I bought my daughter a laptop for Christmas. I know nothing about computer security.?
How do I install a good virus protection on this computer. Thank you from a concerned Mom.
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there are many anti viruses. i would suggest, you opt for quick total security. you will find thousands of comparisons and millions of pros and cons for various anti virus program. i found quick heal to be more stable and light compare to others. AVG is also good and i think its free. quick heal not free though.
There are several good free antiviruses out there, especially Avast and Avira. I use Avira myself. You can get either free from download.com
http://download.cnet.com/windows/most-popular/3101-20_4-0.html?tag=rb_content;contentNav
Might want to get Malwarebytes Antimalware off that same list too as it’s good for other types of threats
I recommend ESET – it is really excellent.
Hire a computer consultant to install it for you – BUT look for one who is familiar with ESET.
Hi. Download these and you should be good:
1. Firewall – protects computer from incoming threats. Windows (if that’s what you’re using) has a built in firewall – but it’s no good. I’d recommend ‘Online Armor’, which is free and effective. http://www.tallemu.com/
2. Anti-virus program – like a firewall, you only need one. Aviva and Avast are good, but they tend to hog alot of resources (memory, so it may slow the computer a bit). Clamwin is a free and lightwight AV. http://www.clamwin.com/
3. Spybot Search and Destroy. It’s a malware/virus scanner and removal tool. http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html
4. Mozilla Firefox Web Browser – don’t use Internet Explorer web browser, it’s too vulnerable to exploits. Also, firefox has a few addons that can further protect her computer. Addons like: noscript, weboftrust, and adblocker. These can be downloaded through firefox directly, using tools->addons in the web page. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html
5. CCleaner. Used to fix bad registry issues that can slow down the computer. Also removes extra files that will bog up your space. Very lightwight program. Can also control startup programs so the computer can load quicker. http://www.ccleaner.com/
With these, it would be very difficult to obtain a virus.
OK, First lesson, Don’t listen to the free AV pushers on here. They will steer you right into a infection. You need to know how much RAM memory your machine has. You need to know operating system is in the machine. I would bet either windows 7 or Vista. If it’s Vista the first thing you need to do is get it changed to windows 7. Vista will no longer be supported within the next few months. W7 has taken it’s place. If your new and you have no idea how to keep a PC clean and Virus free then you need a program with the smarts to do it for you while you learn about the PC as you go. If it’s a new PC you probably have over two gigs of memory. The best smartest thing you can do if your a novice is put a good quality AV on it that you paid for. Get Kaspersky internet security. Don’t let any of these on here try to talk you into free programs that don’t run in real time. If it doesn’t run in real time it’s worthless junk that will be disabled by whatever infection you will get.
ALL free AV’s have security holes. If they didn’t have security holes they wouldn’t be free. AVG is the worst next to trend micro because it will not stop a infection before it starts. It cannot remove Malware. That’s a Trojan. Most of the time if you get one trojan you will get 100. Stay away from free. If you want more explanation feel free to message me. Be careful who you listen to on here. Some will tell you half truths and whole lies.
ESET Smart Security 4, I appreciate it a lot, it’s simple, fast, efficient, and not expensive. Download it and try it for free from http://www.eset.com. Good luck!