[motorboat09]

Hi,

I just bought a dell latitude E5500 with windows vista basic. It currently has a 30 day trial of norton antivirus on it. What absolutely essential anti spyware, malware, etc software should I download? Also I was wondering if you would recommend that I keep norton or switch to another antivirus such as AVG which is free once the trial is over? I would greatly appreciate any advice.

[UN-techy]

I am looking for the same thing.

Ted G @ Cyberwalker.com recommends(but that was over a year ago) Comodo Free Anti-Virus and Firewall over AVG, and for AntSpyware suggests a combination of Windows Defender, Spybot S&G, and Lavasoft Ad-Aware.

What does everyone think of this?
What do you think of Cyberwalker.com?

Thanks.

[1002richards]

Hi & Welcome,
There are some people happy with Norton & others that aren't, as you'll find if you search around in the site.
Personally I ditched Norton and went for Comodo, and Avast. I found the following site a useful source as it's independent, carries no ads or pop-ups.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

The categories are clearly laid out and pros / cons explained. Perhaps have a browse 'til other members reply here?

Richard

[Phantom010]

With all due respect, Windows Defender, Spybot S&G, Lavasoft Ad-Aware and AVG are far behind the others!

NOD32 antivirus or ESET Smart Security (NOD32 antivirus + firewall + anti-spyware + anti-spam)

Online Armor or Comodo firewall

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (free)

SuperAntiSpyware (free)

SpywareBlaster (free)

[UN-techy]

What about Panda?

[Phantom010]

Originally Posted by UN-techy

What about Panda?

It doesn't get my vote.

[Rich-M]

I agree on Nod32 and Superantispyware Pro. I think with those two on the job, you would be impenetrable providing you use safe surfing habits.

[UN-techy]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...re.html?cat=15

I found this article on AVG vs Comodo.
I have downloaded AVG, now I need spyware and adware protection.
Thank you for your suggestions.

Sorry motorboat for hijacking your thread, I hope that you are getting something out of this too.

[UN-techy]

Can you get Nod32 for free?

[Snake2135]

Personally I would recommend using Microsoft Security Essentials. It's totally free and has improved the performace and security of my system(s) over McAfee. Compared to McAfee, MS Sec. Ess. found 5 severe level threats that McAfee did not bother with... that's convincing enough for me to make the permanent switch. Once it is out of beta it will be shipped with every version of Windows 7 for free and as far as I know will be available for free download.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by UN-techy

Can you get Nod32 for free?

Only for 30 day trial.

[tincan96]

I've found the following software to be most helpful / useful:

avira antivirus free - has rootkit protection where most other AVs do not

comodo firewall (free)

winpatrol (free edition) shows what running on your system and alert you if some new program tries to start up, protects your home page.

ccleaner - cleans your unwanted temp files and cookies, validates registry, and uninstalls programs.

malwarebytes - scans ssystem for malware and spyware

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by tincan96

I've found the following software to be most helpful / useful:

avira antivirus free - has rootkit protection where most other AVs do not

comodo firewall (free)

winpatrol (free edition) shows what running on your system and alert you if some new program tries to start up, protects your home page.

ccleaner - cleans your unwanted temp files and cookies, validates registry, and uninstalls programs.

malwarebytes - scans ssystem for malware and spyware

Not really true as most Antivirus and just about all Antispyware programs have rootkit protection.
Suggesting using ccleaner to validate the registry, is terrible advice to others. Many of us have hosed systems with this program and if you cannot rebuild a registry, you do not belong touching it.

[tincan96]

Originally Posted by Rich-M

Suggesting using ccleaner to validate the registry, is terrible advice to others. Many of us have hosed systems with this program and if you cannot rebuild a registry, you do not belong touching it.

Sorry, I guess I thought it was understood you DON'T mess with a registry unless you know what you're doing.

[Rich-M]

No problem we are over sensitive...