Looking for tips on the best place online to get free anti-virus & spyware protection. Appreciate any tips &/or advice
Free Antivirus and spyware protection '' Go to: http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free and download the free version. I have it on my computer and it does a great job!
Check out Avira they have some of the best detection rates. Windows Defender is also pretty good. You should also install Malwarebytes in addition to whatever AV you install.
Peronsally I like and use Comodo Internet Security. However it's not for the faint of heart. http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php
Used AVG until they came out with the 8.0 suite. Now I personally consider it bloatware because it has a whole lot of extras besides just anti-virus. I have removed it from several systems and they immediately load faster and run faster. I switched to avast after that, then Avira, but have since gone to MSE on all machines in my LAN, and load it on all machines that I work on. For spyware protection I have used SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard for years and years. Manually updating. For malware protection I have used MalwareBytes for a few years now. Manually updating. Main Web browser is Firefox and has been for several years. I have cookies and scripts allowed only for trusted pages, and trackers disabled when I find them. Only use IE when a page I am on requires scripts that I don't normally have allowed in FF and I cannot figure out which one(s) need to be allowed temporarily.
I ran AVG for years but it seems to hog up too many resources as of late. I've switched over to AVAST and been pleased.
Just remember to spread the word to people who simply don't know any better. When a POP UP appears saying "Your machine is affected, do you want to scan?" say "NO". Please. It's for your own good. Just an FYI. If it does happen. Email me. I will help you remove the root kit. David
This root kit appears when you get redirected involuntarily on certain webpages. If you go into IE or Firefox. Block Third party cookies. Those redirects are not stopped by spyware, anti-malware, they are genuine Viruses. Root kits. Freeware does NOT protect you from Rootkits. It doesn't matter what these so called cheap butts say. You open one of these pages, you will lose prgram shortcutts, you will lose pointers in the registry, you will lose program information for every single installed application. Then a script will prevent you from running ANYTHING includiong anti-virus, malware...etc. It's nice to hear advice from people. But if you feel your advice is better than BEST PRACTICE in the real world, you do not care about your friends here or anywhere else. THis is dangerous and you will lose 100% of you information. THis is not something to one up people on. This will destroy the memories you have floating around on your machine. One click does it all. Now. I am off my soapbox. Happy engineering. If you have been affected by these viscious apps. Email me. Just giving you the best advice I can. SCREW FREE!! Stop being cheap bas-My Friend. Invest in protection. Don't believe me?? Ask Webbie....Ask the Geek Squad. Geek Squad uses FOUR different paid AV apps to clean machines. FOUR! Panda, Kaspersky, SEP11, Malwarebytes (PAID). The death of your memories are on your shoulders. Just trying to help.