In a previous incarnation, I managed 60+PCs in a lab envirinment. One of the tools I used was AVG Antivirus. At that time, it was free. I now find that not to be true but it is still fairly inexpensive. Updates come out about every 10 days. They were quick to respond to the latest challenges and hack attacks. I find now that there is a 2 year license agreement. It also scans email, in and out, and a firewall is available.

The url is below:

AVG Antivirus

I am not connected, just a satisfied user for many years.

Mike

As always, Your Mileage May Vary, and as always there will be differing opinions.

Doncat,
My experience is limited. I retired as a network administrator for the Federal Government with over 30 servers and 600 workstations, so, what I know is only what we used and what I have figured out for my own 3 computer at home.

I know nothing about free anti-virus software. Experience tells me that you get what you pay for, that is not to say I know for sure, but I have had great results with Norton Anti-virus software. Years ago, I personally used McAfee exclusively, and had no problems, but remember upgrades as being clunky but they may have fixed that issue. Norton has a confusing user interface, but once it is setup the way you want it, mostly you just forget it. I don't think you can go wrong with these two major brands. The yearly renewal cost could be a consideration.

I have Norton Anti-virus on two of my computers, and McAfee on my new laptop. I am still in the trial version on the new laptop, and still need to make a decision on whether to keep it or not. Dell preloaded McAfee. I have no complaints so far.

I have not had a virus, malware, adware, spyware or any other type of intrusion since I took these precautions 3 years ago.

1. Use Firefox as your browser. It is free at mozilla.com. The extensions are easy to apply and use. Firefox is so easy to use and once you try it for a while, you will get the hang of it and never go back. There’s a Firefox extension that will block pop-ups, enlarge text and photos, put thumbnails on webpages…..so many wonderful add-ons (extensions).

2. Keep your Windows updates up-to-date.

3. Use a firewall. The Windows XP firewall does some blocking, but you should be using a commercial firewall readily available online or at your local software store. They are cheap and for the protection, well worth the expense.

4. Use a router. My two laptops are both setup behind a wireless router. Routers are cheap and easy to setup. They make life wonderful because you have mobility and added security through different types of wep encryption, mac addressing, etc. You can choose which works best for your setup. It may sound intimidating, but a few minutes with the manual and you will see it is really quite simple.

5. Anti-virus software that is updated on a regular basis is a must. I keep my Norton anti-virus updated just incase, but I haven’t had a virus make it through my firewalls, or browser yet in the last 3 years.

6. Use a spyware blocker. I use Webroot Spysweeper. This product is at the top of everyone’s list as being top notched. You can find it at webroot.com. They also have a program called Window Washer which is a real convenient tool for clearing caches, temporary files, and cookies.

7. Backup, backup, backup. There are several ways to backup your important documents. I use an external drive. External drives are pretty inexpensive insurance and very easy to setup and use. The software that comes with most of them will do the backup for you on your scheduled preference and backup the entire drive or just your selected files.

I hope I haven’t forgotten anything. Security and health of a PC is a primary concern of mine. I have so much valuable information on my computers; I can’t imagine losing any of it or not being able to use my computer.


Robbie

Doncat,

I agree completely with simonsrf. I use everything he mentioned. Zonealarm (now Checkpoint Integrity) is my software firewall; there used to be a free version of it, but I don't know if that's the case any longer. I also use the Mozilla Thunderbird email client (also free) in addition to the Firefox browser. Web browsers don't currently have any antivirus/firewall built into them.

I generally try to stay away from the Microsoft tools (I'm assuming you have a PC, not a Mac), because they are a big target and every hacker in the world wants to break into their code.

So far, so good. I've been a computer user for many years and have never had a virus problem.

The only other thing I would add is once you get all this installed, make sure you actually use them regularly - i.e. schedule regular scans and updates, and set them to run automatically at times you won't be using the computer. There won't be any slowdowns that way.

Hope this helps,

Tim Fansler

  Well, I guess I should put in my limited value (1 cent).

I am always on the look for FREE and CHEAP....   I was a confirmed Norton fan until the recent updates and now it just slows things down, and is very hard to get rid of once you get it installed... so,

for Antivirus - AVG - it is still free for personal use and you can set it to update automatically every day (first thing) if you are paranoid.   (link to free version page) http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/us/tpl/tpl01

For AntiSpam - I use (FREE) SpamPal - it allows for many add-ons - customization of white-list - Blacklists and works pretty well with all email programs (I use Eudora to not have the Outlook focus)

http://www.spampal.org/

For Malware protection I use two (FREE) programs that in tandem work very well together what one does not catch the other seems to.  they are Ad-Aware and SPYBOT Search and Destroy - the Spbot has an additional function that can be made resident to block any attemt at changes in your Registry with out your agreement.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ 

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

 

 

For Firewall - I use (FREE) Zone Alarm.   Now Zone Alarm has a reasonably priced "do-it-all" program but as I stated above - I am cheap... but I want the best and these are rated at or near the top in their field of expertise. 

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=ho_za 

For those that want a little more techonlogy there is a free weekly - most of the time- newsletter by Fred Langa that covers all the above and other things for novice to expert - I even pay for the Plus Addition of this one cause it is so cheap for the info you get...

http://www.langa.com/ 

I used to use Norton Anti-Virus and never thought twice about it, until I got a virus that Norton could not delete or quarantine. My computer kept running in circles. Fortunately I found a fantastic computer geek in Bennington, VT who told me the problem was Norton. He recommended the AVG free version. (The personal version is free; the professional is not). He put the AVG on, which was able to quarantine the virus and I'm back in business. He also told me that Norton sometimes causes "false positives" for viruses, and that in general it causes your computer to run slower. When he put the AVG on, he took the Norton off.

I also use the Ad-Aware and SpyBot that "PAL" recommended.

Since I was using the Norton package, I now need an anti-spam program to catch the spam that my ISP doesn't catch. I just read about a free one recommended by Consumer Reports (don't have the name handy), and plan to put it on my computer this weekend. Will let you all know if it works, and which one it is.

I love my free AVG Anti-virus program, so yesterday I downloaded and installed the free Micro Trend Anti-spam program so highly recommended by Consumer Reports. I was so unhappy with it that I immediately took it off. It really locked up my Outlook Express and did all kinds of strange things with it.

Any recommendations for a good (inexpensive or free) anti-spam program? Thanks.