What security software should I have on my computer?

Question

I have Norton INternet Security and Lavasoft Ad.aware. I've done a free scan with SpyDoctor from PCTools but need to buy it for £20 to fix it. Is it worth it? or are there any other free downloads. I want to be able to cover everything possible like popups, hijacks, trojans, viruses etc. Thanks

Answer 1

i think zone alarm is the best http://www.zonealarm.com

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Zone alarm for a software firewall, its free for non business use and does a good job of keeping unwanted connection attempts out.

For spyware the two that people use mainly are ad-aware or spybot search and destroy, personally im using spybot and its stopped several sites from dumping spyware on me. You say you're using ad-aware, some people swear by it and the difference between that and spybot are minimal.

As for virus programmes i've always stuck to Norton, some people will rubbish Norton but its never let me down and i've never had a problem with it. There is always AVG which i think is free, again some people exclusively use that, whether its because its free (if it is - i not totally sure to be honest) is anybodies guess.

I certainly wouldnt pay for spydoctor, run ad-aware and spybot, you'll catch everything with those. One other thing that people tend to forget is keeping your windows updated, Microsoft are trying harder than ever before to sort security problems with their software, they may not be the quickest but they are trying. The only other recommendation i can make is to swap your browser, internet explorer is riddled with problems, firefox is a much safer way to navigate the internet, its much more security minded and has several usefull featuers that IE doesn't, its worth checking it out.

Answer 4

Cee is on the ball but AVG Free does not come with protection for Spyware. I recently went to an AVG meeting and they admit that spyware is becoming more of a problem then Viruses. Hence they purchased Eiwdo. I've tried this and it is on the ball, but is only a freebie for 30 days. Lavasoft is the best FREE spyware but in recent performance tests only captured 70% of spyware. Norton uses so many PC resources it can be as bad as a virus. I un-installed it on a customer PC the other day and I recovered a 100mb of RAM! Get AVG free try the Eiwdo. If you like it go for it. Windows Firewall is good but not very informative. Zone Alarm has a great interface. AVG comes with Firewall but I've very little hands on with it.

Answer 5

Here is a complete package that I recommend to keep your computer almost 100% safe. Download all these:

ANTIVIRUS:
1.AVG:
http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup/avg71free_405a791.exe

ANTISPYWARE:
1.AdAware SE:- http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5
2.SpyBot Search and Destroy: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Spybot_Search_and_Destroy/1043809773/1
3.Spyware Terminator: http://www.spywareterminator.com/

FIREWALL:
1.ZoneAlarm: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en

All these are completely free and are highly compatible with each other. Spyware Terminator has an embedded antivirus(ClamAV); but don't activate that because it will obstruct AVG. You have got Norton which is the market leader, but I don't recommend it. It is a huge resource hog and its detection ability is lower than AVG. So you should uninstall it and then download the above freeware. The extra work that you have got to do is that you have check for their updates everyday. You can schedule a daily scan or scan manually once every three four days to keep your system clean. In addition to that, I also suggest CCleaner which cleans all the crap, including unused files and registry keys. You can get it from ccleaner.com. I saw your question a bit late, so I am mailing you my would-be answer. Money always does not necessarily bring the best. Good Luck!

Answer 6

First get rid of Norton. It slows your system down. and You cannot have 2 anti VIRUS running at the same time. You can have all of the other running though.

Here are my FREE recommendations.

I use all of the following Free software with Windows XP SP2 and Internet Explorer with MSN toolbar and the pop-up blocker turned on and have never had a single problem with my computer sense Microsoft came out with SP2. (knock on wood.) (And be sure to keep Windows and the following software Updated)


The best Anti-virus is: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. (www.grisoft.com)http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/us/tpl/tpl01

The Best Spyware defense is: SpyBot Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html)<--English version

AND: AdAware SE (www.lavasoft.com)
AND Spyware Blaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.info/kb/)
The best Firewall besides the one that comes with Windows is: Zone Alarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/co... or just (www.zonelabs.com) and select the FREE version.

These are all FREE and are all that are required. There is no reason to pay for this kind of software, except to give a donation to the writers if you can.
ALL the above programs are recommended and should be run on a regular basis. With some the free versions they must be run manually.

The best way to avoid getting any Malware (virus, Trojan's, spyware, etc) is to practice safe computing. Microsoft and many others have countless articles on the subject of safe computing. (something I think should be taught in schools)

for further information on computer safety.
NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL -> http://www.ncpc.org/media/Internet_Safety.php

http://all.net/journal/50/cybercop.html
And here...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/zombies_and_botnets.mspx

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

CNET these 10 programs comprise the best free security software
http://www.download.com/Best-free-security-and-spyware-software/1200-2023_4-5163183.html?tag=nl.e497

Answer 7

http://www.freewebs.com/infosource100/antivirus.html
(for many more articles, check out that website)


"Prevention

The most popular way to protect ourselves against computer viruses is to subscribe to an antivirus program. Personally, Norton Antivirus is very easy to use and works well. It has the feature of keeping up-to-date regularly through Norton's server and regular computer scans. Although nobody is safe against new viruses, an antivirus software is the best way to protect against existent viruses (in Norton's library).

Do not give out your IP (Internet Protocol) address to others, as this is th efirst step for a hacker wanting to remotly access another person's computer.

Do not discriminate others on the Internet; some are potential hackers.

Always do back-ups of your work files. Even if your computer crashes due to hardware problem and not of a virus, you would also have a copy. You can purchase external hard-drives and send files into your own inbox. It's worth the effort and investment. "

Answer 8

For anti virus there is avg free, for spyware there is spyware blaster (constantly monitors your system and stops spyware before it gets on your machine) and spybot search & destroy (does a full system scan in case spyware blaster misses anything). For firewall there is zone alarm free.

All these programs are free and as good as any of the "Pay Software" out there.

Answer 9

Free security software.The stuff i use and thousands of others too i guess lol.
AVG antivirus.
Zonealarm firewall.You just want the free edition of that.
Windows Defender antispyware.
Also get the Yahoo toolbar as that has a bloody good popup blocker and its own antispyware too.

Answer 10

You can safely use more than one antispyware product. The only problem you might encounter is conflicts between them.
Try Spyware Terminator - it's free and includes resident protection (something you have to pay for with Ewido and others!)
http://www.spywareterminator.com/
and Superantispyware - also free
http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Super-Anti-Spyware/SuperAntiSpyware.html

don't use more than one antivirus product.For added security you can use McAfee Site Advisor to warn you about potentially bad sites
http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ie.html

also use spywareblaster - free and essential
http://www.filehippo.com/download_spywareblaster/
and a free privacy utility to keep your system running smoothly called CCleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Answer 11

Spydocotor is a good program >>


Check out http://www.Download.com

Thousands of progs to try before you buy!


There is one called AVG, it is free for personal use, but for business use it costs some cash. It's advised that you use it with another anti-virus program like Norton. I use it with the Anti-Spyware "Spybot" which is also free. You can download AVG at: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-vir...