Some deal !!!!

[Pansy]

I found that Norton slowed my system down to much,It seems to look at everything as

a threat.My Comp. works much better now with Windows...One Care.though it was not easy

to install.

[DonnaZn2SK]

Good to see you back on the forum.

One of the first things I did after we got our new computer was to delete Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security . It was a three year subscription...I put in AVG, which I've been using for several years on the old computer.

[skwij]

Agreed, Norton and McAfee are dogs. Sure, they work "OK" but at what cost? Slow system, false positives, and heaven help you if you upgrade Thunderbird or Firefox, or any other legitimate software you use.

For anyone getting a new system, reformat the Harddrive, and reinstall the Operating System. That will give you a "clean" install, without all the bloatware/trials/"free" stuff that manufacturers insist on bundling with their hardware.

AVG never let me down, Avast! never let me down, Zone Control never bothered anything, and WinPatrol for XP worked great.

For those of us on Macs, ClamXav is nice to have, just so that we don't inadvertently send a virus that's harmless to us, on to our Windows friends. Other than that, there is NO NEED for Antivirus software for the Mac operating system, despite what some sales people will tell you.

[Smitty]

been using AVG for years now with no problem. was told you should also be running Ad-Aware to eliminate spyware on puter??

[Eeyore]

Give it a shot of fuel stabalizer. That stuff is good for snowblower virus. LOL.

Lee

Ours needs a shot of alcohol when it's being run..... They didn't tell us that ans it isn't in the manual, and first time we used it it got a virus and died. Hubby was not happy.

As far as the computer goes, we use Norton and I've been trying to convince DH to look at other products but he's convinced and can't be persuaded to switch.

[Countryboy]

Yup Smitty . . Adaware is a good program to have . . . as is Spybot Search and Destroy. They perform a slightly different function than the antivirus programs but they are necessary to deal with malware.

While I'm not at all a computer expert I am excellent at lurking in Computer Help forums! lol Following their example I have the following anti-malware programs on my machine.

Spybot Search and Destroy - Properly 'Updated' and 'Immunized' Spybot will block most spyware before it can be installed. Also protects against known 'bad' sites.

Spyware Blaster - Another immunizing program. It's primary feature is that u can install it and forget abt it.

Adaware - Finds and eliminates spyware/tracking cookies. Protected by the other two programs my Adaware scans rarely find any spyware.

And don't kid yrself . . most spyware is harmless but it's everywhere. I was at the Washington Post site the other day and Spybot blocked a Doubleclick tracking cookie at every page I went to.

K . . I'll butt out now and turn this thread back to antivirus programs. lol

Frank . . ON5a

[Smitty]

thanks countryboy for all the info...puter illiterate here too..but I follow the puter guru's recommendations..will check out those you mention

[skwij]

Hey Frank,

Great list! Sounds exactly like what I ran when on Windows.

One of the other things you can do, is to not use IE or OE. Firefox (web browser) and Thunderbird (email) are far more secure than the default Microsoft tools.

For AV, I used both AVG Free, and Avast! and never had a virus in the 8 years I was on Windows. And that was with DSL connected all the time, and a tonne of downloading.