Which anti virus and how to back up pc

Granny_Sue

Sorry I should have said that I have had avg in the past but after upgrading, everything starting going wrong, so much so that I removed it.
processor; Intel [R] Pentium[R] Dual CPU E2180 @ 2.00GHz 2.0GHz
memory 3.00 GB
system type 32bit
Vista

whattochoose

slinga wrote: »

From Windows Secrets
I've shortened it a bit because MSE won't allow such a long post.

Do a thorough review of your PC's defenses
Firewall: Put your firewall through its paces to ensure that your PC is not visible or potentially accessible to Internet-based hackers. The following sites offer free, easy-to-use, firewall-testing tools and services.

• HackerWatch Probe
• Gibson Research Corporation's ShieldsUP (Figure 5 shows some of what you might see after running ShieldsUP.) Figure 5. This partial output of ShieldsUP firewall tests shows the tested PC is invisible and inaccessible to Internet snoops and hackers.

Antivirus: Verify that your system is free of worms, viruses, Trojans, and other malware by running a full scan with a standalone security tool such as ESET's Online Scanner (site), Microsoft's Safety Scanner (site), or Trend Micro's HouseCall (site).
Wi-Fi Router: Many current Wi-Fi routers contain a flaw in their implementation of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). Hackers might easily breach your Wi-Fi defenses, regardless of what encryption and password you use. To see whether your router is affected — and what to do if it is — check out the Dec. 13, 2012, Top Story, "Routers using WPS are intrinsically unsafe," and the Dec. 20, 2012, follow-up story, "Putting Wi-Fi router's security to the test."
Take out all the trash accumulated in Windows
Windows is something of a pack rat (as are most PC users when it comes to their systems); it can accumulate truly astounding amounts of digital debris, including temporary files that sometimes become all too permanent.
Fortunately, there are many excellent disk-cleanup tools available. Windows' own cleanmgr is one — if you know how to access its hidden settings. They're documented in an April 4, 2002, article, "Sageset unlocks CleanMgr's power." The how-to instructions in that ancient story still work perfectly in all current Windows versions.
Some third-party cleanup tools can do even more, as explained in the July 16, 2015, Top Story, "Are system/Registry cleaners worthwhile?"
Defrag (or optimize) data on hard disks
A major hard-drive cleanup often results in fragmentation — files and pieces of files scattered across the hard drive that can waste drive space. Defragmenting can improve drive performance on all spinning-platter drives, but it's not needed (or wanted) on solid-state drives.
Microsoft has online instructions for using the Windows disk defragmenter tool in Vista and Win7. Win8 takes a somewhat different approach: instead of a simple disk-defragmenter tool, Win8 and Win10 have Optimize Drives (see Figure 6), which includes automated SSD support.
The changes in Optimize Drive are explained in a Microsoft TechNet discussion. A Win8 support page gives more how-to information; it applies to Windows 10, too.
Preserve and protect your data — Take 2
After your system is updated, cleaned, defragged, and otherwise optimized, make a new full backup or system image to preserve your new setup. This way, if anything goes wrong in the coming months, you'll be able to return your PC to its fully cleaned and optimized condition in just a few clicks.
See Preserve and protect, Part 1, at the top of this article, for links and more info.
Dust you must, for a truly clean PC
We think of our PCs as electronic devices — and they are — but they're also mechanical systems. Most PCs have cooling fans that constantly draw in room air. Over time, the inside of your PC can become astonishingly choked with dust, resulting in poor air flow, higher temperatures, and shorter component life.
The Oct. 13, 2011, Top Story, "Take your PC's temperature — for free!" shows how to check whether your PC is running warmer than it should — and how to clean it, if it is.
There's additional cleaning information in the July 1, 2004, article, "Right and wrong ways to de-dust a PC," and in a 2005 article, "Getting the grunge out of your PC," that I wrote for another publication.
You're now ready for another year of computing
Congratulations! Your PC should now be good to go for the new year. Here's hoping 2015 is free from bugs, crashes, and other PC misfortunes.
For more stories on general PC maintenance, see:

• "Keep a healthy PC: A routine-maintenance guide" – Jan. 16, 2014, Top Story
• "Tools for finding PC-performance bottlenecks" – Feb. 12, 2015, Top Story
• "Free first aid for a wide range of Windows ills" – June 11, 2015, Top Story
• "How to safely test file and image backups" – April 16, 2015, Top Story
• "Activate Windows' hidden, master admin account" – May 14, 2015, Top Story
• "Learn to use the Windows 10 Recovery Drive" – Sept. 17, 2015, Top Story
• "Prepping a Win7 PC for the Win10 upgrade" – July 2, 2015, LangaList Plus column (in the paid section of Windows Secrets)
• "Huge WinSxS folder stymies PC cleanup" – July 23, 2015, LangaList Plus column (paid section)
• "Email: Drop the junk; keep your contacts" – July 2, 2015, Top Story

For a general guide to personal online security, see:

• "How to safely and securely use public Wi-Fi" – April 2, 2015, On Security column (paid section)
• "Revisiting the WS Security Baseline: Part 1" – July 3, 2014, Top Story
• "The WS Security Baseline — New Year's edition" – Jan. 8, 2015, On Security column (paid section)

Just to say not all the links appear to work now I've cut and pasted.
And you don't have to pay for AV, Anti malware, defragger etc.
The Free versions are all just as good for the average computer user.

Very interesting to read.