Computer security

maggiesoup

Hi all,

Can anyone advise what's really needed for security. We just use the computer at home. I've been contacted by McAfee trying to renewal last year's membership with Parental Controls, Anti-Spam and VirusScan Plus totalling almost £75 which seems a bit excessive and I'm not sure if I need all of this or should I go to PC World and buy something off the shelf?

Thanks.

isofa

You can achieve all you need with good free software.

Free anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls and all sorts, read through the FAQ and info on this forum.

aliEnRIK

I wouldnt touch Mcafee with a bargepole and theyre taking the absolute p*ss at trying to charge you 75 quid (You can buy it way cheaper elsewhere ~ NOT that im suggesting you do)

If you MUST buy one ~ buy Kaspersky

But isofa correct. Theres free software that would do (WAY better than mcafee too)

Make sure you use the MCAFEE REMOVAL TOOL (Otherwise it can be a nightmare to fully remove)
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507

Id personally suggest AVIRA anti virus
PCTOOLS firewall (Or windows firewall is ok if you use Vista)
Malwarebytes as a secondary scanner (All free)

macman

First of all, try not to walk into PCW and buy anything at all...
RIK is correct, you can get all you need free (Kaspersky is curently free for one year if you use Barclays online banking).
Even if you decided to stay with McAfee (I wouldn't) you can buy it 'new' if you must for £21.99 for a single user subscription. They are notorious for doing this trick.
http://www.mcafeestore.com/v2.0-img/operations/mcafeeuk/site/paidSearch/503982/product_comparison.html

Kane99uk

I've recently switched from McAfee on my old PC to some freebies on my new machine.

Avira anti-virus
Comodo Firewall
Combination of Spybot S&D (immunise feature, no tea-timer installed), Malwarebytes, and S.A.S. for secondary scanning

Wouldn't want McAfee again - slowed down my old machine something rotten lol

i8change

[FONT=&quot]I would take aliEnRIK's advice as he knows his stuff. The only things I would add are that if you are using a router (rather than just a modem) with a hardware firewall built in then the Microsoft firewall should suffice and will save you installing anything else.
Avira Antivir works fine if you choose the default settings when you install. It will update itself daily, automatically. You just have to set it to scan at a particular time, or else you can click "scan system now" occassionally[/FONT].
As no Antivirus is 100% foolproof, you can install Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware, also for free, and scan with those alternately as an extra safeguard, just remember to update them first before you scan. They won't interfere with your Avira Antivirus. Or if you have Java installed on your PC, Kaspersky do a free online scan which will show up any problems it finds.
If you want to be extra safe and you use the free "Firefox" web browser, rather than Internet Explorer, you can use the "Add On" called "NoScript" which will stop any attacks via Java when you click on a compromised website. You just set it to allow sites that you trust, like this one, to run Java and leave it to block Java on less trustworthy sites. This is handy if doing research and are ending up on unfamiliar and possibly dangerous sites to get the info you want.
Google "gizmo's freeware" and look at the security section for info on the various free software available, safe web browsing practice etc. It has always seemed a well informed site.

maggiesoup

Thanks everyone, esp Alienrik.