paul_r
22nd August 2006, 06:13 PM
I hear of a lot of people either not running antivirus or anti-spyware programs, or who aren't sure what to use. So, thought I'd post links to what's been recommended to me by people who know this stuff. I've used these for a few years now and they've caught everything so far (famous last words!).
These are all free and effective. More effective than most pay-for programs in fact. My STRONG recommendation is that you do NOT install any such programs that you do not know for sure are safe. Many of the free anti-spyware programs have similar names and many of them actually install more spyware than they take out.
Antivirus: AVG from Grisoft (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5) (they don't make it too easy to find the free one). Trust it with anything it wants to delete. It'll find stuff that Norton won't.
Anti-spyware: Spybot (http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?tag=lst-0-1) - a must-have in my opinion. Let it use the default settings. Trust it to delete anything it finds.
Anti-spyware: Ad-Aware SE Personal (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5) - another good one. I use this as well as Spybot.
Once again - there are other programs that have similar names. Some sound really good. DON'T use anything that has not been recommended to you by someone who's used it for some time.
Keep these updated regularly. Run them regularly. Safe browsing.
PS ... Personally I wouldn't have Norton on my PC, even if it was free. Norton tends to invade your PC and does a lot of stuff you don't know about. It can be hard to get rid off when you do get fed up with it too. That feeling is shared by almost every serious IT techie person I know. That's just a personal observation though, so don't sue me if you work for Norton.
These are all free and effective. More effective than most pay-for programs in fact. My STRONG recommendation is that you do NOT install any such programs that you do not know for sure are safe. Many of the free anti-spyware programs have similar names and many of them actually install more spyware than they take out.
Antivirus: AVG from Grisoft (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5) (they don't make it too easy to find the free one). Trust it with anything it wants to delete. It'll find stuff that Norton won't.
Anti-spyware: Spybot (http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?tag=lst-0-1) - a must-have in my opinion. Let it use the default settings. Trust it to delete anything it finds.
Anti-spyware: Ad-Aware SE Personal (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5) - another good one. I use this as well as Spybot.
Once again - there are other programs that have similar names. Some sound really good. DON'T use anything that has not been recommended to you by someone who's used it for some time.
Keep these updated regularly. Run them regularly. Safe browsing.
PS ... Personally I wouldn't have Norton on my PC, even if it was free. Norton tends to invade your PC and does a lot of stuff you don't know about. It can be hard to get rid off when you do get fed up with it too. That feeling is shared by almost every serious IT techie person I know. That's just a personal observation though, so don't sue me if you work for Norton.