Is freeware safe?

Hi there,

I am posting this from my desktop (XP Home Edition) which has Norton I.S 2009 which will soon expire. I also have a laptop I was given which runs on vista home premium (recent clean install) which I have not yet used.
I have a LinkSys wireless-N ADSL2+ Gateway router and I was wondering if some of the free firewalls, anti-virus and anti-spyware software would be a suitable replacement for Norton and which ones to choose.

Sorry for the naive question as I am not a computer techie. :-o

 

I have been using avast! lately on all Vista and Windows 7 machines and have had no problem and been very satisfied.

 

Thanks for the replies. Does Avast work as an anti-spyware tool as well as anti-virus?
The PC-Tools Firewall sounds interesting. I see that Microsoft have a program called Security Essentials, has anyone here tried that on XP and Vista?

 

The avast! free edition does not include anti-spyware.

 

Yes, freeware works as good as anything else out there IMO. I'm using Avast ATM as my anti-virus and the Windows firewall on Win7. It's the first time I'm using a Windows security product, free too! Besides that, SpywareBlaster is there for hijacks. I could most likely use an active anti-malware tool too but I'm comfortable with what I have at present.:cool

BTW, if it needs saying at all, watch where you download from and never accept someone telling you you need 'Blah' from a pop-up to be safe. All that said, this is a good safe place for dl's.

 

Hi,

I noticed that my local super-market and grocery store is selling PC-Tools Internet-Security 2010 for under £15.00, so I will buy and install that when the Norton expires. The Norton is around £50 to £60.

Thanks to everyone who replied.



http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-0999.aspx

 

This in my opinion is a very poor quality product. You would be better off installing freeware programs such as Avast, Avira (another antvirus) malwarebytes, and COMODO (caps theirs) firewall. This will save you £15 and in my opinion will provide you with a better product.

 

New2compooters, before you buy that package, have a look at the write up for Avast free from MajorGeeks, more info at Alwil home of Avast 5.0 free. PC Tools firewall is good but, according to most of the write-ups I've read, PC-Tools Internet-Security leaves much to be desired.

The anti-virus is not as effective as Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus or Avast! Free Edition. And the behavioral blocker is not as robust as their Threatfire product, although PC-Tools says they are going to put it on par with Threatfire soon.

 

You would do good to heed these peoples words.
With these suggestions of freeware, you can have much better protection than ANY pay-for suite could give you.At a much better cost (free).

 

Freeware is OK if it is provided by reliable software developers.
All of us like using freeware, if a problem can be solved by free apps, then why not?
But just remember to go to reliable webistes to get freeware, like Cnet, softwarepedia...
GOTD is also a good website for you to get paid-software for free.
Eg: today it offers PC Health Check for free, together with 50% discount for registry optimizer, go and have a look if you need it!

 

Demi,
Softwarepedia and CNET are not nearly as reliable and trustworthy as good old Major Geeks downloads, where everything is tested.

 

Include Microsoft Security Essentials into the mix, I have been using it for months and am very happy with it and yes it is free from Microsoft!

 

Is freeware safe? Depends entirely where you get it from! Lots and lots of scams out there, lots of trojan programs.
Every program linked here to MG is challenged and tested before a link is allowed. See the sticky about The software awards scam in the software forum for more entertaining information.
Regarding your expiring Norton, after removing be sure to run the Norton removal tool linked here;

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Norton_Removal_Tool_SymNRT_d4749.html

Run twice for safety. :wave:wave

 

Firewall Advice Required

I have resisted the temptation to buy the PC-Tools suite. I will wait for the subscription to expire for Norton and then run the Norton Removal tool as suggested in this thread.
Avast! or Security Essentials has been mentioned, so I might go for one or the other along with a software Firewall for XP.
Should I also install a Firewall on my Vista laptop, or is the Vista Firewall good enough?

 

My 2p worth - AVG Free, current version 9, has both antivirus and antispyware, and also has a link scanner which tells you before you actually go there whether a site contains any known dangers. I have used AVG for about 7-8 years and the few nasties I have come across have all been safely intercepted and dealt with. Some ppl will say it's a hog, but that really isn't so - my three year old Vista absolutely flies with AVG aboard and has never become infected. In fact the AVG scan engine is easily the fastest around after the initial scan.

I also use Spywareblaster as active protection, and scan all downloads with both AVG and MalwareBytesAntiMalware before installing.

As regards firewalls, if you use a router which has a hardware firewall you are safe using the internet without any further protection, though it does make sense to at least have the Windows firewall switched on in Vista or Win 7, though not in XP as it does not provide any outbound protection.

I firmly believe that these measures, combined with sensible surfing, will give you all the protection you need and won't cost you a penny

 

Personally I use AVG 9, and a number of spyware products; Spybot, A squared, Malwarebytes, AdAware, Hijackthis etc, (it's a healthy paranoia lol), I find Advanced System Care useful too.

Irrespective you will not get better support advice or thoroughly checked out software than right here.

I've been around here since 2003, had a looong break from the forums as I was so busy doing datacoms infrastructure...during that break I must have sent at least a couple of hundred people here if only for the downloads.

I've tried the rest so I stick with the best :cool

 

Re: Firewall Advice Required

I like Sygate Personal Firewall usually but hey I'm on Win7 Ultimate at mo and finding the inbuilt firewall not too shabby.

 

You might also like to check out:

Must have FREE downloads from MajorGeeks at
http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

Great Freeware programs in just about every category and as good as, quite often better, than programs you have to pay for.

I have used may of the programs listed in the link above, and rarely had to pay for Shareware or commercially available programs.:cool

Bazza

 

Re: Firewall Advice Required

IMO is is better to use just one firewall, many run into connection issues running two. It falls under the category of enough is enough!

Phil