Kit your PC out for free: No cost anti-virus software Discussion Area

Victor_Meldrew_5

geordie_joe wrote:

Yep, I got caught out with that. Switched the computer on one morining and up came a box saying AVG Free 7.1 will die on 15 jan 07. With a large button that let me to the paid version of AVG 7.5.

My immediate reaction was to post on here to let other people know, and to ask for and alternatives. Instantly I got messages saying "read the small print" AVG 7.5 FREE is still available. But you had to dig deep to find it.

IMO this was just a marketing ploy to try and fool some unsuspecting users into buying the AVG before they realised it was still available as the free version.

I was a bit embaressed at falling for it, but very grateful for the people in here who were quick to point it out, and save me money.

I completely agree, it almost duped me into paying for version 7.5 as well but fortunately I read further down the page!

Chris357

Not everything out there is as it seems. All the programs Martin mentioned are authentic but some are bogus,ready to catch the unwary. An infamous example is the case of advertising.com which tried to get people to use their anti-spyware program call Spyblast. This program actually put spyware onto victim's computers and advertising.com were prosecuted by the American FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Advertising.com are still going strong but an authentic anti-spyware program that is any good will automatically block anything to do with them.

Martin recommends companies like Rpoints to shave a little off the price of goods bought on the internet. They are very good but they will encourage you to earn a few extra points by turning off your anti-spyware program and visit dodgy sites run by advertising.com. These sites may be OK but I wouldn't count on it. It's better to be safe than sorry.

It is also better not to rely on one program to keep you safe. It's not being paranoid - no one program works exactly the same as another and their databases of nasties are not exactly the same. The exception is with the firewall - use one good one and stick with it. I use the latest free AVG with TrojanHunter (a specialist trojan detector). Using two such programs at the same time is not usually advisable but the two work in quite different ways and do not clash. This combination is better than the best paid for antivirus program. You can also (amongst other things) get a free scan at PC Pitstop.

For adware and spyware I do scans with Ad-aware and Spybot ,which have already been mentioned. I use PestPatrol ( no longer free unfortunately) as a real time detector (like the antivirus programs). It also includes a spyware cookie killer and a program to detect keyloggers.

Other good free stuff? You could try SpywareBlaster and IE-SPYAD.

Runtboy

Hi all never posted before but I guess this is the right sort of area to put this up.

If you want free Office software, so Excell, Word and all that then try out OpenOffice. My 'Geek it till it megahurtz' friend at work recomended it to me. Its essensially the same thing as Microsofts version but free!!

It's completely legal and always nice to avoid giving Bill Gates more of your money. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I'm in the process of doing so.

I'll update to let you all know if it's any good.

Reed_Richards

If you have the Windows Firewall that comes with Windows XP Service Pack 2 then I would NOT recommend the average computer user to install a software firewall.

Software firewalls have a nasty habit of asking you questions about programs with unrecognisable names so you have no choice but to guess or blindly follow the recommended setting. They are also very good a blocking network connections so you cannot get two computers to share the same printer.

On the other hand I would strongly recommend that if you have broadband internet via a modem and an earlier version of Windows than XP (e.g. 98, ME) you get a software firewall. Otherwise you are just too vulnerable to hacking. And if you have not updated your copy of Windows XP to Service Pack 2 then for heavens sake do it.

davidmccambley

I Haven't seen anyone mention google pack yet

http://pack.google.com

as long as you run windows XP it gives you a free version of norton antivirus 2005 - beats the pants of AVG anyday. I run WIN2K and so use AVG and zonealarm, I'm not all that impressed with AVG so I will give the others mentioned a try.
Microsoft's Windows defender appears to be poor at picking up malware when compared to ad-aware and spybot so I wouldn't bother - cheers.

superscaper

Reed_Richards wrote:

Software firewalls have a nasty habit of asking you questions about programs with unrecognisable names so you have no choice but to guess or blindly follow the recommended setting. They are also very good a blocking network connections so you cannot get two computers to share the same printer.

That's the whole point though. It's the fact that Windows Firewall does NOT ask you permission for outgoing connections that's very worrying, so basically anything on your pc can send whatever data it wants and you have no control over limiting the permissions of different apps or picking up on malicious software sending sensitive information out.

Zahc

Reed_Richards wrote:

If you have the Windows Firewall that comes with Windows XP Service Pack 2 then I would NOT recommend the average computer user to install a software firewall.

Software firewalls have a nasty habit of asking you questions about programs with unrecognizable names so you have no choice but to guess or blindly follow the recommended setting. They are also very good a blocking network connections so you cannot get two computers to share the same printer.

On the other hand I would strongly recommend that if you have broadband internet via a modem and an earlier version of Windows than XP (e.g. 98, ME) you get a software firewall. Otherwise you are just too vulnerable to hacking. And if you have not updated your copy of Windows XP to Service Pack 2 then for heavens sake do it.

The thing is, XP firewall doesn't block out going traffic, hence the prompts to allow the user to agree to the traffic or not when using a third party firewall. All the firewalls I've used are eminently configurable, a task not too difficult for the average user I feel. A bit of tinkering will sort out printer sharing issues and the like.
Sitting behind a router gives you a hardware firewall and is to be recommended.
I agree with your sentiments regarding SP2 though.

Zahc

Posted at the same time as Skyscraper; minds as one......

superscaper

Zahc wrote:

minds as one......

The best ones usually are :beer:

ianfabris

Just read your article and was impressed at the depth of detail, but noticed that you didn't mention that the latest versions of Firefox (2.0)and IE (7.0) have anti-phishing protection (blocks access to rogue sites trying to access your personal details by pretending to be something they aren't.)

Slightly unrelated - other free (non security) software which is as good as their commercial equivalent: Open Office (free office suite with full compatibility with MS Office, its a bit slow starting up, but its fully featured and there's nothing in MS Office that I use that can't be found here), GIMP (a very powerful drawing package which is very highly featured, just a little user unfriendly for newbies) and Audacity (for any users brave or curious enough to want to edit audio files)

tparkin

I have read all of these posts with interest, and freeware and open source software have been a long held passion of mine. I am currently writing a website to highlight and promote what is available, which is aimed at the novice and intermediate PC user.

It's truly amazing just how many people there are who are blissfully unaware that free software exists. As many of these posts suggest, you can secure your PC to a very high standard just by using free software. I must admit I am a bit of a traitor to the cause as I use NOD32 as my anti-virus programme. However, NOD32 is a top rated application that is very low on system resources, and at about £50 for a 3-year license, not too expensive.

In addition to this I use Windows Defender and Spyware Terminator for real time spyware protection, as well as a programme called Cyberhawk, which doesn't rely upon signature updates, and blocks any malicious activity. I also use AVG Anti-spyware to run the occasional scan. I am currently using Comodo as my firewall, but have used Zone Alarm and Sygate Personal Firewall in the past.

The issue to consider with all security software is ease of use and understanding for the average PC user. Some security programmes can be very talkative (Spyware Terminator certainly is), and if a novice user clicks Yes/Accept on every warning that pops up then there is no point in having it.

As a minimum, everyone should aim to have at least the following security applications on their PC:

Anti-virus: AVG or Avast!
Firewall: Comodo or Sunbelt Kerio or Sygate or Zone Alarm
Anti-spyware (resident): Windows Defender and Spybot or Spyware Terminator

Then, if you are a bit more concerned about your PC security, you can add an on demand scanner such as AVG Anti-spyware, and a further layer of protection in the form of WinPatrol or Cyberhawk. The age and power of your PC may influence the number of programmes you install, although a newish PC should be able to cope with all of the above without breaking into a sweat.

The above recommendations are just my personal view, and I'm sure not everyone will agree. It is also important to realise that the security software market is constantly evolving, and what is seen as the best programme today could be quickly outdone by a new programme tomorrow.

I would also urge everyone to ditch Internet Explorer and opt for either Firefox or Opera. I have been a Firefox user for a couple of years, and recently got more into using Opera following the recent launch of the new version. I would side with Firefox as being my favourite, but Opera has a lot to offer and may suit some users. Both are much more secure than IE - they are less likely to be subject to malicious attacks, and security vulnerabilities tend to get patched within days, rather than the weeks or even months that Microsoft sometimes take to patch IE.

As for Linux, I am a big fan, and currently run a dual boot PC with Windows XP and Freespire. I won't go on too much about Linux as I'll bore everyone to tears (if I haven't already). However, it's worth checking out, and you can do so by obtaining what's known as a live CD version of one of the popular versions of Linux (distros as they are commonly known), which enables you to try it out without installation on your PC.

If it weren't for the fact that there are currently no decent CAD and personal finance packages for Linux (I use AutoCAD and Microsoft Money) I would ditch Windows altogether and just use Linux.