I've been using Avira AntiVir free now as a replacement for Norton now and it's worked great. No more memory hoggage, and it's found stuff that Norton didn't. However, I'm now looking to find a free replacement for anti-spy/adware. I have been using Ad-Aware SE for a while now but it's aging and I really want to find something new. Is Ad-Aware 2008 the way to go or is Spybot S&D better? I've heard some good things and bad things about each, but I'm unsure which is the best.

 

 

 

Also, I'm unsure about firewalls. I've been told that because I use a router, I don't need one. Is this true? I haven't configured it in any way to port forward anything, so I am safe?

 

 

 

And one final question, is it worth spending money on buying an all-in-one 'anti' package or sticking to using free versions for each thing?

 

 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :).

i would use Adaware and Spybot S&D to gather.

The router is an excellent incoming firewall, but the direction PC firewalls are moving toward is controlling process activity.

 

 

 

http://www.comodo.com/products/free_products.html - Comodo's free firewall is highly recommended, and their other stuff is worth a look as well.

 

 

 

http://superantispyware.com/ - an excellent antispware, until recently, never knew that had a free (on demand only, no resident protection) version.

 

 

 

If you want free resident spyware protection, then the only ones offerring that are Spybot S&D

 

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html

 

Or Microsoft Windows Defender - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/produc ... fault.mspx

 

 

 

Another possibility

 

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/200 ... -everyone/

 

NB. Some of the stuff on that site flies close to the wind on abusing offers not intended for general availability.

Adaware 2008 is great and i use it myself. i havnt had any issues with it. easy to use and seems effective.

 

 

 

Comodo is the way to go for a firewall. Ive had it for 6 months and its great! there Defence+ security thing that comes with it is great, but can be annoying, so its the first thing i disabled. if you know what your opening/run a virus scan on downloaded things you dont need it anyway.

 

get comodo, its great!

I've been using Avira AntiVir free now as a replacement for Norton now and it's worked great. No more memory hoggage, and it's found stuff that Norton didn't. However, I'm now looking to find a free replacement for anti-spy/adware. I have been using Ad-Aware SE for a while now but it's aging and I really want to find something new. Is Ad-Aware 2008 the way to go or is Spybot S&D better? I've heard some good things and bad things about each, but I'm unsure which is the best.

Ad-Aware (Free Version) and Spybot S&D are best used together, and in on-demand mode. If you want resident protection for free, then enable that in Spybot S&D's options. 8-)

 

 

 

Also, I'm unsure about firewalls. I've been told that because I use a router, I don't need one. Is this true? I haven't configured it in any way to port forward anything, so I am safe?

Anyone telling you that you do not need a software firewall in addition to any hardware one, to be honest, is very much a moron. :wall: ....... I have seen unrequested internet packets circumvent a router's NAT translation blocks and a router's firewall before, only to finally get stopped before they reach where they should not because the software firewall on the computer itself was running. As for what Firewall to run, I'm going to recommend ZA Pro v7... If you really want a secure system, this IS the one to run. (And yes, there is a free version, if that is what you so desire, although its' abilities will only be 99% as penultimate as the Pro Version's.) :ugeek:

 

 

 

And one final question, is it worth spending money on buying an all-in-one 'anti' package or sticking to using free versions for each thing?

"All-in-one" packages are never anything but trouble. NEVER fall into those traps!!! :shame:

 

 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :).

You're welcome. Glad to help. :thumbsup:

 

 

 

~Mr. D. V. Devnull

In most all in one packages, whatever the maker of the package is actually known for will be great, but the other components can be pretty average.

 

 

 

For instance, Kapersky Internet Suite - the antivirus is from the biggest name there is in the field, but what do they know about the rest?

 

 

 

The downside of mix and match, is that compatibilty of components can be varied - case in point is Agnitum Outpost Firewall, which has to disable (automatically) its anti-malware function for compatibility with many antiviruses.

 

 

 

 

 

To reflect back on router firewall versus software firewall:

 

The router is excellent against intrusion, preventing many attacks (eg. it would save an unpatched Windows XP from being instantly attacked) and preventing open service ports being exposed (unless you choose to forward them).

 

 

 

If you have no other firewall, on an XP/Vista PC, then configure the Windows firewall, it will nag you anyway if you don't - that setup provides adequate incoming protection, but minimal outgoing and zero application to application control.

Okay, I installed Spybot S&D yesterday, and all seems to working fine when I did. I've had a seperate issue with internet, but that's not because of this. I also decided to stick to the windows firewall. I haven't really got anything that important stored on this PC anyway, and what is is backed up on a regular basis. Thanks for the advice though everyone :)

Dracion1, the Windows Built-In FireWall is WORTHLESS! :shame: ... Go get yourself the FREE Edition of ZoneAlarm, located at...

 

 

 

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall.jsp

 

 

 

...and at least give yourself some reasonable and reliable protection! :)

 

 

 

'Nuff said. :ugeek:

 

 

 

~D. V. Devnull

Dracion1, the Windows Built-In FireWall is WORTHLESS! :shame: ... Go get yourself the FREE Edition of ZoneAlarm, located at...

 

 

 

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall.jsp

 

 

 

...and at least give yourself some reasonable and reliable protection! :)

 

 

 

'Nuff said. :ugeek:

 

 

 

~D. V. Devnull

 

 

 

Comodo also exists.

Dracion1, the Windows Built-In FireWall is WORTHLESS! :shame: ... Go get yourself the FREE Edition of ZoneAlarm, located at...

 

 

 

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall.jsp

 

 

 

...and at least give yourself some reasonable and reliable protection! :)

 

 

 

'Nuff said. :ugeek:

Comodo also exists.

It may, but I've heard some bad things about it, inclusive of lack of newbie-friendliness... ZA really made itself the better choice here... :|

 

 

 

~D. V. Devnull

Dracion1, the Windows Built-In FireWall is WORTHLESS! :shame: ... Go get yourself the FREE Edition of ZoneAlarm, located at...

 

 

 

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall.jsp

 

 

 

...and at least give yourself some reasonable and reliable protection! :)

 

 

 

'Nuff said. :ugeek:

Comodo also exists.

It may, but I've heard some bad things about it, inclusive of lack of newbie-friendliness... ZA really made itself the better choice here... :|

 

 

 

~D. V. Devnull

 

 

 

I'm just giving a second option.

 

The last test i read, hm.. something from like april this year or so (different firewalls+AV's), Comodo got 6 points more than ZA. But they are both good. But i like Comodo because it offers alot of settings.

I personally have only ran comodo once. I do use ZA more than Comodo but i see nothing wrong with Comodo at all.