Keeping it safe - AntiVirus & Spyware protection

[highfive]

With an impending nasty virus set to strike tomorrow I wanted to pass on some names of software that I have found to be indispensable. It seems most of the vets that visit this site this is old news, but if there is one person out there who's computer life I can help save it is worth it.

AVG anti-virus - http://www.grisoft.com
About 2 years ago my computer was rendered totally F.U.B.A.R (if you don't know what FUBAR means I can't write in a public forum ). An up-to-date Nortons did not notice a thing . AVG (when subsequently installed) noticed a number of issues :-/. Works great with automatic updating and uses far less computer resouces than Nortons. Did I mention it's free.

Spyware Blaster - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
I haven't had a spyware problem since I started using it. Small & effective and did I mention it's free.

Spybot Search & Destroy- http://www.spybot.info/
Another layer of spyware protection. Small & effective and did I mention it's free (yes I am repeating myself ).

I should add that all three of the above mentioned pieces of software work seamlessly together. Just because they are all free (like Simviation ) it doesn't mean you can't throw them a bone if you can affort it . They might help keep you flyin' or more importantly keep your large investment in time and money safe.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can.
Sydney Smith

Highfive

[Hussein Patwa]

Hello.  Just wanted to advise readers of my setup:

I have McAfee VirusScan Pro 9.0 for my antivirus protection.  It's caught everything so far that's come my way, even some that Norton and the others haven't.  Also it's very good at picking potentially dangerous files such as some activeX controls.  However, if you often experiment with programming or disassembly, you might want to turn off the 'Potentially Unwanted Programs' scanning so it doesn't pick those programs up as potentially dangerous.  It's also the most unintrusive program I've found, most of the time you never know it's there, even during updates which are quite regular.

McAfee Personal Firewall for firewall protection:
This is another one of Mcafee's products and integrates seemlessly with the VirusScan mentioned above.  Again, it's 'smart' engine means that once you've stated your opinion of a program (allowed or not allowed) it will handle the rest for you without prompting you every time that program is run (unless you ask it to, of course).  The interface is great, both antivirus and firewall can be access from the same control panel, and the control of programs and filters is excellent also.  Again, unintrusive and both programs do not hog any system resources.  The one thing I hated about Norton was it's popping up all ver the place all the time, and the high amount of user interaction required with the program.  Also Norton loads many, many, many system tasks at startup, and really slows things down, especially for things such as browsing the web and opening documents.

Spybot Search and Destroy for spyware deletion: Mentioned Above

Ad-Aware SE Professional:
This is another good program.  Ad-Watch which comes with it is good for picking up adware before it infects your system, and after-infection detection is good, although Spybot should be used in conjunction for optimum results.

Hope this helps.

Hussein.

[Mike..]

I get all my security needs here

www.majorgeeks.com

If you don't need it, they don't have it

I run AdawareSE,AVG,Regiscrub,CleanCashe,& DiscClean
All great programs to keep my rig running strong

[Chris_F]

I use Norton (anti-virus, snti-spyware, anti-adware, and parental control) simply because I got it on sale.  Works great, the only complaint I have has already been mentioned: it pops up and annoys you every now and then.

One thing I found while running spybot: every now and then I'd get hit with a certain piece of adware.  Spybot would pick it up but I'd have to manually delete.  I'd be fine for a few weeks and it'd come back.  Then I got Norton and only rarely used Spybot.  Norton found the adware just like Spybot did but the funny thing was the adware wouldn't show up until I did a Spybot scan.  I'd run Norton, find nothing, run Spybot, and both would find a piece of adware.  So I lost my trust in Spybot.  Perhaps "free" isn't really "free"?  I don't know.

[Mike..]

I got rid of Spybot because Adaware was picking stuff up that it wasn't. Although I've heard tell of using both one after another for double coverage

[Politically Incorrect]

If system resources are a necessitiy then trash Norton and get the freewares mentioned above. Norton will take control of your PC and your wallet when it comes time to pay for the program again and again

and yes Using Adaware and Spybot together is recommended, one will find stuff the other may miss.

Since running a set up of AVG (or Avast another excellent av), Spybot Search and Destroy, Adaware, and Spyware Blaster I have not had any infections or intrusions, and all these still are faster and use less resources than one Norton item

[Rockin Bassist Benji]

The Only thing I like about Norton is its inbuilt... well everything its all there for ya, but system resources really do pay, that