What is the best Anti-Virus program? Free or to buy. One of my friend's goes on Facebook a lot and has been getting a lot of Viruses. Any suggestions on things to do in addition to the AV program?
I get Norton free with my cable but at work we use AVG. AVG is free with no hidden costs and as far as I know it works well. As for the other stuff clean out all your regestry files, history and cookies from your browser. I also use AdWare, it's a free mal-ware scanner and picks up stuff that some AV programs miss.
I get Norton free with my cable but at work we use AVG. AVG is free with no hidden costs and as far as I know it works well. As for the other stuff clean out all your regestry files, history and cookies from your browser. I also use AdWare, it's a free mal-ware scanner and picks up stuff that some AV programs miss.
+1
I use this setup as well, and it's worked for me.
I get Norton free with my cable but at work we use AVG. AVG is free with no hidden costs and as far as I know it works well. As for the other stuff clean out all your regestry files, history and cookies from your browser. I also use AdWare, it's a free mal-ware scanner and picks up stuff that some AV programs miss.
I'll second AVG and AdAware. Both are free downloads and I've never had anything nasty slip through them in the last few years. Both programs will prompt you to purchase their more advanced versions, but the basic free software does its job just fine and you can probably do without the extra bells and whistles their "premium" products include. They're also very simple to use, automatically updating themselves and AVG running an automatic scan daily in addition to blocking live threats when they pop up.
-Brooks
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What is the best Anti-Virus program? Free or to buy. One of my friend's goes on Facebook a lot and has been getting a lot of Viruses. Any suggestions on things to do in addition to the AV program?
Please turn them on to an Internet Browser besides Internet explorer.
Not that IE is bad (because I don't want this to become a thread about that), it's just the safest thing is to not be using the most common browser in the world.
Firefox, Chrome, Safari, whatever. :)
They (and I) use Firefox much more than IE.
Please turn them on to an Internet Browser besides Internet explorer.
Not that IE is bad (because I don't want this to become a thread about that), it's just the safest thing is to not be using the most common browser in the world.
Firefox, Chrome, Safari, whatever. :)
I agree with you that IE has its share of vulnerabilities, however using Firefox or Safari or another option is not nearly as safe as it used to be (even a few years ago). The charming people that write viruses often want the biggest bang for their buck and that means writing code exploiting the most vulnerabilities as possible in one fell swoop. As other browsers have gained in popularity, they have increasingly become targets for malware due to that very popularity.
In all honesty while AV software is an unfortunate necessity, one of the best things you can do to protect yourself is simply keep your operating system, Internet browser, mail client, and whatever updated as much as possible, regardless of who made them. Usually this can be done through automatic settings and doesn't even require you to do anything beyond making sure everything is configured correctly.
-Brooks
Ive been using Norton Anti-Virus for years on all of my builds (build gaming PCs as a hobby/side job). Despite the infamy of bloatware/resource hog, NAV has always been top notch. The latest incarnations have been pretty passive. :)
Adaware isnt all that great imho. NAV built in anti-spyware snared enough crap that adaware missed, that I stopped using it.
Spybot S&D is good stuff, as is Avira Anti-Vir.
Malwarebytes is very good too, it was what saved me when I picked up a virus a few months ago.
This is the one I was trying to remember in my previous post. :D
Can I have a cookie for the reminder? :D
:D
AVG may be free, but sometimes they are slower on the updates then the big 2, Symantec and McAfee, I used to use AVG until I got a virus that I found out both Symantec an McAfee already protected against. I stopped using it after that and bought Nortan AV.
I like Norton's new "pulse updates" too, get em as they become available.
AVG may be free, but sometimes they are slower on the updates then the big 2, Symantec and McAfee, I used to use AVG until I got a virus that I found out both Symantec an McAfee already protected against. I stopped using it after that and bought Nortan AV.
I had the opposite experience.
I had paid for Norton service and they wouldn't get rid of a virus on my system until I paid them an extra $100.So I downloaded the free version of AVG which took care of it right away.
I'll never use a Norton product again.
I use ZoneAlarm for firewall.
system until I paid them an extra $100.
I never heard that before...
What was the extra fee for?
Apparently for them to enter my system and manually unlock the full potential of their software... for that one instance.
I couldn't fix it myself because their crappy software hide the information from me (what file was the issue and where it was located). I didn't like that. I had to call their help which requested a credit card number and then they would remotely access my system and fix the issue. No thanks, I like to keep control over my own system and I ended up fixing it for free.
When it came down for renewal I was happy to uninstall their crap.
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system until I paid them an extra $100.
I never heard that before...
What was the extra fee for?
Apparently for them to enter my system and manually unlock the full potential of their software... for that one instance.
I couldn't fix it myself because their crappy software hide the information from me (what file was the issue and where it was located). I didn't like that. I had to call their help which requested a credit card number and then they would remotely access my system and fix the issue. No thanks, I like to keep control over my own system and I ended up fixing it for free.
When it came down for renewal I was happy to uninstall their crap.
ahh that is why, you used there support...Never use support, unless you arean enterprise level company.
You are incorrect about them having to unlock anything, there is nothing locked with the program when you buy it, *other then some premium features that has nothing to do with virus protection*. most likely just bad communication on their side made you think you needed it. All the virus they protect from they have directions on their page on how to remove it your self, but once you asked them to remove it for you, that is where the fee came from. It has nothing to do with the software it self. You did however have a bad customer support that made you think you needed their help.
that is however is a good reason to be upset with them.
that said it is still one of the best AV programs out there with a Virus information database only McAfee can compare to. Symantec is on the leading edge on virus security, they have resources at their disposal that only McAfee can compete with. There are some other virus security companies out there that are really good at what they do, and for most anyone would be good. But like I said beware of Zero Day virus, they are usually slower on the take.
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You should just download a copy of the PMG onto your harddrive. Everyone knows he's really a sentient program. He'd probably be really good at protecting your computer from other malicious software.
Of course, the downside is that he'd take control of your life. Say hello to your new Digital Overlord......
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Let me add on to what I said above..
Actually Symantec *And I am sure other programs as well* does have some features that the user can't use, these features are for support only so they can fix problems remotely if needed and authorized. They however are not features that lock you out from being capable fixing a Virus issue yourself. At least there are support features on the enterprise level software, I am assuming it is the same for home user level, but I am sure the interaction is different.
Any company would have charged you for the same service, though the price would differ, and your experience may have differed with the customer support. It is upsetting that Customer support convinced you needed to spend money to get your problem fixed.
Never had any bad experiences with Norton AV in all the years ive had computers.
To the folks who scream resource hog, most current PCs have at least 2-4 gb of RAM. CPU-wise most are now dual-core or above. Ive never had a single performance issue and Im a hardcore gamer running everything with max details and Norton's running in the background.
I only turn off Live update temporarily when Im in a 10/25 man raid in WoW though, but I leave the AV on regardless.
The new Norton's has performance guages to boot, usually it hovers between 0% - 3% CPU usage. So its not a resource hog at all.
my not so new anymore pc (just for example)
Intel E8400 dual core (3ghz "wolfdale")
4gb Corsair RAM
BFG GTX260
I used to use Zone Alarm Pro for a firewall but ditched it when I reformatted to Windows 7 as they didnt have a compatible version then. Also ZAP was a tad "too good" in defending, and I got tired of opening up ports manually with new programs.
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To the folks who scream resource hog, most current PCs have at least 2-4 gb of RAM. CPU-wise most are now dual-core or above. Ive never had a single performance issue and Im a hardcore gamer running everything with max details and Norton's running in the background.I only turn off Live update temporarily when Im in a 10/25 man raid in WoW though, but I leave the AV on regardless.
The new Norton's has performance guages to boot, usually it hovers between 0% - 3% CPU usage. So its not a resource hog at all.
A past version was a resourse hog, the newer version of fixed that issue. I think it was 08 that had that problem.
In fact it was that year I went to McAfee.
Director of Sales
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In addition to AVG free, AdAware, Spybot S&D, and ZoneAlarm, I also use a browser addon called Web Of Trust that is very good about warning me away from malware infested websites.
...and a note on AdAware: If you go to a free site frequently that generates revenue via ads, do them a favor and put an exception in for their site. Even better: click though an ad once in a while.
