New 'Protect Your PC For Free: No-cost Anti-Virus and Other Software' discussion

chimp_choker

dave13 wrote: »

I had no option but to remove it and replaced it with AVAST 4, which I use on my own PC, everything is now running as it should. Don't know why AVG has become so resource hungry, shades of Norton a few years ago...... :eek:

.....So has Norton changed it's colours and become less resource hungry in these later years ??

I ask as I stopped using Norton in 2002 for this reason and also it was quite invasive on the whole computer.

TC

Chimp

chimp_choker

espresso wrote: »

Your AVG is obviously not installed/set-up correctly. The only real difference with the paid for version is that you have support, so why haven't you used this to sort out your problems?

Good question espresso...... good question. I'm off to look at this now.

jhnalford

Barclays Spain offer a free anti-virus to all their clienst who use Barclays on-line bank - don't know if it's the same in the UK!
John

superscaper

jhnalford wrote: »

Barclays Spain offer a free anti-virus to all their clienst who use Barclays on-line bank - don't know if it's the same in the UK!
John

Do you know what it is? Free anti virus is only a bargain if it's any good.

mfraser

tomsolomon wrote: »

I was using Avira on my lappy for quite a while, and its awesome compared to the majority of free stuff out there.
Of cause now, It's not really necessary for me to have anti virus due to the fact that I'm running Linux.....:D:D:D

I'm also a Linux user (Kubuntu) which means whilst I have anti-virus software (ClamAV) it is just to detect Windows viruses from being transmitted on when I save something to a memory stick etc. I don't have any form of anti-spyware/malware software which I assume isn't required on Linux software.

Where do I stand if a bank refuses to refund me money or even deal with me as I don't have up-to-date anti-spyware protection?

tradetime

superscaper wrote: »

Do you know what it is? Free anti virus is only a bargain if it's any good.

I think it's Kaspersky currently, they used to offer Fsecure.

tradetime

bookduck wrote: »

Another package worth a go is http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/index_files/rvspersonal.htm. Apparently a free Deepfreeze type program. Just rolls you back to your previous state and makes your surfing safe. No spyware and no viruses ever, unless you do something stupid. Who said no downloads either?

This does not protect the whole system http://www.sandboxie.com/ . Personally I prefer the one above, but this app is versatile and there have been untrusted apps that I've run in the sandbox

These two work very wel, very light on resouces, I have them on all my machines and don't bother with realtime AV or AS

MKPhil05

As mentioned in the related MSE article, Microsoft's Update website will (as it says on the tin) update many Microsoft products but bugs and problems can exist in products from other vendors e.g. Adobe's Acrobat Reader. You many have hundreds of programs on your PC which may contain vulnerabilities which can be used to infiltrate your PC but keeping track of them all is near to impossible... However, the soloution I use is PSI from Secunia - https://psi.secunia.com/ which scans your PC for software then checks online with their database to identify possible security problems with your software. It then suggests possible soloutions for anything it finds, and, best of all, it's free!

PS. I'm not affiliated with Secunia

superscaper

tradetime wrote: »

I think it's Kaspersky currently, they used to offer Fsecure.

Well by all accounts that is excellent. Although haven't used it myself, I've got the "other one": Eset Smart Security. :beer:

superscaper

philcooling wrote: »

As mentioned in the related MSE article, Microsoft's Update website will (as it says on the tin) update many Microsoft products but bugs and problems can exist in products from other vendors e.g. Adobe's Acrobat Reader. You many have hundreds of programs on your PC which may contain vulnerabilities which can be used to infiltrate your PC but keeping track of them all is near to impossible... However, the soloution I use is PSI from Secunia - https://psi.secunia.com/ which scans your PC for software then checks online with their database to identify possible security problems with your software. It then suggests possible soloutions for anything it finds, and, best of all, it's free!

PS. I'm not affiliated with Secunia

I sometimes use Secunia. But I supplement that with an occasional scan of filehippo's update checker. http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/