virus, worm, malware protection etc....

[wetdog]

....g'day, whats the best solutions for protecting your PC?

this 2nd hand lappy currently has a one month free trial of Mcaffee, that i am currently running, and an expired Norton one. i have always found Norton slows the machine to much.

Free Avast??? never really sure if free anti virus is up to the job, as i have contracted a virus in the past whilst running Avast.

and how about the rest, malware etc

thank you,
mick.

[patkins]

Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

AVG antivirus and Malwarebytes are much lauded on DK and I've used both or you could try Advanced System Care free.Advanced SystemCare Free - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
This has a great variety of software including a history remover which is far before the microsoft one already on your computer.

[MrFug]

I run Kaspersky 2012 and Malwarebytes, along with sandboxie for running suspect keygens and I haven't been penetrated in a long time (I'm standing by my choice of words).

[Egren71]

My choice of software for security is
Avast for Viruses
Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, and Microsoft Defender for Spyware.
ZoneAlarm Free for Firewall
I should point out at this time that where i still run windows i run XP and not Vista or 7. The only thing this might have a bearing on is the Firewall as in am not sure if the Firewall in Vista or 7 has been improved since XP.
The thing i like about Avast is that it has separate processes for Email, Instant messaging, Web Surfing etc and if you don't need one of these because you don't use you PC for that purpose then you can just disable that protection. And by doing so reduce the load on the processor.
I run updates and scans regularly and and normally i run scans in safe mode (F8 during boot up) as some of the spyware can hide if you are running in full mode.
I only run the Firewall from Zonealarm as i don't need any of the extra features that the full version offers. And strangely general wisdom has it that running two Anti virus programs makes you more susceptible to viruses not less. The Zonealarm firewall has the ability to allow you choose which applications can make connection to the internet, it doesn't just block incoming connections. So you can choose what to allow and if something keeps asking that you haven't allowed then you can investigate it to see if it should be allowed.
I also switched to Firefox some years back as at the time Internet Explorer seemed to have an open door police to spyware. This may have changed as we are now many versions of Internet Explorer further on , but as i have had no problems with Firefox i have seen no need to switch. There are also some useful security plugins for Firefox.
Also a little discipline doesn't hut scan any file that you download for both Viruses and Spyware and if your operating system can run sand-boxing software then install some and use it.
A few extra things worth mentioning are
1. Malwarebytes has a good reputation from what i have heard in the anti spyware arena.
2. Microsoft security Essentials also seems to have a good reputation.
3. You can use Spybot S&D to control what apps start up at boot time, and stop the ones you don't need that are just taking up processing power and slowing your system down. It also gives you some guidance in this area.
4. Make sure your network is not visible to the outside world, unless you want it to be of course, by doing a port scan from the other side of your firewall. Click here and then choose shields up and then ShieldsUP! to get you ports scanned. Unless you are running a web server or something that needs to be seen from outside you should be aiming for Stealth as your status. You may need to stop file sharing software etc.. for the duration of the scan as this type of software opens ports on your PC. Obviously if you have a router and depending on how your network is set up the scan might only be testing your router. This site is a good site for security info full stop. It is also has a perfect password generation area where i get my passwords from when i need a good password for any reason.
5. If you think you Computer has been infected then you can get a live CD from Spybot S&D for Spyware and from AVG for viruses, at least you could the last time i looked. This is not entirely straight forward but it can be done.

[Canker_Canison]

I run windows 7 & I'm quite happy with Avast, malwarebytes & comodo firewall. All are free (codes for malware bytes are available if you know where to look)

Windows firewall & defender are turned off.

Firefow with NoScript add-on.


It can be a bit of a learning curve with comodo & noscript, but it's worth it.

[Lyrrad]

I run Kaspersky 2012 and Malwarebytes, along with sandboxie for running suspect keygens and I haven't been penetrated in a long time (I'm standing by my choice of words).

Similar to me. Bitdefender (back to nod32 when it expires), Malwarebytes and sandboxie

[waken]

As Pat said, Avg and Malwarebytes.
I run win7 and have no problems.