I have zone alarm security suite and am reasonably happy with it. I am pretty good at configuring it now for use with my kids games.Warcraft etc need ports open and some constant tweaking seems needed, esp for hosting. My subscription to Zone alarm is about to end and I do not really want to learn a new program. It has been recommended that I ditch it and use a combo of free software [Zone alarm free firewall, spybot, AVG, adaware] which I would readily do but I fear that there will be far less configuration allowed with Zone alarm free and therefore game play will be badly affected.
2006-10-14 17:07:29 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
Here you have a list of good and free programs:
http://askcomputerexpert.ws43.com/download.html
I honestly recomend Zone Alarm.
2006-10-14 21:59:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was using Zone Alarm free and the free spy bot programs and anti virus programs. You have to run them by hand which means you do not have full time protection. I have been at this for years and I have tried other big name brand programs like norton and found that Zone Alarm is the best.
Pay your 49 bucks and let it take care of you. I have yet to get a virus and it has blocked lots of hackers over the years. You can add one free program with Zone Alarm security suite.. Avast anti virus. It is free to home users but business has to pay for it. It has a built in spy bot checker as well as the virus scanner.
Take my advise and keep Zone Alarm. It is worth the money to be sure you are protected.
And remember free software is normally not free long and normally if it is free it will not get updatted as much as a paid brand.
I have fixed 3 computers in the last month that was using the AOL firewall and was full of bots and virus. It is the same program that PeplePC and Earthlink uses. It is simply junk and you have to pay 7 bucks a month for it. It is in no way free. Zone alarm is a once a year fee of less then 50 bucks which is about 4 bucks a month.
2006-10-14 17:20:39 · answer #2 · answered by Don K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ZoneAlarm firewall is poorly engineered. It is not secure, and is known for bugs with some software. I switched to sygate personal firewall, and I was quite impressed at the level of security. It has never bogged down my computer at all.
Unfortunately, it seems that sygate personal firewall free is not available anymore since Symantec bought them (Symantec, I hate you). Even though it is no longer available on their website, you can download it here http://www.filehippo.com/download_sygate_personal_firewall/
2006-10-14 17:16:27 · answer #3 · answered by Kyle D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The new product, named SteelSecurity, is specifically designed for online gamers, and offers complete anti-virus and firewall protection that has been enhanced with an advanced spamfilter and online backup system, ensuring that the user’s online game experience will never be interrupted by malware or virus attacks.
SteelSecurity automatically transitions into “game mode” each time the user launches a supported online game. In “game mode” the application uses only minimal system resources, never initiating system scans and halts auto-updating of virus definitions to allow the user to focus completely on their games. The security application offers integrated support for most popular PC games, and auto-updates with new game profiles as new PC game titles are released.
“We are extremely exited about SteelSecurity and the opportunity to use our extensive knowledge about online gaming to create a unique piece of software,” said Tom Reese, Managing Director at SteelSeries North America. “The combination of our gaming know-how and BullGuard’s first class knowledge about security, have resulted in an amazing product.”
“We can’t think of a better partner for a venture into the gaming market” said Heini Zachariassen, Chief Executive Officer at BullGuard. “SteelSeries dedication and focus towards complete enhancement of the users gaming experience, combined with our knowledge about security software and easy-to-use interfaces, is a match made in heaven.”
SteelSecurity’s advanced anti-virus software proactively screens incoming and outgoing e-mails, Internet downloads, ZIP, hard, and network drives, and more for viruses and malware, offering dynamic protection against malicious computer programs. The application’s easy-to-use interface provides intuitive control over security settings, automatically updating to combat new viruses at a frequency that surpasses almost all anti-virus software that is currently available. In addition, the application’s firewall monitors for port scans, Denial of Service attacks, MAC address spoofing, and more, all the while supervising application Internet access to prevent hacker and Trojan attacks.
Additional features of the SteelSecurity application include:
Online Backup: SteelSecurity’s online backup system allows users to upload game settings, in-game replays and other crucial files to a secure server and access them from anywhere in the world, ensuring that the user’s most important files will be protected under all circumstances;
Spamfilter: Fully integrating with the most popular e-mail applications available, the SteelSecurity Spamfilter leverages the collective input of all SteelSecurity users to identify and block spam;
World-class Support: 24/7 e-mail and chat support ensures that all questions by SteelSecurity users will be answered in an average of one hour or less.
Upon release, SteelSecurity will be available for free as part of a three-month trial period. Additional information about the SteelSecurity platform is available online at www.steelseries.com/security.
2006-10-14 17:33:45 · answer #4 · answered by Dave B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That new set-up looks good except that AVG is junk. It scores very poorly on virus detection tests.
............................................................
The top 25 in virus detection rates from a recent test at
http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=82&mnu=82
Those with a link are free versions.
..........................................................
1. Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303 - 99.62%
2. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299 - 99.62%
http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
3. F-Secure 2006 version 6.12.90 - 96.86%
4. BitDefender Professional version 9 - 96.63%
5. CyberScrub version 1.0 - 95.98%
6. eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 95.82%
7. BitDefender freeware version 8.0.202 - 95.57%
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html
8. BullGuard version 6.1 - 95.57%
9. AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02 - 95.45%
10. Nod32 version 2.51.30 - 95.14%
11. AntiVir Classic version 7.01.01.02 - 94.26%
http://www.free-av.com/
12. ViruScape 2006 version 1.02.0935.0137 - 93.87%
13. McAfee version 10.0.27 - 93.03%
14. McAfee Enterprise version 8.0.0 - 91.76%
15. F-Prot version 6.0.4.3 beta - 87.88%
16. Avast Professional version 4.7.871 - 87.46%
17. Avast freeware version 4.7.871 - 87.46%
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
18. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 - 86.03%
19. Norman version 5.90.23 - 85.65%
20. F-Prot version 3.16f - 85.14%
21. ArcaVir 2006 - 83.44%
22. Norton Professional 2006 - 83.18%
23. AVG Professional version 7.1.405 - 82.82%
24. AVG freeware version 7.1.405 - 82.82%
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5
25. Panda 2007 version 2.00.01 - 82.23%
Personally, I use the AOL AntiVirusShield. Don't let the name AOL scare you. AntiVirusShield is made by Kaspersky which is one of top-rated anti-virus vendors in the world.
In recent tests, the most popular free anti-virus, AVG, was only able to detect about 82% of a very large sample of viruses. On the other hand, AntiVirusShield was able to detect better than 99% in the same test.
http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=82&mnu=82
AOL AntiVirusShield has excellent virus detection rates and is extremely light on using your computer resources.
Free to anyone, AOL member or not.
2006-10-14 17:17:49 · answer #5 · answered by jibberjabar 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You an get all reputed antivirus and antiSpyware
software....can purchase or for free... visit.....
http://computerhelp-downloads.blogspot.com
"Computer Help"
For your questions about hardware, software, internet, general or for downloads
http://computerhelp-downloads.blogspot.com
2006-10-14 18:10:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋