Virus Protection Software Question

[Point Beer Is Best]

I bought a new computer about a month ago, which came with a 30 day trial of McAfee security center. Obviously I need to have virus protection before my trial period ends on the 15th, so my question is, What virus protection does the Brewerfan crowd recommend? Should I just renew the subscription to McAfee or is there a better one out there (without going too crazy pricewise)?

[1992casey]

I'd suggest AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. Consider that McAfee Security Center might also be providing your spyware and firewall protection. You might want to expand this thread to include options for covering those needs.

[Point Beer Is Best]

You're right Casey, McAfee Security Center is providing all of those services. Are there any all-encompassing security packages that are on par or better than McAfee? I'm not too knowledgeable about these sorts of things. I get most of my tech advice from reading Brewerfan. I'd probably still be using IE instead of Firefox right now if it weren't for you guys. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

EDIT: I see that AVG has a total protection package that is within $5 of what McAfee offers for the same type of protection.

[nate82]

For firewall and anti virus protection I use COMODO this is free but they also have one where you can pay for. COMODO website.

[BillScottCanRake]

I use AVG Free at home and Professional (or whatever the pay version is called) at work and have had good results with both.

[pitchleague]

I'll second (or third or whatever number we're up to) the AVG program. Doesn't hog resources on your computer, is updated daily (automatically, no less), and works flawlessly. I am currently using zonealarm for my firewall. It also seems to do it's job very well.

[bullox]

Keep in mind that for a home network, if you have a firewall on your border router (whatever is plugged directly in to your modem, maybe a linksys, etc) a software firewall on your PC is almost overkill. The vast majority of routers nowadays come with firewalls activated by default, I know Linksys does it for sure. Unless you are worried about your kids, spouses, roommates, etc hacking in to your PC from another PC that is connected to this router, all a software firewall is doing is slowing your PC down and possibly making it more difficult to use the programs that you want to communicate with the web.

 

If your PC is plugged directly in to the modem, definitely get a firewall on your PC. Some modems nowadays have built-in routing and firewall capability, but it is a good idea to have a PC firewall just to make sure.

 

Here's a better example:

 

http://i36.tinypic.com/fb9gnl.jpg

 

Here's a typical home network. The modem plugs in to a router, lets say this one is wireless. Your PC is connected via a wire, your son Jimmy has a wireless connection. Your roommate Hobgoblin has a wired connection. Your neighbor is stealing your wireless behind your back.

 

If Jimmy, Hobgoblin and Stupid Neighbor don't exist, a software firewall on your PC isn't totally necessary. Same can be said if you totally trust all of those people, which in the case of the neighbor and possibly Hobgoblin, you probably shouldn't. A software firewall will protect you from whoever is behind your border router on a different PC, while the border router protects you from the Big Bad Internet.

[1992casey]

As far as firewalls go, I like ZoneAlarm, too. There's a free version and a paid version, but both are bundled in the same download. If you choose to pay at some point, you get the extra features.

 

Also, you can use the paid version for 15 days, then revert to the free version. I remember reading way back when that setup is easier that way. I can't testify to that fact personally, though, as I've always set it up the "paid" way. If I remember correctly, the paid version may also provide spyware protection.

 

You'll definitely need spyware real-time protection and cleanup capability. You may already have Windows Defender on your system; I believe it does both. I can't tell you how good I think it is because I've never tried it.

 

For spyware cleanup, I like AdAware. The free version cleans and scans; the paid version will also provide real-time protection.

 

For real-time protection, I recently installed Spybot-Search & Destroy on my neighbor's computer. I haven't gotten a "review" from them yet. This one relies on Registry changes, doesn't use system resources, and doesn't conflict with other real-time protection.

 

The main thing to note with spyware protection and anti-virus protection is to run only one of each for real-time protection (excluding Spybot-Search & Destroy). These programs don't work and play well with each other.

 

You can run scans with any number of these programs. They might spot stuff stashed in another program's "quarantine" folder. That's normal behavior. You might be able to set these apps to avoid reporting on those folders.

 

Someone can probably do much better with this topic than I can. I use a Mac, so I don't have Windows in front of me to be able to verify what I'm saying quite as well as I'd like.

[Menace II Sobriety]

I need to download a new virus protection program and I do not want to pay for it. Does anyone have any suggestions for this? I tried a few on here and they all needed a credit card number for a limited offer solicitation. Thanks

[TheCrew07]

I use AVG free like most people who posted in this thread.

[LouisEly]

The thing with AVG Free is that it does not scan anything you download... so you better be sure that everything that you download is OK or you are screwed. The paid version of AVG has a 30-day free trial so I would recommend trying that and seeing if you like that.

 

Every January/February you can get free anti-virus software with the purchase of tax software (Turbo Tax, Tax Cut, etc.) at Office Depot/Office Max/Staples, so if you do your own taxes you can get the software for free; they often come with rebates if you switch from a competitor so the net cost even without purchasing tax software is $20 or less. Many of the paid ones come with $2500 or $5000 worth of protection in case they fail, and to me having that peace of mind is worth the $20 it costs.

[Menace II Sobriety]

The Crew: my point was that with AVG you need to take place in one of their special "offers" that requires a credit card for a limited time offer. I do not want to subscribe to anything nor put my credit card info on a computer that the security update ran out on a few days ago. I do not doubt it is a good program but I do not need free music downloads or a free tap dancing lesson.

[TheCrew07]

I'm not sure what you're referring to, I've never had to give any credit card information...

 

and it does scan your downloads, at least it does mine, I didn't alter any settings. I should add that I noticed it installed a FF plug-in this time around to scan downloads.

[Invader3K]

I actually use Norton. Guess I'm in the stone age or something. Have it on both my PC and laptop. I guess for me it's just a peace of mind thing. Paying the annual subscription fee does get old, though. I know every once in a while on the laptop I get some notice that Norton has stopped an "attack", so I suppose that makes up for it.

[RightFieldCoder]

I also use Norton, but I have family that are not computer literate. We split the cost. It makes it easier for me to administor and gives them piece of mind. Read the user agrement that comes with your software. Norton usually alows you to put it on 3 computers in your household.

[jazzytrav]

I got free virus protection from Time Warner when I signed up for Roadrunner long ago. I thought they offered it for anyone that has Roadrunner. Not sure how good it is, but I haven't had any problems.

[greeg35]

ESET Nod 32, uses very little of the system resources. I've been very happy with it on both computers.

[JoeH33]

I use Kaspersky and have been very happy with it so far.

[Menace II Sobriety]

The Crew: thanks for the new link if you try AVG off of the link 1992 Casey provided you have to subscribe to the deals that I was talking about. I will try this new one.

[endaround]

TrendMicro tends to get the best responses for a pay program. It doesn't have the bloat that the consumer Norton has (the corporate Norton is miles better). It give you 3 licenses but is hardly ever on sale.

[Dmiles23]

Ok... this is probably a really stupid question. But I recently got Verizon high speed internet. I had Charter for a long time, but decided to make the switch. I love Verizon... it's great, but ever since I made the change, I have not been able to connect to certain things. For example, it won't let me connect to AVG. It says it "can not find a working internet connection." I've had this problem with a couple other programs too. Or if I try to download music, it won't connect. Can anyone help?

[endaround]

How long ago was the switch? If it was really recent try emptying your cache and loading the page again. If your browser preloads stuff it can sometimes cause problems when changing providers. EDIT:It could also be a virus that added certain apges to your blocked address list.