ASUS G1 Maintenance

I was wondering what is a good free anti-virus program as well as a spyware/adware program to use?

 

AVG Antivirus is free, and it is a very good program. Microsoft also make an Anti-spyware porgram called Windows Defender. That should work, and it will remove and protect the computer from spyware.

 

If you want what I'd suggest and have been using for the last couple years - Kaspersky v6.0. We get some crazy stuff coming into our servers, it hasn't let us down anywhere... and I also use it all of my personal machines.

For spyware, if you upgrade to vista, I've watching window's built-in defender program and it works rather well. Otherwise, I use CA's pestpatrol on my xp machines.

 

Oh thanks, guys...ahhh, conflicting suggestions

 

So for Virus: AVG Anti-Virus OR Kaspersky v6.0
Spyware - Windows Defender OR CA's pestpatrol

Hmm...

 

Yes, those suggestions are fine. The ones that PROPortable has mentioned are very good.

 

Does Kaspersky v6.0 cost money? I can only find a 30-days trial of it.

 

I agree with the above suggestions.

Here's what I use, and schedule them to run during the night on my desktop, but run them on the laptop every now and then, plus every file I download I scan it with AVG.

Anti-Virus - AVG Free
Spyware - Spybot Search and Destroy, this is used for quick cleaning
Ad-aware - Deep spyware cleaning, takes close to 30 minutes to scan a whole computer.

 

Thanks.............

 

All of the programs I mentioned are free, Kaspersky is not free, but as you already mentioned 30 days free trial.

 

Avast! anti-virus is what I've been using for the past few years and I haven't been affected by many viruses. In fact, it helped my friend's computer get rid of a virus that AVG couldn't detect/get rid of...

As for spyware control AdAware is a great program. The best thing to do is just to avoid sketchy websites...

 

Ill also throw in Avast! Home edition as a suggestion.

 

It's interesting how you pointed out that some program may not be able to detect ALL the viruses. So, is it better to have a main antivirus and a back up anti-virus strictly for...let's say... monthly scanning, in addition?

 

For Anti-spyware, I have chosen AdAware and Webroot Spy Sweeper.

 

For virus protection avast has never let down anyone I've ever recommended it to...it's free and works excellent!

 

Forgot to add ccleaner. It's an amazing free program that removes unused files from your system and it also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Pulled some info off the site:

Cleans the following
Internet Explorer
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.
Firefox
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history.
Opera
Temporary files, URL history, cookies.
Windows
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
Registry cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.
Third-party applications
Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more...
100% Spyware FREE
This software does NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or Viruses.

 

I am also running this anti virus program for years on my machine and it works well.

 

i think both avast and avg are good. i'm using avg AT THE MOMENT but when/if (touch wood) anything happens without avg detecting it i'll just open up avast and do a scan (i have both installed but only avg running as i think i've read somewhere that avg uses less resources)

and as for antispyware, i use spybot S&D, adaware, and SUPERAntiSpyware (i was introduced to SAS when i had this really annoying trojan that nothing could get rid of)

the only thing i use that's windows is the firewall

oh and they're all free

 

Yeah, I think I will have both AVG and Avast in my notebook for more options.

What about internet security, firewall? Do you guys recommend using windows firewall?

 

Spyware: Spybot S&D, AdAware I second

I use McAfee for anti virus right now because I got it for free with my ISP and because I don't care about the bajillion processes it adds at the moment. Though I'd second Avast and AVG over McAfee I'm just too lazy to worry about it

The best defense is just mindful use of the internet and e-mail. Delete all messages that look off kilter, avoid websites which are sketchy, and only download from sources you trust (or do a search to see if they can be trusted).

 

Yeah, that is a really good advice... the best treatment is prevention.

Anyway, I just installed Avast, and I was wondering how do you disable it completely from start-up/working in the back ground/etc. because all I wanted is to use it like month to use it. It is my back up anti-virus.

Thanks.

 

Windows firewall is fine.

 

thats exactly what i use, along with CCleaner to keep my registry clean.

 

I noticed that Webroot Spy Sweeper increases my boot up time by almost two...Does anyone know if it uses a lot of system resource too? If so, I may just as well get Spybot SnD.

 

We hate spy sweeper at work, even the IT guys. Some idiot big shot picked it.

 

Sorry, but what is the IT guys? I hope that wasn't a stupid question. And, why do you hate it? Is it because it is slow/no dependable?

 

No such thing as a stupid question

IT: Information Technology

So "IT guys" usually refers to the people that setup and maintain computers in a company.

Spy Sweeper takes up a lot of resources and yes it does slow things down. By "a lot" I mean it takes up way more resources than it should.

 

Yeah, I have yet to enter the working world. Anyway, I knew it; that is why Spy Sweeper slows my boot time by HALF.

I better use Spy bot, instead.

 

I'll back up Justin on Kaspersky. It definitely isn't free (actually, it's one of the most expensive), but it works very very well. I've had it for several months now, and it picks up absolutely everything.

 

Listen guys and gals... When it comes to virus protection, you don't want to screw around. Even if you pirate your music, movies, applications, and even your OS...... the one thing that's worth every penny is your virus protection. Now, if you can pirate the rest, I'm sure you can get anything, but if there was one thing to really put your money into, it's certainlly Kaspersky.

I used to be a loyal user of TrendMicro's PC Cillin for 4 years... With all the BS that was Norton and McAfee, PC Cillin used 1/4 of the resources and was updated daily.... never had an issue with them. I was introduced to it by Asus as it came on the first notebook we imported... It was really good when it had more of an underground cult following.... now it's mainstream and the last good version was 2002 - but the virus tables for that version can no longer be updated. Now the problem went mainstream like the others and suck a ton of resources.

I started using Kaspersky a couple years ago when our head tech said there's no better people to protect you from viruses than the people the create most of them - the Russians! It was and still is sort of underground, but it too is becoming mainstream because it's kicking all of the other AV's out of the water...... but it's still a good program. Version 6 basically covers everything. Right now I'm actually using a version 6 beta (which IS free until the end of April), which is version 6 - with the updates for Vista... after a few weeks it's working just fine in Vista and Office 2007..

The beta is just for Vista machines, because the regular version 6 won't run on the new OS yet...... but if you have or are planning on using Vista in the near future, the probably works better than any other beta program I've ever tested. I'm convinced it's only considered a beta because they don't yet know if t hey can support it - but it's solid.

 

You can't go wrong with either Avast or Kaspersky. I've never heard either side really bash the other one. And I've also haven't heard any major complaints out of people using either program. Both are topnotch!

 

Sounds good, those are all great choices. Unfortunately, money is an issue for me. I will do what I can to aid my notebook.