anti-virus

[sw]

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

 

[nass]

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

Security Center:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx
Security at Home
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.mspx
Security Tips & Talk
http://blogs.msdn.com/securitytipstalk/

install the free trial of Windows Live OneCare
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-gb/default.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/technologies/onecare/default.mspx
Windows Defender detects and removes spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx

HTH,
nass
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^ http://www.nasstec.co.uk ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Jim]

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

Avast is free ; gives audio and visual warning .

 

[Big_Al]

sw said this on 4/13/2009 1:47 PM:

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

I use AVG 8.5 Free version, Malwarebytes anti-malware, and Spybot S&D,
and windows Defender.

AVG and Windows Defender run at startup. The other two are on demand
scans when I think there is an issue or quareterly.

I would suggest if you load AVG don't load the link scanner unless you
have a good internet connection and fast PC.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs.

In my view, McAfee is the second worst anti-virus program there is;
only Norton is worse.

The best is NOD32. If you'd like to save the cost and rather have
freeware, I recommend Avast,

Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

In addition to an anti-virus program, you also need anti-spyware
software, and for good protection, you should have at least two such
programs. I recommend Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware, then Spybot
Search and Destroy and AdAware.

 

[Jose]

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

My ISP gave me McAffee for "free". I can't stand it because it is a
resource hog and don't have the flexibility I was used to with the
programs. As soon as it started by itself, I would kill it. Then I
just uninstalled it. Took 2-3 hours to run Updates also took a very
long time.

The options listed by the other knowledgable posters here seem most
adequate.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

You'll get nearly as many differing opinions as you will responses.

I'll start by saying that I don't think any security "suite" is a
good choice. It'd be better to use smaller, less-resource-draining
stand-alone products.

I had used, and recommended, Norton Antivirus and then Norton
Internet Security, for many years, on Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP,
all without any significant problems. I had used McAfee prior to that.
But it's been several years since I've been tempted to try McAfee
products. Their quality seemed to take a steep nose-dive after they were
acquired by Network Associates.

However, when my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton
Internet Security came up for renewal (at a cost substantially higher
than the preceding year's subscription), I decided to try less expensive
solutions. I downloaded and installed the free version of GriSoft's AVG
(http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ). It proved to be easily
installed, easy to use, and quite effective. Additionally, I was
pleasantly surprised to see a small but very noticeable improvement in
my PC's performance, once I'd replaced the Symantec product. Another
free (for personal use) anti-virus product is AVAST! 4 Home Edition
(http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html), which is what I've used
without problems on both WinXP Pro and Vista Business.

For a recent comparison of anti-virus products:

Retrospective / ProActive Test
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

WinXP's built-in firewall is adequate at stopping incoming attacks,
and hiding your ports from probes. What WinXP's firewall does not do,
is protect you from any Trojans or spyware that you (or someone else
using your computer) might download and install inadvertently. It
doesn't monitor out-going traffic at all, other than to check for
IP-spoofing, much less block (or at even ask you about) the bad or the
questionable out-going signals. It assumes that any application you
have on your hard drive is there because you want it there, and
therefore has your "permission" to access the Internet. Further, because
the Windows Firewall is a "stateful" firewall, it will also assume that
any incoming traffic that's a direct response to a Trojan's or spyware's
out-going signal is also authorized.

ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Comodo are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
free versions of each readily available. Even the commercially
available Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall is superior by far,
although it does take a heavier toll of system performance then do
ZoneAlarm or Comodo.

Having said that, it's important to remember that firewalls and
anti-virus applications, which should always be used and should always
be running, while important components of "safe hex," cannot, and should
not be expected to, protect the computer user from him/herself.
Ultimately, it is incumbent upon each and every computer user to learn
how to secure his/her own computer.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[ColTom2]

I think Big-Al's advice is right on target and the side benefit is all the
applications he recommends are Free, but most important they are effective.



sw said this on 4/13/2009 1:47 PM:

I have Mcaffee on my computer. It's quite cumbersome with all the
tools that load in as the program itself installs. Wouldn't mind
finding something a little lighter.. any suggestions?
What combination of malware and/or pop-up prevention is required?

I use AVG 8.5 Free version, Malwarebytes anti-malware, and Spybot S&D,
and windows Defender.

AVG and Windows Defender run at startup. The other two are on demand
scans when I think there is an issue or quareterly.

I would suggest if you load AVG don't load the link scanner unless you
have a good internet connection and fast PC.

 

[sw]

I think Big-Al's advice is right on target and the side benefit is all the
applications he recommends are Free, but most important they are effective.


sw said this on 4/13/2009 1:47 PM:


I use AVG 8.5 Free version, Malwarebytes anti-malware, and Spybot S&D,
and windows Defender.

AVG and Windows Defender run at startup.  The other two are on demand
scans when I think there is an issue or quareterly.

I would suggest if you load AVG don't load the link scanner unless you
have a good internet connection and fast PC.

Thankyou very much for all your inputs.
Scott.

 

[trehook]

MS Antivirus is known to infect users using the Microsoft Windows
operating system, and is browser independent. MS Antivirus is made to
look professional and functional to fool a computer user into thinking
that it is a real anti-virus system in order to convince the user to
“purchase” it. In a typical installation of Antivirus 2009 or MS
Antivirus, the malware runs a scan on the computer and gives a false
spyware report claiming that the computer is infected with spyware.
Once the scan is completed, a warning message appears that lists the
spyware ‘found’ and the user has to either click on a link or a button
to remove it. Regardless of which button is clicked — “Next” or
“Cancel” — a download box will still pop up. This deceptive tactic is
an attempt to scare the Internet user into clicking on the link or
button to purchase MS Antivirus, Antivirus 2009 or malware with other
names. If the user decides not to purchase the program, then they will
constantly receive pop-ups stating that the program has found
infections and that they should register the antimalware in order to
fix infection. This type of behavior can cause a computer to operate
slower than normal. The infection affects the Windows registry.

Most variants of this malware will not be overtly harmful, as they
usually will not steal a user’s information (as spyware) nor
critically harm a system (bring a complete shutdown or erase hard
drive data). However, the malware will act to inconvenience the user
by frequently displaying popups that prompt the user to pay to
register the software in order to remove non-existant viruses. Some
variants are more harmful; they display popups whenever the user tries
to start an application or even tries to navigate their hard drive,
especially after they restart their computer. It does this by
modifying the Windows registry. It can also disable real antivirus
programs to protect itself from removal. Whichever variant infects a
computer, MS Antivirus always uses system resources when running,
potentially making an infected computer run slower than before
infection.

http://groups.google.com/group/trevor-hook

Regards,
Trevor Hook