Whats the best security freeware for xp?

Question

I'm formatting my hard drive, so when I'm back up and running, what do I need to make it secure? I've been told that Zone Alarm and Spybot are good and should be all I need. Is that true?

Answer 1

You need to install one firewall.The Windows firewall doesn't stop malware on your pc from dialling out. ZA's ok but Comodo is better.
http://www.comodogroup.com/ - Comodo firewall.

You need to install one anti virus;
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/ -AVG anti virus or
http://www.avast.com - Avast Antivirus

http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/site/Main/view/Download-Free-Products.html - Bitdefender 8 doesn't run in the background and can be used as a second back up anti virus.

You need all these anti spyware programs;
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5 - AVG anti spyware
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware. Use the Teatimer settings to protect Internet Explorer, and the Immuniser to stop malware getting on your pc.
Spywareblaster works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. It won't uninstall spyware that is already on your pc, but it will prevent hijacks and other malicious changes to your browser.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com
Plus;
http://www.lavasoft.com - Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware

And these are useful utilities;
http://www.mozilla.com/ - Firefox web browser.
https://addons.mozilla.org/search.php?q=ad+block&type=A&app=firefox - Adblock Plus
http://www.ccleaner.com - Cr*pcleaner Registry cleaner and privacy tool
Winpatrol is a handy utility that will manage your startup programs and cookies.
http://www.winpatrol.com
http://www.siteadvisor.com -MacAffee Site Advisor warns about malware on sites you are about to visit.

Answer 2

It is subjective. If you ask 10 people the same question, you might very well get 10 different answers. There are a lot of factors you have to consider. Do you want to spend money on software? Are you using an older machine which has less RAM and a slower CPU? Do you see yourself needing technical support?

There is no shortage of good free antivirus programs, such as Avast, Antivir and AVG. All 3 are free for personal non commercial use. They all have good to very good detection and removal rate.

If you are willing to spend money, the top 3 antivirus programs are: Kaspersky, Norton and McAfee - not necessarily in this order. However, be warned, all 3 programs require a lot of resources and can slow down even an otherwise fast computer. Kaspersky is expensive at $70 while Norton and McAfee costs $50. All 3 are Internet security suites which includes: an antivirus, anti spyware and firewall program. There are other frills like anti spam, parental controls and anti phish features. Technical support is very expensive, as high as $15 per minute on the telephone with the tech support rep. ZoneAlarm is also a good choice. Recently, ZoneAlarm improved its antivirus program which was once medicore at best.

Spybot is a free anti spyware application. It was one of the very first anti spyware programs - if not the very first one. Unfortunately, it is fairly outdated and was found to only detect 50% of spyware and even scored less trying to remove them. Good free alternatives would be Microsoft's Windows Defender, Lavasoft's Ad Aware and/or Spyware Terminator.

Webroot's SpySweeper and PC Tool's Spyware Doctor have consistently been the top 2 anti spyware program, each detecting more than 90% of spyware and removing them just as efficiently. However, they are resource hogs. Each easily uses more than 100MB of RAM. When scanning, it easily uses more than 90% of the CPU. I tried both programs and I had to uninstall them because they made my computer so slow it became unbearable.

You can find many of these programs at www.filehippo.com

Answer 3

I have used AVG Anti Virus, Zone Alarm Firewall, Spy-bot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware both spyware killers for years. They are all free for personal use and I have had no trouble with Viruses Trojans etc. AVG does not slow the system down as much as some other products and Zone Alarm allows a lot of personal configuration unlike the Windows Firewall. They can all be downloaded from the following link. http://www.computeractive.co.uk/ On the home page select downloads and then the appropriate category.I also use Windows Defender from the Microsoft site. It is safe to use two anti-spy products but never use more than one A/V as it can cause conflicts. You should run A/V and anti spy weekly. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

No ZA and Spybot don't protect all ur PC you need a anti-virus too like this!
free AOL ActiveVirusShield but don't let AOL make you "DOH!" Its made by Kaspersky Lab which are best AV / IS makers in the WORLD! In recent tests All so popular,AVG Free,was only able to detect 82% of viruses but ActiveVirusShield detected over 99% of them!

Full details here=http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=85&mnu=85

AOL or NOT to get all this protection!

It scans for Viruses,Trojans,Ad ware,riskware and many more!

heres the URL:http://www.activevirusshield.com/

Answer 5

i use mcafee security suite on line and avg for my spyware i have been useing these two for almost 10 yrs and have never been invaded by anything or anyone that wasnt caught and cleaned before it could do any damage you get what you pay for if its free its ok but not the best and norton is the worst i do computer repairs and i use my emergence disk from mcafee to clean peoples norton first i run there norton and it says all is fine then i run mine and usually fines around 100 to 150 problems virus and others that norton did not. but its up to you. and yes i pay for my avg spyware renews itself every 2 yrs. to keep my sys in perfect order i also use regmechanic and perfect disk 8 i run all my programs weekly like on a night when theres nothing good on tv and i havent had a crash or trogen or virus or nothin in over 5 yrs. so what im doing works and my sys is fast. Good Luck.

Answer 6

Anti-virus: AVG Pro
and
Anti-Spyware: Adaware SE Professional + Ad-watch

Answer 7

Actually ZoneAlarm is not necessary because windowsXP has a built in firewall. SpyBot is recommended you can also use AVG 7.5 Free AntiVirus you can download it from the following URL
http://www.download.com/3001-2239_4-10669237.html
Download will start automatically after you open the page
If you have Genuine WindowsXP You can also Download IE7 and WinDefender they are great.....
Happy Computing!

Answer 8

Forget zonealarm. Go to www.comodo.com and download Comodo Pro Free
Go to www.superantispyware.com and download the Free version
Go to www.download.com and download Eraser 5.7 Free
Go to www.grisoft.com and download A V G 7.5 Free Anti-virus

Answer 9

most virus are spread through IE. IE is not a safe browser. you should use a more secure browser to protect your PC from virus.

i recommand you to use firefox with Google toolbar. firefox can block any any popup and disable any virus and adware, spyware on webpage, so, firefox is much safer than IE browser. as you know, most of virus spread throught internet and webpage.

besides, firefox is much smaller than IE, so it run faster than IE.

download firefox for free, Just have a try:

http://www.163flash.net/firefox/

Good Luck !!!

Answer 10

I've had Symantec for over 3 years. They've never failed me once. Honestly, I believe they're the best. Great, in-depth virus scans and thorough protection.