Anyone have any good recommendations on good Malware/anti-virus software? Free or otherwise. My netbook has come down with something (note: doing a fresh install of windows is not an option at the moment).
Kaspersky, Avast, Bitdefender and Avira have very good results in independent tests and all of them have some kind of free version available although Kaspersky free version does not have a resident module.
I pay an annual fee to Norton, because it seems the toughest and most trustworthy protection. It's so strict about what it lets through my computer, sometimes I have to override it when it flags downloads and websites I know to be safe.
But, I used to use McAffee, another expensive paid protection package, and it let a virus into my last computer that destroyed it. Every five seconds, the virus would interrupt and insist that I go to a bogus site disguised as a Microsoft site, and input personal info. It had components installed practically everywhere on my operating system. Only a complete memory wipe and reinstall of Windows would have helped, so I just bought a new computer. The old one was getting a little outdated anyway and having some trouble with its graphics card overheating.
Anyway, since I've lost a computer to malware, I just don't trust anything but Norton.
I'd recommend against AVG. At startup it slows down your computer to the point that it's almost unusable. You'd have to wait like 10 minutes after turning on your computer before even being able to surf the net. I guess it's ok if you're patient, but it made me want to throw my mouse through my monitor. I changed to Avast and it's much much much better in that regard.
I use Malvarebytes and Spybot: search & destroy with Windows's own Security Essentials, seems to have worked fine for me. Rarely have anything serious.
I personally find that the best anti-virus/malware is to stay away from dodgy sites and refrain from downloading anything that may seem dodgy. In the case of the 'internet', paranoia is a virtue.
It seems to work well for me. That said I know it doesn't always work like that. AVG is a good anti-virus software which detects dodgy webpages more than most.
@Awong124 - If you know how, you can stop AVG from turning on at start up and turning your computer into a snail. The webpage block still works fine and you can always turn it back on when you're ready to download anything or for routine virus scans.
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Still, not having ever 10th word like "install" and "power" appear as links that lead to advertisements is a bit of a win.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/
Edit, in case you have some nasty that redirects your searches to weird ads/scam antivirus offers:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Malwarebytes-AntiMalware/1186760019/1
http://spybot-search-destroy.en.softonic.com/
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/
are the only pieces of software i ever use to keep my computer free of Viruses, Malware and other unwanted nasties.
But, I used to use McAffee, another expensive paid protection package, and it let a virus into my last computer that destroyed it. Every five seconds, the virus would interrupt and insist that I go to a bogus site disguised as a Microsoft site, and input personal info. It had components installed practically everywhere on my operating system. Only a complete memory wipe and reinstall of Windows would have helped, so I just bought a new computer. The old one was getting a little outdated anyway and having some trouble with its graphics card overheating.
Anyway, since I've lost a computer to malware, I just don't trust anything but Norton.
It seems to work well for me. That said I know it doesn't always work like that. AVG is a good anti-virus software which detects dodgy webpages more than most.
@Awong124 - If you know how, you can stop AVG from turning on at start up and turning your computer into a snail. The webpage block still works fine and you can always turn it back on when you're ready to download anything or for routine virus scans.