Enough! (1 Viewer)

[Dodgey]

Right you clever lot, I've had enough...

Now I'm not exactly a numpty when it comes to computers but when it comes to anti virus stuff, we'll, lets put it this way, I payed for Norton to screw up my machineoh:

Hence enough!

Recomendations please, I hear all sorts of names (and don't pay attention) so who do you use, I hear of free stuff which appeals, so part of the question is not just who do you use but where (web site) do you get?

What about anti spywear, malware (whatever that is) etc etc, same as above, I've got to get rid of Norton, had to give in earlier today and restart PCoh:

And while I'm on, all these programms (mainly $%£&$"^% Norton until I told it NO MORE) that go looking for updates, is there anything that can not so much stop them but give me the option to let them go look or not? Can't remember the .exe but I've had 8 up according to task manager at a time, which took over 5 minutes to load because of all these update searches:shout:

 

[VMax666]

Malwarebytes for spyware, Comodo for antivirus. Does me. VMax

 

[robnchris]

virus checker

Norton anti-virus whilst I`m not saying it`s crap it`s pretty bloody useless and expensive, I have a few friends that work in I. T. and they all say don`t bother with it.

You can go online and download AVG totally free.

http://free.avg.com/gb-en/download.prd-afg#tba2

Of course the best way of avoiding viruses is to be careful where you surf and what you download and don`t have the pre-view window open in your mail account.

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[chatter]

avast is good i think, i also use spybot, with avast there are several options some you pay some are free, adaware is another. I also used to pay and for my pennies got infected good style, comp had to go to doctors to be sorted he put AVG free on but you can also buy a version of AVG as well. not had a prob since i started using free ones. places to find them file hippo and cnet

 

[scotjimland]

Hi

Norton is notoriously difficult to get rid of, so before installing any new antivirus go to Norton's site and download the removal tool for your Norton product.
That will remove all traces of the program.

Here is a link, Link Removed

If you don't do this you may have conflicts with any new antivirus product

 

[G4GMO]

My recommendation is to first do what Jim says and get the removal tools for your product as it is a difficult program to remove.

Probably only repeating some posted suggestions but if nothing else it may help you to choose.

Comodo internet security. Personally I'd turn off Sandbox and only use Defence/Firewall/Antivirus. It used to be simple but they have spoilt it in my opinion.

Alternatively try AVG antivirus/firewall, again this is free.

Don't forget to turn off windows firewall.... two firewalls may cause problems.

Malwarebytes good for regular checks or if you think you have a problem.

Superantispyware as above.

Ccleaner useful for clearing out the crud.

Used to like SpyBot but it is resource hungry and I stopped using it.

If you really want a comparatively safe surfing environment use Linux but that isn't for the feint hearted and I'm not suggesting you do this unless you're prepared to learn computers and Linux.

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[G4GMO]

Meant to add, you can set all the programs to only download updates when you want to.

 

[rainbow chasers]

Go down to staples...they are all on offer at the moment! Kapersky Labs, Norton 360, Some thing is have never heard of, and macfee.

I got peed off with macafee giving me grief on the laptop, so went with 360 - Have that on all machines and have no problem at all. In fact the laptop has doubled its' speed!

One thing for slowing computers down are toolbars - in particular google tool bar, As it harvest so much info it conflicts with anti virus software to the anti virus checks everything it does - slowing the boot up and browsing speed down.

If yopu have google toolbar, uninstall it and see how you get on!:thumb:

 

[G4GMO]

On the point about toolbars, some of the free programs install toolbars but they do give you the chance to untick the box during the install so I would untick any box that offers to install anything that you don't need.

Ccleaner comes to mind and if I remember correctly installing Java updates as well.

If in doubt just ask.

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[johnp10]

Agree with G4GMO.
I use AVG Free, Spybot and C cleaner. Between them they will identify and shift most crap.

Not wishing to hijack the thread, but a general computer question:
where can I buy Autoroute 2010?
Everywhere I go they tell me there's no demand for it.

Cheers
John

 

[motorvating]

When you cstop using ant anti virus software you have to get rid of all traces of it, otherwise you may well have problems when you downoad a new anti virus.

Does your internet provider not supply a free anti virus software? I am with Virgin, and they supply a good free anti virus,spyware, that has an excellent firewall.

You can control what programes access the internet by your Firewall.

ManY programes update when you start up, that causes long delays. To stop this click start run and type in msconfig and then click the start tab. You will know see all the programmes that start up when you boot your PC up. Check what is there, and if there are things you don't need uncheck it and save, but be carefull you do not uncheck vital programes. good idea to google the programe if you are not sure to see what it does.

 

[Kon tiki]

Used to use AVG but found it slowed my PC down, now using Avast works much better. I found getting rid of all traces of Norton to be difficult even using Nortons own removal tools. Ended up using a registry editor to get rid of all traces.

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[Gonewiththewind]

AVG is my pet Virus whatever.
http://free.avg.com/gb-en/download.prd-afg#tba2

Don

 

[scotjimland]

Not wishing to hijack the thread, but a general computer question:
where can I buy Autoroute 2010?


John

Download from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/homepc/autoroute/default.mspx

 

[oddjob]

I think antivirus and firewall protection is one of those preference things ,everybody as their own preference ,go with one that works best for you , tried most of them over the years ,and have now settled with Avast free anti virus and comodo free firewall kept me clean ,also registry cleaners are a waste of money and can do more harm than good especially the paid ones ,i find ccleaner does the job for me.
Remember which ever you go for only use one anti virus and one firewall ,rememeber to switch off windows firewall ,i think this is also a good tool to keep you off the dodgy sites .
http://www.mywot.com/
oddjob

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[Haaamster]

AVG is now starting to get some bad reviews unless you pay for the full version, I have a new laptop that came with Norton otherwise I would never use it. Microsoft Essential is very very good and free from Microsoft as long as you have a legal MS O/S

 

[Douglas]

There are many who recommend the use of free AV software but if you are uncomfortable with the setting up and management that is need with this kind of free software then I can recommend Kaspersky (and no, I'm not related). I have been using it and have not even had a nervous moment.

Its not expensive, £26 when I last looked and it is comprehensive and complete.

Doug...

 

[Robinhood]

I have to say that if you want something simple, lightweight and which runs quietly in the background, then Microsofts own, free, Microsoft Security Essentials is hard to beat.

Info and download at:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Been using it now since my Norton subscription ran out, and have since ditched both Kaspersky and AVG on other machines in its favour.

Runs quite happily with no change from defaults (though you can tinker a little bit if you wish)

It is also still getting good reviews.

Whatever you decide to switch to, download the latest Norton Uninstaller from Norton to get rid of your current s/w (other methods of uninstalling Norton Products are notoriously untidy, and may leave conflicts with anything you subsequently install), install whatevet new s/w you're going to use, and for tools that don't include their own firewall (including Security Essentials as above) ensure Windows Firewall is turned on (it should automatically be on if the unistall worked properly, but worth a check).

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[Dodgey]

Thanks one and all:thumb:


Ditched Norton last night, I should probably have added our machines 8ish years old running XP and without knowing the tech specs of the processor I'd guess the current Norton mixed with our old kit really is the problem. When we got the machine it had the current at the time Norton and it was fine.

I've gone with AVG and so far things do seem better but time will tell, eventually we'll update the machine but the 'plan' means I want to leave it another couple of years, frankley all we do is a bit of surfing, odd email and print the odd photo so we don't need wizzy wizzy.

 

[MrJinks]

I have to say that if you want something simple, lightweight and which runs quietly in the background, then Microsofts own, free, Microsoft Security Essentials is hard to beat.

Info and download at:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

I too have been using MS Essentials for the last few weeks. Seems to be working fine although time will tell

 

[rainbow chasers]

Thanks one and all:thumb:


Ditched Norton last night, I should probably have added our machines 8ish years old running XP and without knowing the tech specs of the processor I'd guess the current Norton mixed with our old kit really is the problem. When we got the machine it had the current at the time Norton and it was fine.

I've gone with AVG and so far things do seem better but time will tell, eventually we'll update the machine but the 'plan' means I want to leave it another couple of years, frankley all we do is a bit of surfing, odd email and print the odd photo so we don't need wizzy wizzy.

That does ring a bell! Our old machine was about 5 years old, and running XP and that things was just too old to work with modern software. It just never had enough power, and kept crashing and messing about. I treid everything on that, I got so fed up, I bought a new one.

Not had any problems since! I think the software is so advanced now to deal with all the threats, that it is taking alot of memory to run it. The 360 norton I run now, has been problem free, it updates overnight so no problems thee - don't even know you got it!

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[oddjob]

Ditched Norton last night, I should probably have added our machines 8ish years old running XP and without knowing the tech specs of the processor I'd guess the current Norton mixed with our old kit really is the problem. When we got the machine it had the current at the time Norton and it was fine.

I have base computer which is probably 7 year old and runs better now than it did when i bought it( little bit like triggers brush only fools and horses) all that remains is the casing ,but what you need to look at is then amount of ram you have ,mine came with 256 mb that is the minimum windows will run ,it now has 2gb,check on the crucial site how many slots you have and how much ram your mother board will take .the more the better and faster ,over the years you hard drive clogs up with crap good house keeping is essential.
oddjob

 

[pappajohn]

Norton is over-rated and clogs up and slows down your computer.....very resource hungry.

if you uninstall it you'll find theres loads of norton bits left behind that wont delete/uninstall and you'll need something like C Cleaner or Comodo registry cleaner to get rid of them.

i use AVG9 free and Avast! for virus protection and C Cleaner and Comodo for registry and disc cleanup.
also auslogics for disc defragmenting......much, much faster than windows defrag.

you should find everything you need here.

FILE HIPPO

 

[G4GMO]

I agree Comodo Registry Cleaner is very good. Don't use it on my pc though as mine doesn't have a registry to clean of course.

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[sinbad1]

Norton is over-rated and clogs up and slows down your computer.....very resource hungry.

if you uninstall it you'll find theres loads of norton bits left behind that wont delete/uninstall and you'll need something like C Cleaner or Comodo registry cleaner to get rid of them.

i use AVG9 free and Avast! for virus protection and C Cleaner and Comodo for registry and disc cleanup.
also auslogics for disc defragmenting......much, much faster than windows defrag.

you should find everything you need here.

FILE HIPPO

not at the same time oh:

seriously though most of the free ones will protect you, I used to be an avg supporter for years until they turned it into a package.

I much prefer to use individual dedicated software rather than packages.that way i can choose the best type.

common sense is the best protection.Together with Acronis true image

regards