Help, need new anti-virus for laptop/PC

[Herschel]

To make a long story short, I have been using Trend Micro. The product has been fine but my yearly subscription to the regular package was set to run out this coming Saturday. They had sent me a notice and an icon on the task bar, etc. However, yesterday morning I had an e-mail from Digital River (their vendor/servicer, who also bring us DDI and provides gaming supscriptions for many companies) thanking me for my order of their new Titanium Service Product. The issue? I didn't order it, nor did I authorize any payment for it which they extracted from my account (I used my debit card to resubscribe last year). Needless to say they lost a customer and may be looking at some filings with the Better Business Bureau (Digital River is based in Eden Parairie, MN), etc.

What I'm looking for is a solid anti-virus, anti-malware/spyware and Firewall that people have had good luck with. I'm running Windows Vista. I could go Windows Firewall and Norton I suppose, but I've never been a huge fan of Norton from years back. I have Malwarebytes already on the machine. Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Starman]

To keep my computer running smoothly, I use:

CCleaner
Malwarebytes
Avast

 

[drothgery]

Use Microsoft Security Essentials for anti-virus unless you have a very, very good reason not to. Free, and it screws with your system far less than other anti-virus programs IME. Same logic goes for using the Windows Firewall.

 

[catsclaw227]

Use Microsoft Security Essentials for anti-virus unless you have a very, very good reason not to. Free, and it screws with your system far less than other anti-virus programs IME. Same logic goes for using the Windows Firewall.

Yep.

I had been an Avast! fan for a while, and still have it on one of my desktops, but I really like the new MS Security Essentials. Also works better with Office products.

 

[Relique du Madde]

I use Nod 32 on my laptop, Microsoft security essentials on my aging PC.

 

[Thanee]

Don't ever use Norton.

The three professional AV products, that always stand out in reviews (at least from my experience) are Kaspersky, BitDefender, and NOD32.

I'm using Kaspersky Internet Security myself (also on Vista), because when I bought it independent tests have rated it the best in detecting and removing malicious software, and it does its job and doesn't slow down the system too much (it updates its databases several times a day, which does slow the internet for a short while; and startup is a bit slow, but once it's running, it just stays in the background... it also has a gaming mode, that prevents it from making updates and pop up dialogs, while running games).

Bye
Thanee

 

[ggroy]

As a preventative measure, I use an ad blocker on the Firefox browser such as Adblock Plus.

I also normally turn off the java scripting on Firefox. Occasionally I'll turn it on, when a particular web page warrants it. For example, I'll turn on the scripting whenever I'm posting on EN World. (Posting on EN World without the scripting turned on, is kinda awkward).

Another preventative measure I use is to replace the HOSTS file, such that it redirects/bypasses many servers for ads, malware, banners, 3rd party crap, etc ... to the 127.0.0.1 localhost.

Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File

 

[catsclaw227]

I use Nod 32 on my laptop, Microsoft security essentials on my aging PC.

The three professional AV products, that always stand out in reviews (at least from my experience) are Kaspersky, BitDefender, and NOD32.

I used to have Nod32, but I found that there are free alternatives that are as strong as I need them. Avast, AVG or MS Security Essentials can do everything I need them to do, so there was no point in paying for anti-virus. Mostly I can get away with this because I am savvy enough to not fall for the tricks and traps out there to get the general masses: phishing, fake AV popups, etc.

I'm not one that feels the need to block a bunch of ads. I close any windows that could be bad (pop-ups from unknown sites) and some ads, in rare cases, actually describe something I want.

Don't ever use Norton.

What a bloated, intrusive piece of software. McAfee used to be good too, now it's just as bloated and intrusive as Norton.

I avoid both like the plague.

 

[drothgery]

I also normally turn off the java scripting on Firefox. Occasionally I'll turn it on, when a particular web page warrants it. For example, I'll turn on the scripting whenever I'm posting on EN World. (Posting on EN World without the scripting turned on, is kinda awkward).http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Please don't make web developers cry (Really, don't turn off JavaScript or Cookies. Please. I'll hate you forever.).

 

[ggroy]

Please don't make web developers cry (Really, don't turn off JavaScript or Cookies. Please. I'll hate you forever.).

I just delete all the cookies, history, cache, etc ... every 15 to 20 minutes by hand.