Do i need antivirus and a firewall..(non-techie)

paultw5

Quick question..

Do i need Antivirus software aswell as Firewall, i am sure the answer will be yes, so what are the differences between the two. I thought they were both designed to keep out bugs. I am missing out on something really important here, but have searched for an answer without success..

Thanks Paul......

Donnie

Without a firewall, it's easier for someone to gain access to your computer.
An anti virus will help to prevent malevolent programs from being installed and executed on your computer.

So the answer is yes, you need both.

whotook316

Head over to https://www.download.com. There you will be able to read about and download the most popular free anti-virus and firewall applications. And yes, you do need them if you want to surf and e-mail safely.

albertross_2

you also need antispyware , see sticky thread..

paultw5

Thanks people.

So a firewall would basically stop my PC from being hacked into. Antivirus would stop the bugs/worms etc from emails.

Now spyware, hav'nt looked into that, is there a quick answer to what that stops/protects against.

Off to check out download.com......

Edit: just checked the stickies at the top of the techie forum...DOH!!!..oh well i did say i'm a non-techie..thanks again...

albertross_2

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

https://www.ccleaner.com is also useful for tidying up.

paultw5

OK, added AVG-antivirus....Kerio-Firewall....Ad-Aware-spyware.

Does that sound OK? should i be looking for anymore (seems i could go on for ever)

Also when downloading Kerio it removed my XP Firewall..Was that the right thing to do?, or should i have left the XP Firewall instead of Kerio...

Cheers, Paul......

albertross_2

If you are on broadband, a router is better than a modem (built-in nat and hardware firewall), personally I wouldn't put a PC on the internet without one.

Ad-aware is an ondemand scanner, so it doesn't capture spyware until after you have got it, an on access scanner is better, (but keep ad-aware as well, strength in depth), defender or spybot does that.

There are also rootkit scanners available from http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.html

https://europe.f-secure.com/blacklight/try.shtml

replacing xp firewall with kerio is ok.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=133269

edna_clouds

You can find a lot of the free links you need HERE...:) the site also give you a lot of usefull imformation..