used www.free-av.com/ on machine at home. seems decent
That'll search your pc for now
used www.free-av.com/ on machine at home. seems decent
Jay-Aim said:
Remember, you only get what you pay for!!!
Absolute crap. No way would I have a norton product near my PC, bloaty buggy crashing heaps of poo.
Theres plenty of top quality free software out there from whole operating systems, office suits, browsers, web/mail clients, p2p, antivirus, whatever.
I'm running these on my home PC (dialup) :-
AVG (Grisoft)
Spybot 1.3
Ad-Aware 1.05
Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5
AbsoluteShield internet eraser/popup blocker
Also use Firefox with the Adblock extension plus a registry cleaner to keep thing lean and mean.
All of the above are freeware and I've yet to have a problem. I think where most people fall down is neglecting to kept their virus/adware programmes updated (or even have any!). My sister doesn't have a clue about computer security, never updates anything, doesn't know what anti-virus or firewall she's running, doesn't use any spyware or popup tools and then complains that her machine is slow. The mad thing is that she uses that machine for all sorts of online purchases and banking...trojan city! I'm desperate to get my hands on it to give it the once over, but she won't let me
Re getting what you pay for - my Dad recently purchased a new HP PC with Norton AV and firewall preinstalled and the thing was an absolute bastard to use. In the end I binned the lot and installed all of the above instead. Works much better. Go figure...
AVG (Grisoft)
Spybot 1.3
Ad-Aware 1.05
Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5
AbsoluteShield internet eraser/popup blocker
Also use Firefox with the Adblock extension plus a registry cleaner to keep thing lean and mean.
All of the above are freeware and I've yet to have a problem. I think where most people fall down is neglecting to kept their virus/adware programmes updated (or even have any!). My sister doesn't have a clue about computer security, never updates anything, doesn't know what anti-virus or firewall she's running, doesn't use any spyware or popup tools and then complains that her machine is slow. The mad thing is that she uses that machine for all sorts of online purchases and banking...trojan city! I'm desperate to get my hands on it to give it the once over, but she won't let me
Re getting what you pay for - my Dad recently purchased a new HP PC with Norton AV and firewall preinstalled and the thing was an absolute bastard to use. In the end I binned the lot and installed all of the above instead. Works much better. Go figure...
Jay-Aim said:Thanks, that did the trick for me. I had just got a particularly nasty one that kept changing names of the exe.
search google for stinger and download
That'll search your pc for now
used www.free-av.com/ on machine at home. seems decent
I got it after applying some of the most recent Microsoft security patches...
RobDickinson said:
Yep - without proper protection/updates your PC will be shafted after maximum of 20 seconds. The web is no longer a safe place to play.
So when my spangly new PC arrives next week, it's likely that it'll get infested with all kind of nasties before I've even had a chance to download some virus and firewall software? How can I best avoid this?
Make sure it has XP SP2 on which will close a number of the security holes and turn on the Windows firewall (better than nothing for now). (XP SP2 CD available free with PC Pro and certain other magazines or from PC World)
Download your AV somewhere else or pop into a computer shop and buy a retail pack.
Whatever you do, do not connect without a firewall of some kind.
Download your AV somewhere else or pop into a computer shop and buy a retail pack.
Whatever you do, do not connect without a firewall of some kind.
AVG 7.0 from Grisoft (www.grisoft.com) is an excellent piece of software. Highly recommended...
Well thats my two-penny-worth....
Some great info on here, but I'd be most grateful of any advice on the following;
The family PC is Windows 98, which, from what I've read, has not got a massive fan club. Anyway, it is used for the internet, and came with a McAfee (sp?) antivirus, which ran out of it's free update. Being unwise or whatever, the computer was left with no protection for a while, before buying Norton AV and firewall. This has caused no end of problems (PC always crashes, without fail), so AV has been uninstalled, but the firewall remains. When the Norton AV was installed, it noted some viruses that were not active or something, but I couldn't use the technique shown in the manual to delete them (they were hidden in some odd windows folder, the computer had to be put into some special mode to show the folder, but then said nasties were no where to be found). At present, the nasties are presumably still there, but the computer is working ok. I know this is not the best of scenarios, so what is the best course of action? Will it come down to binning it and replacing it? As you have probably gathered, I'm not exactly a whizz with computers, so any advice would be eagerly received. As an aside, do any of you use internet banking, knowing what you know of the internet?
Thanks in advance
Ben
The family PC is Windows 98, which, from what I've read, has not got a massive fan club. Anyway, it is used for the internet, and came with a McAfee (sp?) antivirus, which ran out of it's free update. Being unwise or whatever, the computer was left with no protection for a while, before buying Norton AV and firewall. This has caused no end of problems (PC always crashes, without fail), so AV has been uninstalled, but the firewall remains. When the Norton AV was installed, it noted some viruses that were not active or something, but I couldn't use the technique shown in the manual to delete them (they were hidden in some odd windows folder, the computer had to be put into some special mode to show the folder, but then said nasties were no where to be found). At present, the nasties are presumably still there, but the computer is working ok. I know this is not the best of scenarios, so what is the best course of action? Will it come down to binning it and replacing it? As you have probably gathered, I'm not exactly a whizz with computers, so any advice would be eagerly received. As an aside, do any of you use internet banking, knowing what you know of the internet?
Thanks in advance
Ben
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