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windowless
January 1st, 2010, 02:58 AM
Hi guys Happy new year.I was just wondering if anyone can help with the best strategy
to prevent infection on my wifes xp laptop( I know this is not the right place to ask but I trust this forum).I have just recovered from virus live 2009(it was a bugger to get rid of)This is the second virus this year.I was thinking malwarebytes and anti virus but which one?I was using avg.any help would be great

Revolutionary101
January 1st, 2010, 03:02 AM
I would suggest using Avast anti-virus. Its easy to use and uninstall plus it is free.

FuManShu
January 1st, 2010, 03:09 AM
The free anti-virus programs are usually fairly ineffective. With how many variations of viruses that spring up once a new threat is found, the only ones that can keep up are the ones that have a financial interest in doing so(and this makes me VERY sad to say...) Symantec's Norton is the one I would recommend if you are willing to shell out $60.

The absolute best solution to virus protection that I can give, though, is to simply BROWSE RESPONSIBLY! I have been a windows user since 98SE (though the past couple of years I have been using both Linux and Windows) and I have not used an anti-viral software since XP first came out. Nor have I needed one. Most viruses require your permission, albeit through deception, in order to infect your system.

Revolutionary101
January 1st, 2010, 03:16 AM
The free anti-virus programs are usually fairly ineffective.

I would normally agree with you but I had used Avast for over 4 years when I had Windows and it kept me virus free. It offers tons of features and it doesn't bog down your system as much as Norton does.

Malcy
January 1st, 2010, 03:22 AM
Some of the free AV solutions are at the leading edge of ******* AV performance. Three come to mind as good choices, top of the pile is MS Security Essentials which is very effective and FREE, second would be Antivir Personal which is FREE and third is Avast which is FREE. I wouldn't use Norton products as they have always been unsatisfactory in performance and difficult to remove in my experience, not to mention expensive (compared to FREE). If you must pay for your AV then look at ESET NOD32.

p.s. Malwarebytes is a good choice and Comodo firewall is another good choice.

peakpc
January 1st, 2010, 03:39 AM
I use AVG Free addition on all the windows computers I own (4) and the ones at our work, church, and friends for over 6 years. It works very well, has a light foot print and it's free. just be careful to get the free version and not the trial or paid version (does scheduling). There's even a version for linux so you don't pass on infected files (even though they don't hurt you)http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

judge jankum
January 1st, 2010, 09:00 AM
It's not free, but Kaspersky is probably the best,

judge jankum
January 1st, 2010, 09:01 AM
Some of the free AV solutions are at the leading edge of ******* AV performance. Three come to mind as good choices, top of the pile is MS Security Essentials which is very effective and FREE, second would be Antivir Personal which is FREE and third is Avast which is FREE. I wouldn't use Norton products as they have always been unsatisfactory in performance and difficult to remove in my experience, not to mention expensive (compared to FREE). If you must pay for your AV then look at ESET NOD32.

p.s. Malwarebytes is a good choice and Comodo firewall is another good choice.

Yes Comodo is the best fire wall I've seen.

bashveank
January 1st, 2010, 10:13 PM
The free anti-virus programs are usually fairly ineffective. With how many variations of viruses that spring up once a new threat is found, the only ones that can keep up are the ones that have a financial interest in doing so(and this makes me VERY sad to say...) Symantec's Norton is the one I would recommend if you are willing to shell out $60.

The absolute best solution to virus protection that I can give, though, is to simply BROWSE RESPONSIBLY! I have been a windows user since 98SE (though the past couple of years I have been using both Linux and Windows) and I have not used an anti-viral software since XP first came out. Nor have I needed one. Most viruses require your permission, albeit through deception, in order to infect your system.

This is true. An AV is your second line of defense. Your first line is your own browsing habits. I do completely disagree with your assertion that free AVs aren't effective, though. They are usually fine, just quite a bit slower. Oh, and never, ever use Symantec. There are much better AVs out there, paid, or otherwise.

starcraft.man
January 2nd, 2010, 02:20 AM
Hi guys Happy new year.I was just wondering if anyone can help with the best strategy
to prevent infection on my wifes xp laptop( I know this is not the right place to ask but I trust this forum).I have just recovered from virus live 2009(it was a bugger to get rid of)This is the second virus this year.I was thinking malwarebytes and anti virus but which one?I was using avg.any help would be great

As a few others have said, behaviour modification is primary protection. A few things to keep in mind:

Never open untrusted attachements. (I open none)
Secure your browser with noscript and don't browse malicous sites.
Don't download from untrusted sources.
Do keep software/OS up to date.
Do try to limit vectors of attack (open IM clients, ports for filesharing, etc..).
Do have a software firewall/hardware firewall (router, modem).
Lastly, if you want have an AV.


I been using Windows since good ol' DOS 6 days and over the years I've simply grown tired of AVs. Through experience I no longer get infected, and would know if I do (by monitoring network/system). An AV is at all times only secondary defense, it can't stop user error.

blueshiftoverwatch
January 2nd, 2010, 02:31 AM
What do you guys think of AVG Free?

The absolute best solution to virus protection that I can give, though, is to simply BROWSE RESPONSIBLY!
Using the NoScript Firefox addons really helps in that regard.

windowless
January 2nd, 2010, 02:32 AM
thanks guys.I ended up going with ms security essentials comodo firewall and malwarebytes pro.I also have disabled p2p in router /firewall BUT i have 3 teenagers that love facebook etc.I will ban them from the windows machine and use ubuntu only

thanks again

mamamia88
January 2nd, 2010, 02:32 AM
can you actually get a virus from browsing the web? don't you have to run a executable containing the virus for it to do any damage? excuse me if i am wrong.

alakazam
January 2nd, 2010, 02:35 AM
Your first line of deffence is your own browsing habits..


I highly doubt that, from experience and knowledge.

In 2002 I bought my first PC from PC world, booted it and ran through the XP welcome installation, Only had it on a few minutes to discover the notorious blaster worm of that year kept shutting the PC down.

judge jankum
January 2nd, 2010, 04:19 AM
I highly doubt that, from experience and knowledge.

In 2002 I bought my first PC from PC world, booted it and ran through the XP welcome installation, Only had it on a few minutes to discover the notorious blaster worm of that year kept shutting the PC down.

I bought a new Gateway in 02, and the same day I got it the same thing happened to me..

bashveank
January 2nd, 2010, 05:01 AM
I highly doubt that, from experience and knowledge.

In 2002 I bought my first PC from PC world, booted it and ran through the XP welcome installation, Only had it on a few minutes to discover the notorious blaster worm of that year kept shutting the PC down.

In 2002? Blaster wasn't discovered till late 2003. Nevertheless, Blaster is transmitted through random IP spams to unpatched computers. If you were behind a router, and your computer was fully updated, you wouldn't have been infected. Both of those a critical to your security on ANY system. If those two aren't true.fForget about lines of defense, you've left the gate wide open.

bashveank
January 2nd, 2010, 05:03 AM
can you actually get a virus from browsing the web? don't you have to run a executable containing the virus for it to do any damage? excuse me if i am wrong.

Worms can exploit holes in an operating system to be run through a malformed TCP/IP packet. If you're behind a router and your OS is patched, they shouldn't be a problem.

Paqman
January 2nd, 2010, 07:43 AM
The free anti-virus programs are usually fairly ineffective.

I disagree, and so do independent tests. Just because software is given away free doesn't mean it's of low quality. Some free AV packages are very good.