I just bought a new (used) laptop and it has no antivirus/spyware. Im looking for the best free program (or combination of programs) to use
Computer folks help me out
- Thread starter king nothing
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But for fulltime AV, MS Essentials for sure. Just don't start installing a bunch of other in-memory AV programs as that could bog down your system and cause conflicts.
OK, It has MS security essentials on it. Should I get something else as well? I dont want to bog the machine down running too much at once
I recommend you just buy Norton Internet Security. It is not expensive. Doesn't hog resources and is very easy to use. Protects while surfing the net and it has their anti-virus software. You can buy a single user license at Amazon (download) for only $19.90. It's the 2012 version and basically the same as 2013. You won't find anything better and it's dirt cheap.
Amazon.com: Norton Internet Security 2012 - 1 User / 1 PC: Software
Amazon.com: Norton Internet Security 2012 - 1 User / 1 PC: Software
What he said.
Kaspersky is the best thing going.
I quit using Norton shortly after he sold out to symantec. I have tried several iterations of his stuff since then and have not been convinced that it is worth the hassle. he is ok as long as you are willing to let him take control over your shit. which I am not. if you are happy with it that is all that matters
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I am not convinced that Kaspersky doesn't write a fair number of viruses just so they can be first to the market with the fix. My AV used to go off on a regular basis and any google search of what it found would take me to a kaspersky add and offer to fix it for a fee. that and the fact that they are based out of Russia is enough to make me not trust them farther than I can throw my cobra.
I have been pretty impressed with malwarebytes, and used to use spybot all the time. on my PCs herelately I have developed a liking for AVG Paid version. they ahve a free version that is pretty good as well.
Yeah, Dave, I know Norton isn't a favorite to everyone. I've had my issues over the years and even went with Kaspersky for two years. Their customer support was horrible. And I, too, wasn't overly thrilled using a product offered and supported by a Russian company. So I ended up going back to Norton and (so far) I'm happy. Fortunately, there are a number of great alternatives, both free and paid. ;-)
On an up-note, last weekend I had an issue with Norton's Toolbar not being compatible with my latest version of Firefox, and I use Identity Safe all the time. I called their customer support and wasn't expecting to get far, but I was pleasantly surprised that with 15 minutes on the phone we got the problem resolved. So their customer support has greatly improved.
While NIS is fairly effective, it is also one of the most resource intensive products on the market. The guys at my work that deal with home user stuff spend a lot of time removing and fixing issues caused by Norton Internet Security. In fact, the same can be said for most Symantec products these days, even at the enterprise level.
Microsoft Security Essentials is free and fairly effective. If you bought your machine used, and don't plan to reload the OS on it, I suggest you download Malwarebytes also. Make sure to fully update it after you downloaded and installed, then run a full scan with it.
The best virus protection is common sense. Don't go to websites that you aren't familiar with, and if you insist on going to those sites, use Firefox with the NoScript extension installed. Don't use Internet Explorer, ever, use Chrome or Firefox with Adblock. Don't make a habit using other people's flash drives, don't download "free screensavers", toolbars, "free backgrounds", etc. A good rule of thumb, if something is free on the internet, there's probably a catch. There's a good chance that catch is going to be some sort of Malware somewhere.
sorry, no, that sucks. It kills resources on your machine, especially if it's a little older.
^ agree with that all
^agreed
I've been liking the latest things from BitDefender. Again though, anything thats running live scans on every page will certainly slow down your internet browsing experience. Turning off the A/V firewall and just using Windows Firewall is one way to avoid many of the slowness issues plagued with "internet security" types of antivirus.
Hmmm, Steve, interesting. I guess because everything "seems" to be running fine with Norton Internet Security I haven't paid much attention to how much system resources it typically uses. I'm running a scan now and I can see it is fairly high on average. I'm using Process Explorer to monitor system resources.
Well, maybe it's time to re-evaluate my setup. I'll definitely consider your advice (and RDJ's) as far as Norton products, mine in particular.
i use AVG free on all my computers
:bash::bash::bash:
I just use Microsoft's MSE on my personal machines and have never had any problems or viruses.
Bob the newest versions of Norton don't eat up that many resources. I'll try to find some graphs/reviews. I've had good experiences with NIS for my clients, but it has broken a firewall or two...but I think that has to do with the use sometimes. If you want something very light on resources, check out Webroot SecureAnywhere. Good product.
I have Malwarebytes on my laptop and it's been great. Bought it from Newegg.com when it was on sale for like, $10-15.
OK, so its got MSE on it and I downloaded Malwarebytes. hopefully Ill be covered
Just stay away from McAfee. It came free with my Dell I bought last year but I've been infected twice and had to do a system restore to rid myself of the infection. Had McAfee on an earlier computer and it didn't mesh well with my set-up so I canned it. I have used Norton and I will say I never had infections, but it did make my computer very slow on start up.
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