Are the FREE Internet security softwares sufficient to fully protect my PC?

Question

I know that there has been other questions regarding internet security/antivirus protection, etc. but I was wondering if I can get some feedback on the free internet security softwares out there. I am thinking of switching from Norton Internet Security, which has anitivirus, firewall, antispam, e-mail scanning and the whole lot, and replacing them with all FREE:

AVG Anti-Virus or AVAST
ZoneAlarm -basic network and program firewall
Windows Defender

and running weekly:
Ad-Aware SE personal
Spybot Search and Destroy

Will all this be enough to protect my computer? Will I get the same amount of protection that I currently have with Norton? I think Norton is okay and it seems to provide me with at least a sense of security but I am tired of paying the subscription fee. I'd like to know what people use and recommend out there.

Thanks!!

Answer 1

Hi there,

Instead of all these "Mine is better than yours" answers that go on around here, I'll instead answer with the facts.

Quite simply - Yes, Norton IS much better than AVG and Avast plus any other free utilities.

Looking at current protection ratings, AVG scores a lowly 90% protection against all known viruses, whilst Avast comes in at 92%. This means they are letting through one in every ten viruses - pretty shocking.

Norton on the other hand is protecting against something like 98.3% of all known viruses - a much better score. However as people have mentioned, Norton can be known for being a very heavy program which can tend to slow down certain machines. However, if you are not showing any of these slowdown symptoms then I wouldn't worry too much.

I honestly wouldn't waste your time with programs such as Spybot and Adaware. These used to be great programs a couple of years ago but have now been overtaken and left behind by other programs with next generation approaches.

One scary fact is if you have AVG, Spybot and Adaware installed and up-to-date, then you are only protected from 60% of all known malware (viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, etc).

If you would be interested in other Security products that are better than Norton, you should try either Prevx1, Kaspersky or F-Secure who all score over a 99% protection rating.

Answer 2

Yes thos are all good programs. These are the ones I use and I havent had a virus in over a year.

All of these are ones that I personally use and all are free.

AVG Removes I-Worm/Stration · BackDoor.Generic3.GBB and .GBC · Worm/Generic.FX · Exploit.WMF
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
http://www.safer-networking.org/

http://superantispyware.com/
SUPERAntiSpyware is the most thorough scanner on the market. Our Multi-Dimensional Scanning and Process Interrogation Technology will detect spyware that other products miss! SUPERAntiSpyware will remove ALL the Spyware, NOT just the easy ones!
Easily remove over 100,000 pests such as SmitFraud, Vundo, WinFixer, SpyAxe, SpyFalcon, WinAntiVirus, AntiVermins and thousands more!
Make sure after you download any of these, that you update them.

*Be sure to come back to Yahoo Q&A and vote for one of the answers as best answer!

Answer 3

You are right. Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 is best - I am using it from last 3 years - Never my system got affected with Virus - Its 100 % safe.

Answer 4

It should work. I'd suggest that if you don't have it already, get a router to put between you and the internet. It'll give you an extra level of protection against internet worms (malware that finds an open hole in your system and worms its way into the system).

Answer 5

I recommend Safety and Security Center. It is the total package. Firewall,antivirus,antispyware. It is also free.

Answer 6

Norton s****!

yeah! these new softies are good enough to protect ur pc. but if u choose avast then its web shield will say cant work with zonelabs together.. blah blah blah!
i personally recommand nod32 antivirus [eset.com]. its not free but its worth its little price and ZA is the best combination with nod32.

Thanks

Answer 7

Yes. And here you have some more good and free security programs:
http://askcomputerexpert.ws43.com/download/security.htm

Answer 8

yes