Advice on antivirus program.

[nmbrown863]

I just got a new laptop a few months ago b/c my last 2 PCs had gotten viruses. My new PC had a free 60 day trail of Norton but it is about to expire. I am not sure if I want to renew w/it b/c it seems glitchy. I had previously had Avast with my last computer but it still became infected so I am curious what other people use and how well it works.

[iimouto]

I use ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7. It works pretty well and I haven't had any problems since I've started using it. Maybe you should give it a try to see if you like it. They have a full version trial on their website if you want to try it out after your Norton expires.

[nmbrown863]

I use ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7. It works pretty well and I haven't had any problems since I've started using it. Maybe you should give it a try to see if you like it. They have a full version trial on their website if you want to try it out after your Norton expires.

Thanks! Will check it out.

[sherryinutah]

I've used Microsoft Security Essentials.  It's free to download from the Microsoft Website and it's been great for me.  Sometimes I've picked up a virus and I find that my anti-virus software has been disabled and/or turned off.  That's when I know that the virus or someone has made changes to my computer.  There are certain things I do in this situation.

1-I power off my computer.  Sometimes the virus has powered off my computer for me so I'm unable to run my anti-virus software.  If that happens I restart my computer while pressing the F7 key.  That takes me to a screen where I can "repair" my computer and/or go into safe mode.  Next, I restore my computer to an earlier time--before I picked up the infected files--while I'm in safe mode.  Hopefully, after I restore my computer I can run my anti-virus program to clean up the infected files.

2-I'm the only person using my PC but I password protect my administrator account then I log out of the administrator account and I only use the guest account when I'm online.  That way, a virus or hacker is unable to make changes to my computer because they don't know the password to log into the administrator account. 

I hope this helps you maintain your computers in the future.  There really are some good anti-virus programs that you can get for free.

 

[kapeh12]

I use Malwarebytes in combination with McAfee (may drop McAfee though).  Malwarebytes free download does scans, but they have real-time virus scanning for a one-time license fee (when I purchased it, the fee was about $25).  I found Malwarebytes has blocked way more viruses than McAfee has.

Also, be sure your default firewall is turned on.  Virus scanners are nice, but you also need a good firewall turned on.  If you have Windows, you can use that default firewall, otherwise you can use things like McAfee firewall (not virus scanner product).

[Liquidfire_43]

Free- Avast Antivirus
Paid - Kaspersky or Bitdefender

Paid is of course more powerful than free antivirus... But for a average knowledge computer user, a free antivirus is more than enough to protect your system

[msmoneybags48]

I bought my laptop nearly three years ago and had purchased McAfee to protect my laptop.  I had all kinds of headaches.  When it was finally taken off, my laptop worked but I had to leave my laptop in the shop for a week.  The technician found 117 virus-related items on my laptop and installed Microsoft on my laptop.  I have had less problems than I did when McAfee was installed.

[dodgers16]

   I use AVAST as my antivirus program! it is a free dowload for 1 year of protection that you can keep updating for another free year..seems to work good

[mardukblood2009]

I have Webroot and it does a good job but I am still getting viruses removed every so often.

[dmahoney]

I used Kaspersky but it fried my harddrive after months of use. I had to end up taking my computer into the shop to have it repaired at my cost and have everything re-installed. SO I would not recommend them. The computer company put AVG on the computer once they repaired it and I have not had any problems with that.

[nmbrown863]

Thank you all for the advice!! Ended up renewing w/Norton even though I am a little ify about it. Only cost $30 for protection from everything.