What Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware/Firewall/Etc Should I Get?

[The Blue Fox]

This is one for the more technically minded folks of this here forum.

I plan to buy myself a brand new computer by the end of the year. A proper one this time, not a bargain bin one like my hunk of junk laptop is.

It's gonna be a desktop tower PC too. More bang for my buck...plus, despite the portability of my laptop, I never really took it anywhere.

I'm gonna be keeping this here laptop, though, for as long as it continues to work. It'll be more of a business 'puter for jobsearching and whatnot.

As for my new computer, what computer I'm gonna get depends on what's available in PC World on the day.
I'm definitely getting one from the maker HP though. They seem to do pretty reliable stuff.

What I do know is my new computer is definitely gonna be powerful enough to run PC games. I mean, I've never really had anything powerful enough to run proper PC games. This laptop can just barely run Second Life, It'd prolly just esplode trying to run something like Minecraft or World of Warcraft.

So here's the thing; my parents and I have always relied on Norton Anti-virus/Anti-spyware/Firewall/etc in its many iterations to protect our computers.

But I'm not sure it's the right anti-virus for me to have going forward.
I think it's what's been blocking my various software updates over the years. It started with just Windows updates and then went on to Adobe Flash player and Java, it blocked Skype updates and even went so far as to block Skype itself for a period of time at one point.

Why it's blocking these updates I have no idea. I, with my rather lacking technical knowhow, cannot find a way to tell my Norton to let those updates through.

What's more, various technically minded friends of mine have explained that Norton is good at eradicating nasty stuff that gets into my system, but apparently not so good at keeping stuff out in the first place.

So what I need is a good all-rounder Anti-virus/Anti-spyware/Firewall/etc to protect my new PC.
I'm willing to pay money for it and everything. My money to pay for Norton will go towards paying for the new programme instead.

It also needs to be Skype friendly and PC gaming friendly.

So what Anti-virus/Anti-spyware/Firewall/etc programme do you reccommend? It doesn't necessarily have to be the one you yourself use.

Obviously I've tried Norton...but if you guys think there's nothing better I've no qualms in sticking with it.

I've also tried a free version of AVG to try and strengthen my defenses, but it made me Norton throw its toys outta it's pram.

I'm kinda interested in Kapersky. I hear that's pretty good.

I'm gonna have to say heck no to any suggestions of using Mcaffee...not after all those news reports revealing the founder is a convicted criminal.

I've come across the name "Bitdefender" once or twice but know nothing of how that performs.

I'm sure there's several other Anti-virus/Anti-spyware/Firewall/etc programmes I've never even heard of out there. if you think there's one I should consider that I haven't mentioned, suggest it!

[JeffCvt]

I just recently came across a situation where I needed a new anti-virus because Norton was acting up on my computer, so I looked into getting something else.

First thing first: You cannot have two (or more) anti-virus programs on your computer at once. An anti-virus basically works like a virus itself, so if you have more than one at a time, they'll mess each other up.

Now that that's out of the way, I'll let you know that AVG free and Avast! free are considered to be very good anti-virus programs. I think they are actually the two highest rated ones out there (even more than Norton. Which you have to pay for ). You are right to not use Mcaffee at all though. I'll get to that a little later.

I first tried to download AVG (after removing Norton), but I ran into some trouble. I tried like, 3 or 4 times to download it and it kept telling me that it just wouldn't load. So I decided to try Avast and see what happened with that. Well, it also failed to download, but it gave me an actual error code that I was able to use to figure out what the problem was. All AVG ever said was "download failed" or something like that.

After a little research into what the error was, I came to find out that my computer actually had a virus that prevented me from downloading an anti-virus.

Tracing back to when I could have gotten it, I narrowed it down to two possible situations.
1: When I first got my laptop, it came with a free 30 day trial of Mcaffee that I used, and it got on then.
2: Internet Explorer let it on before I switched to Chrome. (Which wasn't that long after Mcaffee ran out, so it could have been a combo of both too)

I know I got it then because I changed to Norton, but it always had this one error code whenever I started my computer up. Norton itself still worked fine so I never looked too much into it. Then it wouldn't load properly after it had an update that basically required it to re-install itself I guess, and that's when I looked into the new anti-virus.

Based on that experience, I would personally recommend Avast since they actually let me know WHY it wouldn't load, leading me to think they would have a more user friendly program overall. Unfortunately, I never actually ended up downloading an anti-virus because after finding out I had one, it was all the excuse I needed to put a new SSD (Basically a really fast hard drive with less storage) in my computer and download a Linux OS (which don't get viruses).

[yellowcrash10]

The only two more known antiviruses that I have used are McAfee and Norton. I do not recommend McAfee. It tends to make the computer unbearably slow. This may have changed in the past four or five years, but its general reputation is pretty low. Norton is a decent antivirus, but sometimes can take up a lot of the CPU. It can also detect a lot of false positives, but it is probably best to heed its advice unless you really know what you're doing. However, I never really had any major issues while using it.
Currently, I use an antivirus called Malwarebytes. I use the free version (which doesn't actively scan downloaded files or schedule scans), but I recommend getting the paid version if you are looking into this one. I don't use the paid version since I generally don't download anything and I can fix my own computer, but this is probably just slightly better than not having an antivirus at all, so I don't suggest doing this. I do recommend using the free version alongside another antivirus program if you want a second opinion on your files.


Overall, I recommend sticking with Norton. It worked fine for me, and it usually didn't interfere with me playing games.

I also suggest that you do some of your own research so you'll get some opinions from people who do this kind of stuff as a job

Tip: Some internet service providers provide their customers with a free subscription to an antivirus suite, so see if yours does. I know Comcast (and Centurylink I believe?) provide this service to their customers.

[Shadowstar23]

I currently use Norton 360. So far have not had a problem. Just have to run scans every now and again.

[Dissension]

When I worked at Asurion, we encouraged customers to use Avast! Antivirus and perform an occasional scan with Malwarebytes. I've used both for years without incident.

[GameCobra]

If you need good, detailed info on Spyware scans, go here.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/

We regularly encourage customers to run Spyware scans with Malwarebytes, but if you are getting a lot of pop-ups ~ Junkware Removal tool (JRT) and ADWCleaner are the two best ones for pop-up removal.

Avast is popular these days, but another good one is the Emsisoft Emergency Kit. It's not an anti-virus, but that's it's best feature since it removes viruses without fighting with other anti-viruses.

[Cesco]

When I worked at Asurion, we encouraged customers to use Avast! Antivirus and perform an occasional scan with Malwarebytes. I've used both for years without incident.

That's a perfect mix, I have this on my now old PC. No incidents for me too, except some false positives by Avast! Antivirus, which can be easily ignored. I use both in their free version, which is enough, plus Zone Alarm Free as firewall. But, as always, always put attention in what you do visiting pages, clicking links and downloading files: the user is the best antivirus.
Other valid antivirus softwares for me are Avira Antivirus and Kaspersky, always in free versions; AVG is pretty good, but I hate the GUI it got in the latest years. Concerning anti-malwares, it's worth a try to Spybot Search & Destroy and AdwCleaner. For free firewalls, check also the one by Comodo. Another tool to add and use occasionally is CCleaner, to clear useless stuff.

[Therolyn]

I don't have a huge amount of experience with anti-virus software but I have always found while Norton does work, it slows down your computer and tends to be quite annoying in some respects. I'd not recommend Norton for a computer designed for gaming, but if it is for less intensive tasks, then Norton is fine

The only other ones I have tried in the last few years was Bullguard and AVG. Bullguard did a good job but I had to fork out a bit, it sometimes caused issues with games I would play online, and does not install on certain operating systems (much to my disgust, which is why I don't use it any more). AVG I've always come back to because I find it reasonably reliable without causing too much problems.

In the end, there many choices which can help in the fight against malware, viruses. trojans, spyware and other malicious code, not just the choice of protection. OS can matter, and depending on what you use the computer for can can affect what would suit your computer.

Lastly, I heard good things about Zone Alarm but from what I've seen, I wouldn't suggest it to for the normal user.

My 2 (s)cents. Note I have no formal education tin computer related subjects more than just high school and an attempt at CEr III in Information Technology which sure makes me less qualified than many are. All of my opinions come from personal use and from the words from people I know who are a little more knowledgeable on the subject than myself.

[Deske]

I used ESET NOD32 on my laptop and its never let a noticeable virus slide through. There's also SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes that I use on my desktop.

[The Blue Fox]

Huh. So basically AVG and Avast are pretty much the two top choices and I have to decide if I want one or t'other.

[dtlux1]

I use Malwarebytes, and it works great. It is also free.

[Hlaoroo]

I don't trust AVG because I got what I think was a fake version of it and it pretty much destroyed my computer.
Norton I also don't trust because I've seen it slow things down and let all kinds of things get through.
McAffee is a rip-off. Way too expensive and it wouldn't let me update so I've no idea how much got onto my computer that it couldn't find.
I have BitDefender on my new computer and I really like it. It doesn't slow things at all, it's really easy to put exceptions in the firewall so your games and Skype and suchlike can get through and it handles pretty much everything for you so all you have to do is put it on and let it run.
So yeah. I like BitDefender now.

[dtlux1]

I wouldn't use anything that cost money, it seems like a rip off when I can get better protection out of a free program.

[The Blue Fox]

I'd just like to thank all those that gave their two cents to this. Your opinions will help me in my decision.

[GameCobra]

I don't trust AVG because I got what I think was a fake version of it and it pretty much destroyed my computer.
Norton I also don't trust because I've seen it slow things down and let all kinds of things get through.
McAffee is a rip-off. Way too expensive and it wouldn't let me update so I've no idea how much got onto my computer that it couldn't find.
I have BitDefender on my new computer and I really like it. It doesn't slow things at all, it's really easy to put exceptions in the firewall so your games and Skype and suchlike can get through and it handles pretty much everything for you so all you have to do is put it on and let it run.
So yeah. I like BitDefender now.

AVG has different versions based on country. It might depend on where you live at. try this and see where it takes you if you want to try the correct version in the future. http://www.avg.com

Norton and Mcafee are ok, but I have run into problems where they block too much. They gotten over-protective over the years, but they are still good for brand new computers I find. Afterwards, the scans I recommended are better bits.

Don't hear about Bit Defender much, but it's on the same level as Kasperski I find, so that's good enough for me. =P

[The Blue Fox]

Before I started this thread, Kapersky was the one I was thinking of going for. To see a couple of folks at the very least hint that it's good is promising.

[Foxstar]

AVG works for me pretty much.

[Beagle]

The best protection is a defense of several types of programs. My rule of thumb is to have one anti-virus, one anti-malware, and one anti-adware. They all protect against different things so you should have one of each. And only one of each. I use a combination of Avast! antivirus, MalwareBytes, and AdwCleaner. These are all free! I also use the Avast! browser extension which I strongly recommend as well. Thanks to these programs I've never had a catastrophic infection (and lemme tell ya I would have if it wasn't for Avast! XD). MalwareBytes and AdwCleaner have helped me remove some super-suspicious gunk that invites itself in without your knowledge.

I use AdBlock (a browser extension) too but I understand a lot of people are against it because that's how independent artists and entertainers make a large part of their revenue.