NP5796 Soon to Arrive - Need Help

The NP5796 will be my second laptop. Here's the catch. My first laptop was/is a terrible Toshiba Satellite A65 that frequently overheats but as of yet has not had a serious viral infection or any known intrusion attempts.

With that said...What should I install on my NP5796 for protection and security? I'd like experienced people's advice on this. Should I go for some expensive box of software? Anything I can download online? Any help would be appreciated.

I apologize ahead of time if this is the wrong forum to post this security question in but I'd like to know how to secure my laptop as soon as it arrives. Thanks again.

 

Kaspersky - one of the most powerful but also lightest.

 

Use the search function and type Antivirus and theres a whol thread about best free / best paid software.

 

Arr. If viruses be plaging ye vessel Avast! be ye Jim-lad of choice.

It be free as the sea, but ye'll have to charter it's course yeself if'n ye want to scan ye drive. Autoscans be a premium feature.

 

I've been using NOD32 for a few years. McAfee and Norton are so bloated it can make a super computer that is so advanced that won't be created for another 50 years chug.

 

Free AV, Avast, AVG and AntiVir. Paid AV, Kasperky and NOD.
Also make sure you are running some kind of firewall. If you use a router turn the firewall on the router. I use a router firewall and a software firewall in conjunction for the added outbound protection, in case something get's in and try's to phone home.

 

I highly recommend Kaspersky. Just make sure you tell it to update its databases on a daily basis (or whenever you turn the laptop on).

 

Kap in my experience has turned out to be a huge memory hog at times. Nod32 Smart Security is good, this version has the nod 32 antivirus + firewall prot, + Spam filt .

 

From my experience, having used each and every single one of those mentioned besides Norton.

I would definately go with AVG. Hands down. I liked Nod32, however, I think that AVG is more simplistic, streamlined, and to be honest, I just have had less issues while using AVG then NOD32 whether it be intrusions, infections etc. or freezing, slowdowns etc.

 

I would second that recommendation. Kaspersky is great.

 

I am a "bang for the buck" person...

Welcome to the NBR forums.

For monitoring:
- RivaTuner (for GPU)
- RMclock (for CPU)

For web browsing:
- Mozilla Firefox 3 (with extensions: AdBlock Plus)

For Anti-Virus: (use only 1)
- avast 4! Home Free Edition (100% free and good)
- AVG Free Antivirus (100% free and good)

For an Office Suite:
- OpenOffice (100% free and good alternative to Microsoft Office)

 

Thanks everyone. I'll let you know how things go once it arrives. Thanks for the welcome Gophn.

Anyone reading this, feel free to give you input about laptop protection, antivirus, counter-intrusion, etc. programs for my soon to arrive NP5796. I appreciate it.

 

AVG Free, been using it for years and it works perfect. It doesn't have absolute perfect protection but if you know a thing or two about computers and aren't prone to picking up viruses (Using your head), it's your best choice.

 

Stick to separate apps for security. If you use a suite and it goes down due to a crash or something else you are vulnerable. Also browse with Firefox or Opera. Opera has now become my default browser.

I use a Linksys router with the firewall turned on, ZAP (mainly for outbound protection), and NOD32, For spyware I recommend Windows Defender. Windows Defender is the only resident spyware program I run all the time. I've never had any issues with Defender. But I'm sure I can live without running it all the time, but it has never caused me any problems. I also have installed for spyware, Superantispyware, A-Squared, Ad-aware, and Spybot. I run scans when I'm bored and all I ever find is cookies, which don't bother me.

Last thing you can do to to really ensure you are safe on line is to never surf the web using an admin account. This is the only rule I don't follow. But I've never had any issues, knocking on wood.

 

I just don't use anti virus at all. As long as you don't go to shady sites and do random stuff, you should be fine.

 

NOD32 is the best AV program out there.... Better than Kaspersky imo.

 

There is no better virus protection than common sense in browsing (and browsing with something other than IE), coupled with familiarisation with your running tasks/startup items.

That said, if I were to choose a fallback I'd go for NOD32, followed by Kaspersky. AVG has let me down badly in the past.