Protection for the PC

bobbie-dazzler · Post by **bobbie-dazzler** » Thu May 29, 2008 3:25 pm

My free McAfee virus protection with Sky broadband has expired, and if I want to renew it, obviously I have to pay.

I have 'Spybot search and destroy' which is excellent and clears up any little blighters, but I am holding out renewing McAfee hoping to find another free protection service, does anyone know of one?

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Thu May 29, 2008 4:26 pm

I - and I think many on the forum - used AVG from Grisoft.

Used it for years and the latest version has some nice neat features checking websites for possible problems before you even go there! - and it is free of course!!

It can be tricky trying to find the free version (they obviously like you to chose the pay one

) but start here ..... http://free.grisoft.com/ - any probs, just post back

thescruff · Post by **thescruff** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:02 pm

Yep I use AVG free, after paying silly money the Norton for years.

stevelusky · Post by **stevelusky** » Thu May 29, 2008 7:25 pm

AVG is the best freeware AV, If you want to buy one i would go for kaspersky or nod32. The best thing to do to avoid virus problems is to stay away from dodgy sites, dont open any suspect e-mails and certainly dont run any executables without know what your opening, myself i dont use any AV products (havent for years) spyware/adware is a much bigger problem and for that i use spybot and ad-aware, never had a virus on my pc.

Cannyfixit · Post by **Cannyfixit** » Thu May 29, 2008 9:39 pm

Some useful links should you wish to use them,all free of course

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

http://www.ccleaner.com

Avast 4 Antivirus software is free for non-commercial users and offers regular updates, as well as proper technical support via e-mail or phone. Protection-wise it's very similar to AVG, covering all the same bases and not hogging system resources, but it has a funkier interface (for those who like a pinch of fashion with their computer security). The only downside is that you have to re-register it after each year of use.

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

finally some hints on how to stay safe

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shoppi ... are#simple

Neds · Post by **Neds** » Thu May 29, 2008 10:19 pm

Forget the free AV's invest in a proper AV. Nod32 has got to be the best AV out there at the moment. I use nothing else on my PCs at home. Excellent value for money and not bogged down like the crap you get with NAV or mcafee

RichieP · Post by **RichieP** » Thu May 29, 2008 10:21 pm

You can end up with loads of software on your computer if you get too paranoid about the whole thing.

What you need is:

1. A decent anti-virus program. People have already mentione AVG, but a lot of independent tests (I'm sad and actually read them) rate Antivir as the best free one. A recent PC Pro test rated it just below Kaspersky, above most of the paid-for products.

2. A decent firewall. The Windows XP firewall will block random in-bound attacks, but if you have anything suspect on your system trying to 'phone home' it won't stop it. Something like Zone Alarm Free will be all you ever need. Vista's firewall will now block outbound as well.

3. An anti-spyware real-time program. Spyware works slightly differently to a virus and infects different system files. Spyware can actually be more harmful because you can be targetted by bogus software that entices you to buy products. As mentioned, Spybot has good real-time protection if you install the Teatimer option. It warns you when changes are made to important parts of your system.

Other than that, be wary of porn sites, creack sites, wares sites and anything offering to scan your system for free.

bobbie-dazzler · Post by **bobbie-dazzler** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:10 pm

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions,

I have gone with Hoovies and scruffs AVG, the free one is only the basic, but it suits me, as I have the 'spybot' which is such a great virus remover.

asinine · Post by **asinine** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:32 pm

Spyware Terminator is great and as far as I'm aware is the only free spyware to offer a resident sheid to stop spyware getting on your system in the same way normal anti-virus does.

Again AVG AV is great.

PC Tool Firewall Plus is awesome and very user friendly. Much better than Zone Alarm Free.

Again CCleaner.

SpybotSD but you've got that.

JKdefrag much better than the inbuilt one.

Or get yourself a Ubuntu LiveCD see how you like and install it, dont have to worry about anything to do with virus etc. Linux Mint is good as well.

TheFuzzy0ne · Post by **TheFuzzy0ne** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:55 pm

There is a very good, online antivirus scanner, which can be found here. It doesn't remove viruses, but it points out which files appear to be infected. The beauty of this, is that it can't be affected by a virus, so you are less likely to have your virus scanner ignore certain virus' because the virus scanner itself is infected.