i dont get it????

helo everyone
im new to computers/net and the answer to my question is bound to be on here somewere and i probly should have posted on the virus part of the site but it would not let me. I could search like advised but it may as well be in another language for how much i understand the terminology! i just wanted to know-if anyone can be kind enough to tell me-what the situation is with firewall/anti virus.I have lavasoft ADAWARE SE PRO and adWATCH SE PRO and i dont know what the difference is anyway and my mate tells me i need NORTON which i can buy at the weekend .I run the adaware once a day and iv had no critical objects for it to deal with for a few days so does that mean there is nothing bad trying to get in my pc? If thats the case why do i need NORTON? My mate says LAVASOFT only fixes stuff after its got in but even when its had critical stuff to remove it had not affected the pc anyway -or if it had i never noticed, i just run the scan as a matter of course.Do i need to learn about all this virus stuff or just buy Norton and forget about it? I just want to surf and iv got too much going on in my life to worry about all this.Ihave a friend who says he has to bin his hard-drive now because he forgot to pay for updates and it ruined his pcand i could do without that.I can strip and rebuild any car engine blindfolded but i find all this software stuff daunting and i aint got a clue. Sorry to sound like a muppet but what do i do??? many thanks for any replies and a happy new year to you all!

 

Personally I never was a Norton fan. It always seemed to slow my computer down. I always used AVG Free and Zone Alarm Firewall OR Sygate Firewall. All are good products and I never had any problems with them.

As far as learning about trojans and whatnot, with as many as their seem to be now a days, good virus protection and a good firewall are a must. Programs like Ad-Aware are good for detecting things, but they can't replace a good Anti-Virus program.

My two cents worth anyways

 

Hi, and welcome. Your Ad-aware program looks for stuff which may have been installed on your computer without your knowledge, in order to, for example, track what you do on the internet and direct advertising to you accordingly. I believe the pro version you have includes an automatic update facility, which you should look for and enable.

Norton is is quite different. It’s an antivirus program, which is intended to prevent viruses from invading your computer. Personally I would prefer not to buy Norton, which is a real resource hog. There are other, IMO better progs to buy, and you can also download a v.g. free one, like AVG from here: http://majorgeeks.com/AVG_Free_Edition_d886.html
This also needs updating – check for updates each day as soon as you go online.

I really recommend that you look at this guide to protecting your computer http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=44525
If it looks formidable and there are things you don’t understand, just ask, and chaslang and the other experts will be glad to explain it all.

If you have no antivirus running, your computer may already be infected, so it is really important that you get good protection quickly and the guys here are very knowledgeable and helpful.

 

HMMMMM!!!
That was interesting...I downloaded the free AVG and let it run...it found a trogen, i followed the prompts and it said it was dealt with.......then the avg window would not go and basicly the pc froze.I left it for a while in case it was doing something i was not aware of but still no joy so my only option was to switch off at the mains.This worked but i have no idea if the trojen is gone and im not gona run the avg again.I have no idea what went on and seeing as the AVG is rated i doubt if its a common occurance.I have a feeling il just go with the NORTON because i presume it will be more user-friendly for a novice like me and at the end of the day its cheap on EBAY and i know the trader i have seen has full positive feedback so it must be ok.I think il stick to re-building engines but one thing i keep reading is that NORTON uses to much of the pc but im running a P4 3.4 with 4gb of memory so should i worry?? thanks for any replies

 

Read the suggestions and advice in the stickies in the Spyware Forum.

That should answer most of your questions.

You should only ever install one AntiVirus program. For Spyware you need more than one because they are coded differently, and some pick up what others miss.

You also need a firewall regardless of whether you have dialup or DSL, but again read the stickies.