Anti-Virus Advice

Ms_MoneyPenny_2

Hi,

I am about to get a new laptop.

Is it worth paying out for anti virus?

or should I go for the free stuff?

which of the free and paid are best and how do they compare?

cheers all replies

DCFC79

Ms_MoneyPenny wrote: »

Hi,

I am about to get a new laptop.

Is it worth paying out for anti virus?

or should I go for the free stuff?

which of the free and paid are best and how do they compare?

cheers all replies

theres good anti virus for free ike avg, avast, you will also need a firewall if you havent got 1 already and possibly some anti spyware

StewieGriffin

Whenever i used Norton, it slowed my machine so much I just got rid of it and used AVG, which seems to work very well to be honest...

Conor_3

Yes it is worth paying. NOD32 has higher detection rates and scans at least twice as fast as all the free ones and the scan speed is important as it directly affects the system performance.

jjscotman

Excellent free anti virus are AVG, Avira Anti Vir and Avast.

Combine one with them with free anti spyware programs like Spybot, Ad-aware and spyware blaster.

In addition it is esssential to use a good firewall. Personally I use sunbelt kerio as its convenient and not complicated like comodo which gets good reviews but seems far more difficult to use.

martin has an excellent article on how to protect your pc for free.

It is here:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-anti-virus-software

He also has another article on how to kit out your pc, also for free:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-office-software

There is no need to pay for protection provided you keep your anti virus/anti spyware programs up to date and exercise common sense in not opening suspicious attachments etc

aliEnRIK

I personally recommend Avira anti virus
http://www.download.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html?part=dl-10322935&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=10877501

Comodo firewall
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html

Spybot (stops popups in browsers)
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html
UPDATE, IMMUNISE and scan monthly

and Malwarebytes (good quick second scanner)
http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html
UPDATE and QUICK scan monthly

NODs very good if you MUST pay. DONT buy Norton or Mcafee!

Mr_Yoda

Conor wrote: »

Yes it is worth paying. NOD32 has higher detection rates and scans at least twice as fast as all the free ones and the scan speed is important as it directly affects the system performance.

I'm currently using Eset Smart Security (which includes NOD32). I have to say i'm very impressed with it, very light on resources as well.

I've only ever used free ones when a subscription to a paid for software has finished. PC security is something which i'd always pay for (makes me feel less paranoid when on the net).

espresso

Mr_Yoda wrote: »

I've only ever used free ones when a subscription to a paid for software has finished. PC security is something which i'd always pay for (makes me feel less paranoid when on the net).

That's a bit of an oxymoron isn't it?

:rolleyes:

Mr_Yoda

espresso wrote: »

That's a bit of an oxymoron isn't it?

:rolleyes:

I don't think so. I've made some poor choices in the past with security suites and been unsure what to go for next. So rather than not have anything, or use one which i'm not 100% sure about, i'll download a free one for a few days just to stay protected.

It makes sense to me (maybe not other people).

Airwolf1

Norton doesn't use as much resources now, but even so, when my current subscription expires, I'll be going to F-Secure, and getting their Internet Security suite.

peter_the_piper

TorrestheGreat wrote: »

I use no virus protection at all, but if I did it would be NOD32- the others are AWFUL.

Hopefully you're on a Mac or using Linux, if not you're an accident waiting to happen,:eek: