[Loddonjohn]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to get your views on the free anti virus and firewall software, avg Komodo etc. I have had Panda anti virus and firewall installed but it let something through which would not allow me to download any web pages or update the anti virus program etc in the end i had to reformatt the pc....now unsure about paying for Panda again......Sadly my son watches internet porn...Honest it is him

Any thoughts please
John

[silkstone]

On my XP machine I've used AVG for several years without a problem, but I'm careful about the sites I click on and these days I don't use Windows for the web at all, so that's probably not of much help to you.

[j sotelo]

Originally Posted by Loddonjohn

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to get your views on the free anti virus and firewall software, avg Komodo etc. I have had Panda anti virus and firewall installed but it let something through which would not allow me to download any web pages or update the anti virus program etc in the end i had to reformatt the pc....now unsure about paying for Panda again......Sadly my son watches internet porn...Honest it is him

Any thoughts please
John

Sorry I can't help you with the free anti-virus, I use Zone Alarm Security Suite, But I can tell you that you can download C Cleaner it does an excellent job in cleaning,
Temp. Files
Cookies
History
Typed URL's
Recycle Bin
Clipboard
and so much more, and you can go to Options/Settings and you can set your secure deletion to what ever you want, you can even set it to 35 passes where everything you delete thru CCleaner will be unrecoverable.

I tell you this do to what you said about Porn being looked at in your PC.

almost forgot to tell you...It's FREE

[Loddonjohn]

Hi J,

Thank you for your input, I hace had CC Cleaner installed on my pc for yonks I just run it once a week along with my spyware and anti virus programs, so being a computer idiot how would you suggest that i set up cc cleaner and when should i run it???

Thank you
John

[Dabhand16]

AVG has a great reputation, and I used it myself before going back to Norton. I did this because I also used to use Zone Alarm firewall - also well thought of, but on my XP machine, an update really screwed it up. The guy who builds my machines said I should have asked him as he knew of issues with Zone Alarm and XP. He talked me into going back to Norton, and now am on Internet Security 2009 and very happy. The licence also covers three machines, so for £11.50 a year for my desktop and two laptops, I think it is great VFM too.

Funny how mud sticks. A while back, Norton had a reputation for being resource hungry. That has been fixed for some time now, but I found it quite sad that they now incorporate a CPU meter split between system use and Norton use. Strangely enough, it always shows Norton uses less resources than the system. But then, if I were Norton, I'd make sure it did that too

They obviously think that their reputation for hogging resources is not being reduced even though that was in the past.

[j sotelo]

Originally Posted by Loddonjohn

Hi J,

Thank you for your input, I hace had CC Cleaner installed on my pc for yonks I just run it once a week along with my spyware and anti virus programs, so being a computer idiot how would you suggest that i set up cc cleaner and when should i run it???

Thank you
John

Well that really does vary from user to user but in my case I have everything checked in the Widows Tab (Including the Advanced section) and I also have everything Checked in the Applications Tab.
I run it at least once a day.
and once a week or so, I will Scan for Registry Issues also.







Sotelo

[j sotelo]

Originally Posted by Dabhand16

I also used to use Zone Alarm firewall - also well thought of, but on my XP machine, an update really screwed it up.

I remember this issue in Version 7 but it did get fixed specially now in Version 8, that's the one I'm currently using and it works great,
but you are right about hogging resources, It still does, not as much as it used to but still does, But that's a price I'm willing to pay for it's excellent Firewall, Spyware and Antivirus.

[silkstone]

The problem with Norton was not only that it hogged resources but also that it was impossible to get rid of! If you decided to switch to another AV application, Norton wouldn't uninstall and you couldn't replace it. It also altered registry settings that prevented networking if you removed it. Symantec ended up having to release a special removal tool.

That's history now and recent versions are supposed to be good, but mud sticks.

[Dave Canon]

Your broadband provider may offer such software free. I use BT for broadband (fairly average service generally) but they do give you a comprehensive Norton package which works quite well and does not have the Norton problems of a couple of years ago.

I also use AVG on the Camera Club Laptop which has worked fine but the laptop is normally only exposed to my well protected PC and very occassionally accesses the internet.

Dave

[Loddonjohn]

J Sotelo,

Thank you for that info regarding CC cleaner I didn't have half of those checked..

I had Norton installed a long time ago and it crippled my computer and up until i did the reformat there were still bits of it knocking about that i could not get rid of, but as you guys testify it is probably a better program now but i still would not fancy it.
looks like back to the Panda then, would you say that £30 for a 6 month renewel was expensive?

John

[Dabhand16]

Originally Posted by Loddonjohn

would you say that £30 for a 6 month renewel was expensive?John

Yes in comparison to £35 for Norton for three computers for a year.

[silkstone]

... or AVG for free.

And why would you stick with Panda when it hasn't stopped a virus getting through?

[Loddonjohn]

Yes i know that it sounds a little silly but not knowing much about anti virus software and with panda being quite simple to use etc, Can AVG free be as good as a software product that you have to pay for? In fact is there a version of AVG that is not free?

John

[Dabhand16]

Originally Posted by Loddonjohn

Yes i know that it sounds a little silly but not knowing much about anti virus software and with panda being quite simple to use etc, Can AVG free be as good as a software product that you have to pay for? In fact is there a version of AVG that is not free?

John

Yes to both. Free AVG is as good as any, but it is just anti virus. AVG also do a security suite that is not free.

In a recent Which? test of security suites, most of them scored five stars for anti virus. Other aspects of security, such as phishing filters, anti spyware and firewall etc were where the better ones scored higher.

I want more than just anti virus, but I also don't want to have half a dozen different apps doing one small part of the picture.

FWIW the best buys in that report were:

1 Norton Internet Security - £40 - 87% (not the reason I use it - I was using it before this test)
2 Bullguard Internet Security - £45 - 86%
3 AVG free - 79% - but no firewall, anti-spam or anti-spyware.

No other integrated suite featured in the best buy table (7 out of 31 produvcts tested).

The other places were filled with single apps for anti spam, firewall etc.

The Norton scored 4 stars for spam, and five for firewall, virus and spyware, out scoring all other best buys in all areas. AVG Internet Security 8 scored 3 stars for spam, 4 stars for spyware, and 5 stars for virus and firewall - 84%.

The other single threat apps scored between 3 and 5 stars in their respective specialities.

[silkstone]

If you are sitting behind a hardware firewall in a modem/router and have the Windows firewall enabled, you shouldn't really need an additional software firewall. These are aimed mainly at people using USB modems.

You can check whether your ports are visible to potential threats, and there are some reputable websites for doing this. Please can someone provide a link to one because I forget!

As for viruses, AVG (and others) offer both free and non-free options, depending on whether it's for personal use and what level of control you want - e.g. when and how often it checks for updates.

Spyware is a rather different issue. Most spyware doesn't compromise your machine but is in the form of cookies which record your browsing habits. You can hardly go anywhere without getting a cookie from googleadservices.com or googleanalytics, and there are plenty of others like com.com, quantserve.com,etc. You can block these with noscript (in Firefox) if you like, but they're an intrusion rather than harmful. Anti-spyware software can block these or remove them, but sometimes it gets confused between good cookies which preserve your defaults on a website (theme, password, etc) and bad ones which are like Big Brother.

Probably the worst malware are rootkits which take over the administrative/root control of your PC. If you get one of these there is little option but to reformat and start again. Some of the cleverest or most evil rootkits (and some viruses) can disable AV software so they are not visible, and the only way to check is by booting from a CD/DVD with detection software.

It's really a complete PITA and the best policy is probably to stick to trusted websites and not click on anything you're at all unsure of. The criminals and hackers are getting ever more devious.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by silkstone

You can check whether your ports are visible to potential threats, and there are some reputable websites for doing this. Please can someone provide a link to one because I forget!

Shields Up works quite well and is trusted...

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[dreamland101]

Originally Posted by Loddonjohn

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to get your views on the free anti virus and firewall software, avg Komodo etc. I have had Panda anti virus and firewall installed but it let something through which would not allow me to download any web pages or update the anti virus program etc in the end i had to reformatt the pc....now unsure about paying for Panda again......Sadly my son watches internet porn...Honest it is him

Any thoughts please
John

I am not normally a fan of the free anti virus apps available. With the increase of phishing sites and spoof e-mails these tend not to work too well. Although saying that I did use the AVG Free for a while which will just do your basic virus checking and that's about it. I would recommend using a Firewall too, (Windows Firewall, Zone Alarm etc)

I recently bought a new laptop (With Vista SP1) then read an article about some of the main vendors failing on Vista, So I bought Kaspersky for about £30 (3 User) and have not looked back since.

If your AV software is letting viruses through I would check that it's virus signatures are up-to-date, there are also other free utilities that will scan your PC for threats. What I tend to do is if my AV software detects a treat, scan it with another vendor to make sure.

To see what ports are open on your PC you can use the netstat -na from a command window, remember when using a firewall you have TCP and UDP ports. This site shows what ports are open on a Windows XP PC.

Hope this helps.

Simon.

[Loddonjohn]

Hi All,

Thank you everyone for your advice and useful tips and links, I have been reading up on the Kapersky anti virus firewall and spyware package which is on offer now for £30 for 1 year for 3 pc's, according to many people Kapersky products are very well thought of and their reputation is good, I am just about to download the 30 day free trial and if it is easy to set up and use then i will purchase this product......

Take care
John

[Loddonjohn]

Have installed the free trial download set up and run the programme scanned all computer etc, quite easy to set up and get started, will purchase the programme...

John

[dazza2267]

I have used AVG for years and i know a lot of other people that also have and with no trouble (touching wood) I have also had 3 situations where friends have been having trouble with viruses getting through their Antivirus software and i have recomended AVG they have installed it and presto no more virus. I fully recomend it.

[silkstone]

I've been too shy to say this until now , but the ultimate, absolute and complete guarantee against all known germs is to use Linux for web access.



(I promise I'll not mention this ever again.*)

* 'again' is indeterminate.

[j sotelo]

Originally Posted by silkstone

I've been too shy to say this until now , but the ultimate, absolute and complete guarantee against all known germs is to use Linux for web access.



(I promise I'll not mention this ever again.*)

* 'again' is indeterminate.

SHY .....

Silkstone Mentioning Linux .... LOL Heck I thought you were the poster boy for Linux.

[Lew]

I agree with Silkstone. For that matter use a "live" Linux cd and one can interface with the web with total impunity. Ubuntu, Mepis, or PcLinux (my fave') are all truly good distros.

[silkstone]

You can use UNetBootin to create a bootable USB stick (preferably 2GB) from the Linux live ISO instead of using a CD - it runs quicker that way. Then hit the boot options key on startup to boot from the USB. That won't alter anything on your machine - it's all done from the USB stick (or CD).

[Lew]

Absolutely true and will work on any machine anywhere if you can alter the boot sequence. It will not make any changes at all to hard drives and in fact can be run with no hard drive at all with enough RAM for scratch space.