Anti Spyware/ Virus

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by Dannyd, Oct 3, 2005.

  1. Dannyd

    Dannyd Private E-2

    G'day,

    After my computer got infected with winfixer, I've ended up scrubbing my drive and starting over because the computer was seriously clagging with all the crap in it.

    Anyhow, I want proper virus/ adware/ spyware protection.

    Although I doubt they lead the feel in all (or even one of the) three, I reckon, unless presented with a strong argument otherwise that I'm quite happy to buy a suite that takes care off the lot off someone like Mcafee or Norton.

    After hours of exhausting reading of reviews etc etc, Norton is apparently slow and has problems and Mcafee is decent but there was a catch there I don't remember either. I came up with a program called PC Cillin by Trend Micro. Seems pretty decent and also is cheaper thanthe others.

    I tried to order it through trend micro and on the purchase screen, it said down the bottom,

    "Another product that may interest you:"
    "Trend Micro™ Anti-Spyware 3.0 (Single User)" $39.95"

    Why would they offer me this if spyware protection is included in PC Cillin? Or is the spyware protection in PC Cillin extremely basic and not good enough?

    As you can probably tell, I'm far from a beacon of knowledge on these things and attempts to be clear on what to go for have left me exhausted. Do I need the extra piece of software? Or is PC Cillin great.

    Alternatively, another suggestion would be welcome but I would really prefer to simplify things by having all my protection needs in one suite.

    Thanks alot in advance,
    Daniel.
     
    Dannyd, Oct 3, 2005
    #1
  2. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Welcome to MGs Daniel.

    "Scrubbing your drive" because of Winfixer was not necessary. We fix many of these everyday.

    First a comment! No single application (even a security suite) is perfect or even acceptable due to the shear amount of possible malware problems that exist. We also suggest multiple applications be used. You should follow ALL the tips in the below link. It is a good start to keep you protected and there are many good free applications you can use.

    How to Protect yourself from malware!

    Trend Micro offers both an antivirus and an antispyware application as you have discovered. These are two different applications.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2005
    chaslang, Oct 3, 2005
    #2
  3. Dannyd

    Dannyd Private E-2

    Thanks heaps for the reply and the welcome

    I saw that people such as yourself in forums like this were helping people with Winfixer but I found the hijack this logs and all the information too difficult to digest and figured it would be less painful for all parties if I didn't try...

    So what you're saying is basically, although the PC Cillin Internet Security program advertises itself as protecting against spyware thats basically BS .....

    Thanks for the link on internet security. I've replaced java and am looking into the other programs. I notice that most of the programs you recommend are free. Whilst I am thrilled about the possibility of not paying for protection, I wonder whether the free programs will be kept as up to date as those companies that have the money to do so? Obviously I assume if you recommend these peieces of software that they are as good as anything on the market, however what are the chances of them falling behind, without paid incentive?
     
    Dannyd, Oct 3, 2005
    #3
  4. Dannyd

    Dannyd Private E-2

    Excuse the double post, but I wanted to add:

    Do you recommend those programs because they are free? Or do you believe them better than companies such as Mcafee, Symantec and Trend Micro?

    Would you advise the Purchase of something like PC Cillin?
     
    Dannyd, Oct 3, 2005
    #4
  5. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    So what you're saying is basically, although the PC Cillin Internet Security program advertises itself as protecting against spyware thats basically BS .....

    No I'm not saying PC Cillin is selling you a line of BS. The Internet Security program provides a bunch of different tools just like McAfee and Symantec programs do. When they combine them into a Suite, they are selling you a bunch of tools all at once. Like AV, AS, Firewall,...etc.

    All I was saying is that there is a PC Cillin antivirus application and there is also an antispyware application from them. If you buy the Internet Security program, I believe you get both of them and more (like firewall).

    McAfee and Symantec do have good tools. They have just become to bloated and can be very resource hungry. Some of the other tools which do work very well, are not as resource hungry. Trend Micro Internet Security package could have similar issues (I do not know that first hand because I have not used it personally). You would have to ask questions about it in the Software Forum to see what people think of it.

    The programs we recommend are quite good (even the free versions but note you can buy more advanced versions too). But you can use just the free versions which do update frequently and get very good protection. Using an antivirus, an antispyware (or multiple ones), and a firewall are three very significant steps towards helping to protect you, but no solution is absolutely perfect. You will still see people getting infected. Some due to lack of common sense on what they download and install, or what they click on, or where they surf. The first line of defense starts with the end user of the PC.

    One advantage of the free ones is that you get to try them for awhile and see how you like them. If you like them, you should (but it is not required) update and buy the full application. Try before you buy is a nice feature.
     
    chaslang, Oct 4, 2005
    #5
  6. Dannyd

    Dannyd Private E-2

    Completely agree.

    Cheers for your help mate, I've chosen a few of the recommended applications and installed them. If they're good to me, I'll buy them

    Thanks for your time.

    By the way, just in case the information is useful to you, I received an answer from Trend Micro who said that PC Cillin has anti-spyware as advertised, but it is not as comprehensive as the separate anti spyware 3.0 that they also sell. so to have proper spyware it is advisable to buy the AS 3.0 rather than rely on just PC Cillin.

    Regards,
    Daniel.
     
    Dannyd, Oct 4, 2005
    #6
  7. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Thanks for the info! That is normally the case. That is also part of the reason why we recommend more than one antispyware scanning application. One just is not good enough.
     
    chaslang, Oct 4, 2005
    #7

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