Ok i need to know the best anti virus. I want one with firewall,and the ability to do virus and spyware scans. If you know a good anti virus do you know if you can pay be check or money order or cold hard cash?

Check out www.symantec.com
They are the makers of Norton Anti Virus and they make firewalls. As for spyware, you can download free spyware scanning programs like adaware and spybot.

Are there any free virus scanners and firewall software that people would recommend?

Are there any free virus scanners and firewall software that people would recommend?
If you're running windows xp then you can use the firewall that comes with xp.
symantec.com also has a free virus scanner if look for it.

Okay, I've always wondered how useful the windows firewall is and whether it would be worthwhile to get a different firewall.

Okay, I've always wondered how useful the windows firewall is and whether it would be worthwhile to get a different firewall.
Go here (http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym)
and do the security scan, once with the firewall on, once with it off and see if it makes a difference.

I don't know how good it is, but it's supposed to get better with SP2, whenever that comes out.

AVG is a good freeware virus scanner. Avast! is supposed to be pretty good. Both can be found at www.snapfiles.com. Zonealarm isn't that bad. I'm sure there are others out there too. Snapfiles should have some info on it.

Go here (http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym)
and do the security scan, once with the firewall on, once with it off and see if it makes a difference.

Suprisingly I got all ticks with the firewall on, windows can at least get some stuff reasonably correct :)

How exactly do I tunr the windows firewal on. NOt that it will be on for long if it decides that AOL is the enemy and denies a connection. Then again.... :hmm:

How exactly do I tunr the windows firewal on. NOt that it will be on for long if it decides that AOL is the enemy and denies a connection. Then again.... :hmm:
The Windows firewall is only in windows xp, do you have xp?

Are there any free virus scanners and firewall software that people would recommend?

For Virus Scanners I would reccomend, whole-heartedly, AVG, the free version can be found here (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php) or by going through GriSoft (http://www.grisoft.com)

As for free firewalls, the free version of ZoneAlarm is very good... It can be found here (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp) or by going through ZoneLabs (http://www.zonelabs.com)

Now, just in case, Spyware scanners... I personally use and love SpyBot, Search and Destroy... It can be downloaded for free from here (http://spybot.eon.net.au/index.php?page=download) or by going through Safer Networking (http://www.safer-networking.org/) Also, the new version of Spybot comes with a Clean Erase Utility.

Another popular choice is AdAware, and it can be dowloaded for free from here (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/) or by going through LavaSoft (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/)

The Windows firewall is only in windows xp, do you have xp?

Yeah .

There's a walkthrough here (http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/communication/ethernet/office/winxp/4206/) If you need any more help, I can help walk you through it as well...

Apperently I can't do it as every time I click on properties nothing happens :hmm:

Yeah .
Ok then when ur on the desktop go into my network places. Then on the left click on view network connections. Then click on the icon that represents your internet connection, once you've clicked on it go to the left again and click on change the settings of this connection. A window will pop up, click on the advanced tab. Put a check where it says "protect my computer by limiting or preventing access from the internet" after that hit ok and your all set ;)

Oddly enough it also says that I it is not connected. :confused: Even through I clearly am online.

Oddly enough it also says that I it is not connected. :confused: Even through I clearly am online.
Is it the only connection you have? or are there others?

Is it the only connection you have? or are there others?

I threre are two. But since I use AOL thats the connection I need.

I threre are two. But since I use AOL thats the connection I need.
I'm stumped as to why it's not working :confused: oh well.

I already have Spybot and Adaware installed. I was just wondering whether it would be worthwhile getting an alternative firewall and what Anti virus software that I should get incase Norton stops updating...

I already have Spybot and Adaware installed. I was just wondering whether it would be worthwhile getting an alternative firewall and what Anti virus software that I should get incase Norton stops updating...
If Norton fails there's always McAfee (http://us.mcafee.com/)

I like Zonelabs firewall. The more basic version is free and I believe if you pay more you can get the whole setup with extensive features. It works really well and I believe was highly rated in PCworld.

If you're running windows xp then you can use the firewall that comes with xp.
symantec.com also has a free virus scanner if look for it.
I heard that but i have xp but no firewall of anti virus.

I heard that but i have xp but no firewall of anti virus.
Do you have windows xp home edition or professional edition?
I have professional edition and I have the firewall. If you find you do have it the instructions to activate it are here (http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/communication/ethernet/office/winxp/4206/)

Avast! is supposed to be pretty good. Both can be found at www.snapfiles.com.

Yep, I use Avast!, and it's picked up more for me than when I had Nortons. The Home version is free to register as well which is great. :) In fact, I'd recommend it over Nortons.

I haven't got a firewall (even though I should have one), but I'll install one soon. Probably ZoneAlarm.

If Norton fails there's always McAfee (http://us.mcafee.com/)

McAfee isn't free...

McAfee isn't free...
You never said it had to be free. If your tech savvy, when you use a free scanner that does not automatically remove the virus, you can manually remove the files and registry keys associated with it.

Are there any free virus scanners and firewall software that people would recommend?

I thought I did say free...

I thought I did say free...
You did there, but not in the post I was responding to.
I was just wondering whether it would be worthwhile getting an alternative firewall and what Anti virus software that I should get incase Norton stops updating...
I guess you were still thinking that people would think of it being free like you said originally. After some searching I found some links to free AV applications at a security check site. free AV scanners (http://www.auditmypc.com/freescan/pop_up_blocker.asp?cat=34)
Hope that works for you, tell me if they're good.

This has become quite an odd thread, its unlikely I will be trying any of these free virus scanners for the time being, just something I wanted to for the future...

Norton is ghetto now. They suck.

McAffee does allright.

AVG is not "pretty good", it's "pretty lame". That's why it is free.

Adaware does ok with spyware. Zone Alarm has an awesome free firewall.

Norton is ghetto now. They suck.

McAffee does allright.

AVG is not "pretty good", it's "pretty lame". That's why it is free.

Adaware does ok with spyware. Zone Alarm has an awesome free firewall.

norton av corporate edition is nice. doesn't take up much resources and is sleek.

norton av corporate edition is nice. doesn't take up much resources and is sleek.

and has a scanner that consistantly rates lower than McAffee, Stop-Sign or Panda.

Oh, and you have to pay 39.95 an "incident" to talk to Norton's techs.... even with their corporate edition. McAffee charges about the same, but at least their scanner isn't so weak.

Stop-Sign has the best... but is a little resource intensive, and their "incident" support is free.

norton av corporate edition is nice. doesn't take up much resources and is sleek.

Which is ironically the version I currently have...

Dell19:

Here's a recipe:

1) Keep your XP (or any OS) updated. This includes whatever browser you use as well as other software. There are security patches being issued for all of these things frequently.

2) Activate your XP firewall and consider downloading ZoneAlarm (the free version) from ZoneLabs. There have been some conflict issues reportedwith version 5, but I think they have been resolved.

3) Anti-virus - AVG from Grisoft is a good freebie. It will update, but you don't get any support. Also check out the online scanners and utilities from the biggies such as McAfee's Stinger and the others that have been mentioned. Stinger is updated almost weekly, is free and works well fixing what it finds. (It bailed our butts out at work last August when Nachi hit over 100 of our subnet's computers...problem was we got infected before we could distribute the McAfee update). Check out Snapfiles.com and MajorGeeks.com for more freebies.

4)Anti-adware/spyware - Spybot S&D and AdAware 6. Both are free, updateable and relatively easy to use. Get both and run both. They do the same thing, but use a slightly different approach. One catches things the other doesn't. Another product (free) is HijackThis. The thing with this one is that you need to check into some of the help forums to really make it work.

5) Update, Update, Update. Can't emphasis that enough

Here are some pertinent addresses:

Antivirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
http://www.symantec.com/index.htm
http://www.kaspersky.com/
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp


Anti-adware/spyware software
http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/ - good listing of adware and spyware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ - AdAware
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html - HijackThis
http://www.pestpatrol.com/ excellent database, must pay for software
http://www.safer-networking.org/ - Spybot S&D
http://www.kephyr.com/
http://www.spyware.co.uk/

Forums:
http://forums.techguy.org/ - general Windows stuff
http://www.computercops.biz/forums.html - general Windows stuff
http://www.winguides.com/forums/ - general Windows stuff
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ anti-adware/spyware
http://www.security-forums.com/forum/index.php (includes some Mac)
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?act=idx (includes Mac forums)
http://boards.cexx.org/ - general Windows stuff
http://forum.gladiator-antivirus.com/index.php?showtopic=8050 - adaware
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php?

Listing of so-called rogue anti-spyware:
There are a lot of anti-spyware programs out there. Some are totally bogus while others are questionable. This list was compiled by the anti-adware/spyware community, a group of people who don't get paid for their advice and knowledge.
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=68

There's tons of information available from these sites. Take a gander and it might help you make some decisions on what to do.

I think just about everyone on this site has heard and knows about spyware. I'm DL spyware blaster as I Type after I saw it recomended on a Tv show I watch. They also said the federal Goverments had a suggestion on how to prevent virus from getting on your computer: Get any Browser other then IE :lol:

I use Norton Antivirus 2004....... I think its actually called Norton Internet Security 2004 as it comes with both Norton antivirus 2004 and Norton Firewall. <touch wood> I've so far never had a virus get through it. Its brilliant and the Firewall is great because if someone tries to get into your comp it shows your their IP addy and you can click on it to find out details about them (I actually have someone's home address from San Diego)

It did cost me £50 though......... so that'd be something like $80-90 for the Americans I think but as I said, its brilliant.

Steviejay

ZoneAlarm + AVG.