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Hiya all at the moment I'm on a tablet, now got myself new laptop HP 8.1 , after all these years still a newbie..... but now this is mine all mine no more changes made by my boys . and I don't know where to start . would like to know what antivirus to use on the 8.1 and what browser is best
Much appreciated Alice.

Hi,

Well done Alice now hide your laptop from sight?

I only have a desktop computer so can't comment on laptops but for years I used Virgin Media security which was free then it changed to F-Secure which again was free but only for a year; I recently received a bill of £25 to carry on using F-Secure which I thought was one huge rip off so I asked on the forum about online security and was kindly pointed towards "Microsoft Security Essentials" which is totally free and so far absolutely no problems with it whilst it runs quietly in the background;

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/wind ... s-download

I've been using "Google Chrome" for a few years which I like.

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95346?hl=en

Good luck with your new toy.

Kind regards, Col.

Retired wrote:Hi,

Well done Alice now hide your laptop from sight?

I only have a desktop computer so can't comment on laptops but for years I used Virgin Media security which was free then it changed to F-Secure which again was free but only for a year; I recently received a bill of £25 to carry on using F-Secure which I thought was one huge rip off so I asked on the forum about online security and was kindly pointed towards "Microsoft Security Essentials" which is totally free and so far absolutely no problems with it whilst it runs quietly in the background;

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/wind ... s-download

I've been using "Google Chrome" for a few years which I like.

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95346?hl=en

Good luck with your new toy.

Kind regards, Col.

Thanks Col, for your kind reply, first for me was a desktop that been used by the then teenagers who only let me have time on it when it was beyond repair , it couldn't even take MSE as it was had it but i struggled with it for long enough, then my daughter bought me a 7" nexus great but small to use all the time, but hey haven't desktops and such come a long way

Ta Much Alice

Alice, choice of anti-virus is a very personal thing..

I'm quite happy with the free version of AVG. My next door neighbour had Paid for avast......

When his 'puter went down with multiple viruses and a browser Hi-jacker...I had to download Malware antibytes installation files to my PC, move them to a memory stick and then install on his 'puter to get shot of the malware/viruses.

Windows firewall and AVG backed up by Malware anti bytes will cover just about anything.

A word of caution though, if you google these the first few hits might not be the official download sites check and treble check that you are not downloading from a file-sharing site, only download anything from the original publisher..

I'll post links to the sites that I downloaded AVG and Mbam from if you like.

I always use Kaspersky Internet Security thingy.

Free if you have an account with Barclays.

Hi,

Thanks Alice; yes desktops have come a long way. About 16 years ago I bought my first computer which was top of the range Compaq with a massive (?) 8 gig hard drive. It was on sale at £1,000 but I got it for cash at £900. A couple of years ago I bought a much more powerful gaming computer with a 1TB hard drive; I never use it for gaming but it is fast and I think only cost about £400. I don't have a tablet but I think tablets will now have a bigger capacity than my first computer at a fraction of the cost?

Good luck Alice in whichever security you choose.

Kind regards, Col.

Security Essentials is not needed on Windows 8 / 8.1, Windows Defender takes it's place:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/wind ... s-download
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/wind ... om-viruses

Rgds,

BG

personally I don't get on with chrome, firefox has lots more features and more user friendly imho

Honestly, unless you are getting on ‘dodgy’ sites and we all know what those are, MSE (as mentioned in the first post) is going to take care of 90 to 95 percent of all the issues that you are going to encounter while online. I have not had a single virus since I switched over and it does not take up a great deal of resources either.

I would also download Ccleaner and run it every week. It's free and keeps your PC/laptop free of any unwanted files.

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download