[Janis]

Once again I need to go to a friends to attempt to resucitate their pc. They have a 12 year old who I would restrict but can't. Starting with AVG, what software would your recommend they use (paid or free) to cut down on the number of viruses, trojans, and popups? I had AVG installed but the kid removed it as he said it wouldn't let him download everything he wanted. Now they have lots of virus problems! Would Zone Alarm free version be protective enough? Would the pro version be difficult for them (non tech people) to learn to use? Is there any software that would restrict the inflow of malware in IM?

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Microsoft's Giant Anti-Spyware, Zone Alarm Pro Version, Ad-Aware, Spy-Bot Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster get these these are good. Easy to use, they can help remove some spy wares and also if you post a Hi-Jack-This log in the Malware seaction and wait for the expert to help you delete the virus etc..Hope this help.

Edited by Fusion_Inc, 18 November 2005 - 06:01 PM.

[Fusion_Inc]

Microsoft's Giant Anti-Spyware, Zone Alarm Pro Version, Ad-Aware, Spy-Bot Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster get these these are good. Easy to use, they can help remove some spy wares and also if you post a Hi-Jack-This log in the Malware seaction and wait for the expert to help you delete the virus etc..Hope this help.

Edited by Fusion_Inc, 18 November 2005 - 06:01 PM.

[Jo Franklin]

Zone Alarm Free is fabulous. AVG free does the job, Lavasoft's Ad Aware and Spybot. All good stuff.

[Pi rules]

You may want to consider getting a better antivirus than AVG, although AVG is pretty good. There are some good and easy-to-use security suites that have a firewall, antivirus, etc. and include Symantec Internet Security and Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security. These programs integrate all those features into one, so it is easier to navigate than opening several programs. These suites aren't the best at detecting spyware and adware yet, so you may want to consider Spyware Blaster (helps prevent malware from getting on your PC), Spybot Search & Destroy, Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta and Ad-Aware to help remove any spyware that gets on.

[Maddox]

The host-bound firewall in ZoneAlarm Free and it's shareware counterparts functions in exactly the same way. You'll get the same protection from it in that sense. However, the additional tools available in the paid-for versions really do show what ZoneLabs is capable of. Being a happy customer of their's for over two years I think I can safely say it's the number one for overall security, although its AntiVirus and Anti-Spyware utilities could be beefed up (so you should use a secondary AV and AS application if you decide to use it). I personally use Zonelabs Security Suite, Spyware Doctor, Spy Sweeper, Ad-Aware Personal, Spybot and Microsoft AntiSpyware and haven't had a problem with malware for 6 months. Zonealarm doesn't interfere with any programs unless you tell it to so the kid should have no problems with downloads or any other activities.

Edited by Maddox, 20 November 2005 - 11:41 AM.

[Thef0rce]

I'd say the free version of ZA because for some reason that I don't remember now, the pro version annoyed me a lot. I guess the pop up blocking thing was overkill in combination with firefox and IE 6 sp2 and it used quite a lot of memory overall when combined with norton 2005.

personally I don't trust AVG at all. I have eztrust antivirus on my other computer and I feel even that is more likely to find viruses than AVG is. I prefer norton and mcafee. spybot search and destroy is a good program, so is ad-aware. trend micro products take up too much memory when there's good alternatives that don't. and for emergencies, there's always hijackthis

[Agentx2]

try to also get spyware guard and go to this site to check for worms, malware and such. be careful though as it took me over 30 hrs to go through these and fix the problems that showed up. It would be a good idea to got from the botom to top. . once u have fixed and found all of that i removed everything except xoftspy. b/c it found the most. heh.

http://www.anti-spyware-reviews.net/