Virus and other security problems + solutions

[Kestral]

Windows Security Essentials, which is good from what I've seen.

[Codex]

Using Avast Antivirus. It's kept my computer running for the last three years.

[Chibimala]

I use the free version of AVG. Doesn't interfere with IM programs & stuff, as I telecommute & have to use IM a lot. Auto-upgrades and can set it to run when I'm sleepin, so works OK for me. That and it's free, which I see is a pretty nice bonus Not sure that it has a reg cleaner, as I've never ran into problems where I had to clean up the registry.

[Vivec's Tears]

MahCoffee. It doesn't really work that well, though.

[Andere]

The worst problem with free Antivirus software is the lack of automatic updates - at least it used to be that way, and that was why I went to a paid version.

I'm using the Chinese Filseclab's Firewall, it's free, and you can even get the source code. I'm also using their Twister Antivirus, ~$30 for a lifetime license, and virus/ malware updates come up to 5 times per day. I've had these two for two years now, no problems with malware. According to some, Twister has the largest database of malware - it's a bit oversensitive occasionally, especially you need to be careful with its registry announcements.

I also have ThreatFire running, and Spywareblaster running.

For registry maintenance I use Free Window Registry Repair, I've used it for several years, it's the most effective in finding loose ends. No problems with it.

[Spiney]

ESET anti-virus. The best I've had so far.

[Mattbott]

i use an imac and good karma combo

so far so good (touch wood)

[Generalno1]

Norton
has an annoying habit of popping up whenever i'm doing something though

[Dean]

AVG free edition 9.0

Not only is it free but I have yet to get anything remotely threatening on my laptop. Guess I'm lucky.

[Prophet]

My computer crashed because of a registry/virus . I had kaspersky installed and i think it could've been worse with McAfee. Right now, i am using Avira . It is supposed to be the best, free antivirus software. I am looking for a registry tool so that my registry/computer never gets nuked again. Can someone recommend me a registry cleaner? I have Wincleaner that has it, but i am curious.

I just want opinions on the Antivir your using. Thanks

If you know a thing or two about the registry I recommend you try Glary Utilities. It's free and they have a Registry Cleaner which allows you to manually control which keys are deleted. It's very powerful but can be dangerous if you just go with the "repair all" function.

I used to use AVG Free and loved it but in the last major release they disabled the ability to completely disable the AV, which I always did when I ran games. Since then I have switch Avast! Free and it seems to work well enough. Also, I've serviced two different machines heavily infected by viruses which were running only Windows Security Essentials, so I strongly recommend you NOT rely on Microsoft for your system protection.

@Andere - by running multiple AV apps you're shooting yourself in the foot. Unless newer versions of Windows have become more tolerant, multiple heuristics scanning apps contradict one another. And for as long as I've been using them all free anti-virus apps I've used have included automatic updates. In fact I'm not aware of ANY free AV that does not automatically update. But as I said, that's only in my experience.

[Orzornn]

Kaspersky atm, Used to have Avast! free on the old comp but from experience NOD32 is the best IMO.

[Andere]

@Andere - by running multiple AV apps you're shooting yourself in the foot. Unless newer versions of Windows have become more tolerant, multiple heuristics scanning apps contradict one another. And for as long as I've been using them all free anti-virus apps I've used have included automatic updates. In fact I'm not aware of ANY free AV that does not automatically update. But as I said, that's only in my experience.

Thanks for your comment. I know the risk of having several AV programs running, but
1. ThreatFire is specifically built to add to full scale AV programs,
2. SpywareBlaster is a rather passive defense system, it doesn't remove anything, nor can it be used to remove, it defends your system through a database, by preventing malware to install themselves,
3. Firewall is a firewall.

I'm not an expert, but I haven't noticed any problems, and running an On-line scan now and then has never found anything, except a few tracking cookies --- big deal, that was.

About auto updates, I'm glad if they have it. I can't remember how it all was, but at least one point was that the updates for free versions were published more seldom, not even every day. Whatever. Not trying to blacklist anyone, or proclaim my opinion invincible.

I hope everyone gets a solution that they like. I had a horrible attack, first I lost my internet connection, then I lost this and that and those, and finally I lost everything - my pc wouldn't even boot. Ok, I zero formatted, installed everything, and two weeks later BANG! I was using Avira or Avast at the time, and ZoneAlarm as firewall - nothing bad about them, that's not why I mention them by name.

I wouldn't want my worst enemy to experience such attacks - not that I know having any such enemies, or even ones of lesser kind.

Like Jethro Tull once sang, "Let's bungle, in the jungle". Cheers all m8s.

[Redguard Mage]

I use ccleaner freeware for registry and removing temp files. Its amazing how those 3k files add up. Unlike other registry cleaners ccleaner wont break your system or delete critical files.

I use the latest AVG anti virus freeware and Windows firewall. Good protection for the highly attractive price of zero.

[Andere]

I've also gone for Ccleaner for removing unnecessary files. It seems to be the most efficient there.

But about registry? No. It shows 35 registry flaws, whereas Free Window Registry Repair shows 132. Since I've been using the latter for a couple of years, without problems, I see no need to change.

I've made some reviews in SnapFiles, Henry8, and there I commented another program in this cathegory by ~saying, "If you have two vacuum cleaners, one doing 35 dusts, another 132, which one would you choose?"

This is not an advertisement, I don't get paid or anything. I'm just looking for the best software, all the time. Sharing experience, this is.

[Skittles Dragon]

I use AVG free and TuneUp Utilities. I've considered switching AVG for Avast though.

[Andere]

Daaang Andere your right. I ran Ccleaner to find 0 issues. I ran windows reg repair and it found a whopping 616 errors! I will be using this

It's amazing, isn't it? One thing you should do is, go to options and make it create a restore point before every fix. In case something goes wrong, you have a possibility to restore --- don't know how it works, never needed it, but I think it's good to have it that way.

[Codex]

Daaang Andere your right. I ran Ccleaner to find 0 issues. I ran windows reg repair and it found a whopping 616 errors! I will be using this

It's amazing, isn't it? One thing you should do is, go to options and make it create a restore point before every fix. In case something goes wrong, you have a possibility to restore --- don't know how it works, never needed it, but I think it's good to have it that way.

And all these errors, they are not just the equivalent of an antivirus program's false positives? When I see that big of a difference in detected errors, I get a bit suspicious to if it's only fixing bad stuff, of if it fixes stuff that doesn't really have to be fixed.

[Andere]

Daaang Andere your right. I ran Ccleaner to find 0 issues. I ran windows reg repair and it found a whopping 616 errors! I will be using this

It's amazing, isn't it? One thing you should do is, go to options and make it create a restore point before every fix. In case something goes wrong, you have a possibility to restore --- don't know how it works, never needed it, but I think it's good to have it that way.

And all these errors, they are not just the equivalent of an antivirus program's false positives? When I see that big of a difference in detected errors, I get a bit suspicious to if it's only fixing bad stuff, of if it fixes stuff that doesn't really have to be fixed.

Believe me Codex, I've wondered about the difference too. But I've used it for a couple of years, and haven't noticed problems. I have .reg backup files, in case someone wants to check - no personal ambitions here, on my side.

[Codex]

It's amazing, isn't it? One thing you should do is, go to options and make it create a restore point before every fix. In case something goes wrong, you have a possibility to restore --- don't know how it works, never needed it, but I think it's good to have it that way.

And all these errors, they are not just the equivalent of an antivirus program's false positives? When I see that big of a difference in detected errors, I get a bit suspicious to if it's only fixing bad stuff, of if it fixes stuff that doesn't really have to be fixed.

Believe me Codex, I've wondered about the difference too. But I've used it for a couple of years, and haven't noticed problems. I have .reg backup files, in case someone wants to check - no personal ambitions here, on my side.

Very good If you haven't had any trouble for that long, I think I'm gonna give it a try.

[legoless]

I have the free version of Avira and use CCleaner.

[Andere]

Very good If you haven't had any trouble for that long, I think I'm gonna give it a try.

Go ahead. I checked my review in SnapFiles, it's from Oct 17, 2008, and I had used the program for quite a while before that.

Btw, I use Ccleaner to clean unnecessary files. It's the most efficient one I've found to perform that task. Can't remember exact numbers, but once I tested two programs in that area, one gave 300 unnecessary files, the other more than 2,000. Go figure? In that job settings are crucial, but they were as identical as I could make them.

It's a good thread we have here. Perhaps the name could be changed to "useful free software"? I've thought about starting a new thread, but this one is a quite good start for a sort of database. I've spent hours and hours and more hours searching for helpful software. They're not always easy to find, and helping m8s is one of the few self-purposes there are.

Cheerio!

[matt314hew]

Microsoft Security Essentials.

[xdariuzx]

ZenOK Free Antiviurs, haven't had a problem in a while now. Of course, I also use a comun sense, and that helps.

[Andere]

xdariuzx, welcome to the Forum. Go say hi in Welcomes and Goodbyes, perhaps with a brief introduction.

Your post is actually a necro post, we have a general time line of 1 month. If you notice that the previous reply is older than that, it's usually better to start a new topic.

But since this topic is so generally actual, and the time doesn't bother, let it go on. Let's hope it gets revived. If it doesn't, it will be locked.

[The Skyrim Blog]

Nothing on my Macbook Pro. Never needed to worry about viruses...

On my PC which I use for gaming, I have Avast. Seems to do the job so far.