HELP with Computer Anti-virus/spam, etc.

[Andy Haney]

Got a new computer. Before I hook it up, I want to update my virus scanning, anti-spam, etc. I’m far from being certified as a computer geek, and I’m quite unfamiliar with this stuff. I haven’t tried the spam blockers, but I’m really tired of ED ads and stock market tips.

I’ve been paying for McAfee anti-virus, but I’m not that impressed. I tried to contact them today and found they don’t have an 800 number I can call to work out issues. I’m not sure I’m willing to continue paying for a service like this that isn’t more responsive that “within 48 hours”.

I’m aware that there are free programs out there, but don’t know if that is a good choice. At least one of those has been suggested at work, but I’m uncertain. I’d like to so something about this that doesn’t inhibit my access to woodworking forums (my major method of evening entertainment).

Please respond with opinions about how I should solve this problem.

Thanks,
Andy

[Bonnie Campbell]

I use the AVG anti virus program. I paid for mine, but you can get a free version of it. I paid because I like to schedule the time of scanning. I think the free version runs their scan at 8am every day. The scan can slow down your computer. I've had Nortons AND Macafee (sp?) and I didn't like their customer service one bit.

Grisoft puts out the AVG.

[Jim Becker]

I'm also an AVG user...dumped McAfee a couple years ago. Like Bonnie, I have the paid version that includes the anti-spyware feature. I run ZoneAlarm Pro as my firewall and "second" anti-spyware challenge. I'm pretty happy with this combination.

Forget about "toll free" numbers these days...there are still a few out there, but the cost for LD is so low at this point (and the cost for toll free calls is expensive to the provider...big time) that they are quickly becoming a thing of the past when it comes to customer support and other non-sales/revenue producing functions. Many vendors do offer "web chat" for technical support which is a good alternative.

[Al Willits]

Try this website for some virus stuff.

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic58138.html

I'm using the AVG antivirus and it seems to work well.

Al

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Another vote for AVG.

Had Norton for a few years. It slowed my system, and I ran into uninstall nightmares when I decided to ditch it.

Tried an evaluation version of McAfee. It keep throwing popups that looked like virus alerts, but were just scareware to push the pay version. At least it uninstalled cleanly after the trial period.

[Joe Pelonio]

Programs like McAfee and Norton typically will take over your system in a manner that causes conflicts with other ant-virus/spyware programs, at least that's what I found. I use a combination of the following which seems to be working fine and are OK together:

AVG
Spybot
NoAdware
Spyware Doctor
CWShredder

Hopefully you got plenty of memory, though, because running all of these resident does reduce the memory available for your programs.