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Antivirus Software

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This thread's last reply is from . Advice, software, and links below may be out of date — treat specific steps and download links with caution.

I am pretty fed up with Norton System Works. It bogs down the system and eats up the speed of my laptop and desktop. What do you recommend to replace Norton System works, or at least the anti-virus. Zapple
dknoppix, Thanks for the reply. Are all of these programs freeware or shareware? Which are the ones you feel are must haves, meaning of the ones that come with downloads that expire, which ones should I buy the full version or are the traials good enough? Zapple
Hey,

Here are my recommendations:

Antivirus - Avg Free - http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Firewall - Kerio - http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html

Other Programs:

Spybot - http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=mirrors

Adaware SE - http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Spyware Blaster - http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster

.html

AVG is a muct have, it is absolutely free as long as you use the personal edition and only use it for personal use, it also has free downloads to keep you bang up to date and has one of the most comprehensive engines I know about.

Another good firewall is Zone Alarm but the one dknoppix recommended is just as good. http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

Spybot and Adawre are a muct, they will help keep your system clean and free of malware (about as close to perfect as you can get)

And Hijackthis is somehtign that is good to have in reserve in case you suspect something is wrong with your system but cannot resolve it:

http://www.malwareremoval.com/downloads.html

Important: Create a folder on the C: drive called C:\HJT.
You can do this by going to My Computer (Windows key+e) then double click on C:
then right click and select New then Folder and name it HJT.

Hope this Helps Im sure dknoppix will also add the same to this

Bertha
Thanks Bertha. Yes, those are all good suggestions. Another note about HijackThis: When you hit the "Scan" button, do NOT fix anything that comes up. Please post it in the HijackThis Log forum. Thanks, dk

I am pretty fed up with Norton System Works. It bogs down the system and eats up the speed of my laptop and desktop. What do you recommend to replace Norton System works, or at least the anti-virus.

Zapple

135929


I'd recommend you to use Una. it has a wide antivirus base, very quick and reliable
mm zonealarm is a beauty. I don't have it installed right now cause of my NIS. I've had problems with AVG. It's crazy :( I got the most viruses and trojans with it.
I'm using AVG as my anti virus, and it seems to work well for me. I also noticed a marked improvement in how fast my PC was after I stopped using Norton and installed AVG. And for a firewall, I like Zone Alarm. Both are free, fully functional, (both with the option to purchase Pro versions which adds functionality and new features) and of course updates are supported as well (with the free versions).
~ AVG is a good free anti-virus program, and I was planning to install it once my paid version ran out.

But lately, so many tech people that I've come to respect and trust, have been recommending… AVAST , that I chose to install it instead.

I must say that I'm as pleased with it's ease of use, as I was impressed with it's high marks from "Virus Bulletin".
okie dokie lets have a quick shot into this topic for the fun of it…

I'm using AVG as my anti virus, and it seems to work well for me. I also noticed a marked improvement in how fast my PC was after I stopped using Norton and installed AVG. And for a firewall, I like Zone Alarm. Both are free, fully functional, (both with the option to purchase Pro versions which adds functionality and new features) and of course updates are supported as well (with the free versions).


Agreed with that although i pay for zonalarm pro because it allow me to use Internet Connection Sharing.


Also agreed with DK on all those programs. Undoubtedly the best in their field.

One thing i dont understand is why with these programs being some of the best out there how malware organisations still manage to get people to pay for rouge programs.


anywho! :)

One thing i dont understand is why with these programs being some of the best out there how malware organisations still manage to get people to pay for rouge programs.

anywho! :)

172740


My guess would be a lack of knowledge on the infected user's part, that along with being in a state of panic where they're willing to do nearly anything to get some immediate help in ridding their machines of the baddies. What's worse, is this so-called "cyber extortion" that seems to be a growing trend among the internet's dark forces. :ph34r:
A couple of days ago I started a forum about Anti Spyware tools, not knowing that the last posts of this forum were discussing anti spyware tools.
Anyway here is a link to the forum I started:

http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?showtopic=45011

What I want to know is how good Webroot SpySweeper is compared to others. I currently also have CounterSpy, Microsoft Antispyware Beta and seems that SpySweeper is the one that most effectively identifies and remove malicious software.
I have also had Aluria but thought it was pretty lame.
If you want to replace Norton Works with a complete package, you should buy McAfee SecuritySuite. It has a virus scanner, firewall, privacy tools (with shredder) and a spam blocker for all of your email accounts. As far as other programs, you need 1) Ad-Aware SE, 2) Spybot Search & Destroy, 3) Microsoft AntiSpyware beta, and 4) HijackThis! and they are all freeware. If you wanted to add two more paid programs, get 1) JV16 Power Tools and 2) Webroot Spy Sweeper. JV16 will fulfill all of your registry needs and Webroot will catch most malware on the way into your machine unlike the rest of them that clean up after entry! I can tell you that after installing Webroot on my client's work machines (and mine), the other products mostly just clean up usage tracks! I have been pleasantly surprised at the difference. You can get Webroot for around $20.00 and it will update for 1 year automatically. If you are a MSN subscriber, you can download it for free under the security tools. JV16 will cost around $30.00 and McAfee will cost around $40.00 but they are all worth the money and you should have them all on your machines. With all of these products, I have been able to stay far ahead in the malware wars we are all going through! I run them all every 10-20 hours online and all of the machines perform properly and efficiently! I removed new Norton products and installed all of these to gain the performance that I now have. One final note: If you want the least amount of programs on your machine and only auto update programs, go with McAfee and Webroot. You can pretty much set them and forget them. I install these on all of the machines I work on for older people who do not run "scans". :D