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Summary: While there are no "best" pop-up blockers or other anti-virus/spyware software, having something reputable in place is better than nothing at all.
As Ask Leo! has grown, and I've seen the types of problems that people are facing every day, one thing has become very clear: viruses, spyware, popups and other kinds of internet vermin (for lack of a more polite term) are serious problems. And they're problems that aren't going away any time soon. Many of my recommendations boil down to this: run a current spyware checker or run updated anti-virus software. Regularly. And make sure they're up to date. Regularly. But what's the best package to run? You won't like my answer. • One of the other things that had become excruciatingly clear, especially in the Anti-Virus arena and in the Anti-Spyware arena is that there is no clear winner. There is not one software package I can point you at - or for that matter use myself - that will catch everything. I see this situation all the time: a person who's running a name-brand respected anti-whatever package is infected. Simply running another, different name-brand anti-whatever package catches the infection and corrects it. Or not, and a third one does. Or the infection is reported, but not fixed - but is fixed by another tool or package. It's unfortunate, and confusing for the average user. And most certainly frustrating. "But when it comes to spyware and viruses, use
something. Just about anything is better than nothing at all."
So what's a poor user to do? What package should you use? I'm now of the opinion that, within reason, it doesn't matter. All of the major brands are about the same; they all probably catch 99% of what you'll ever care about. Popups. Spyware. Viruses. Use the one that came with your machine, or the one that you can afford, or the one that was rated highly by a magazine, or the one that your techie friend uses and can help you with. But when it comes to spyware and viruses, use something. Just about anything is better than nothing at all. And for the 1% that you choice doesn't catch - have a plan. Have a second or even a third product that you know you'll run to if you suspect a problem wasn't caught. And for the 0.1% that the double scan doesn't catch? Have a plan. Have a resource to turn to - an online forum or a Q&A site like Ask Leo! or a tech friend you can turn to. You may never need them, but if you do you'll be glad you were prepared. Related:
Article 359 | Posted July 5, 2004 |
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Is it bad to have more than 1 anti-virus software?
Posted by: Patricia Davis at December 5, 2007 9:16 AMIs it bad to have more than 1 anti-virus software?
Posted by: Patricia Davis at December 5, 2007 9:17 AMOnly ever use 1 av proggy you will get big problems if you use more than 1. I use Eset Smart Security Suite its the best on the market fir detecting new threats. 100% recommended
Posted by: doc at December 31, 2007 5:07 AMavg not very got--mcafee only ok ish if it was free--norton stay away,make pc to slow and so many exploits to disable protection--kaspersky best on the market at moment--nod 32,very good-- this is just my opinion.and yes i have used them all quite regular.
Posted by: crumy at January 14, 2008 4:37 PMPretty much depends on your system, personally I stay away from all things bloatware, like symantec products but nowdays most things are pretty bloaty. Things that work for me are Mozilla ( I find it a lot more stable than ie, esp ie7), ccleaner, spybot, adaware, hijack this and avg, although with avg you have to disable the auto scheduler, other than that, they get the job done but it depends on your system, some apps conflict with others and different OS, this works for me but it might not for you, hope this helps @least 1 person out there.
Posted by: bad robot at February 22, 2008 10:59 PMP.S (If you visit pron sites and warez etc you are gonna get a lot of nasties, so you need a lot of these apps!)
i have tried Norton McAfee and free AVG. and finally installed CA Internet Security Plus and now i'm happy.
Posted by: Shirley Arsenault at June 3, 2008 12:36 PMthanks many times over. i say ask this guy/com, they know they stuff. thanks for great pointer's that i can understand for a 2 tic's of your time. leeds u.k [complete first timer,only had comp. 2/3 mths and self taught. it's hard going but i'll get there ...scream..] thanks again.
Posted by: lee johnson at June 4, 2008 3:15 PMIs it ok to have Norton 360 and XofspySE at the same time or is that not the greatest idea??
Posted by: Lauren at June 29, 2008 6:50 PMIt may be hard to rank anti-virus (etc) ware but how about when it is freeware. I have been very happy with Comodo.com but there must be others - can they be ranked?
Posted by: David at July 8, 2008 9:04 AMI use Avast! antivirus and have just purchased Uniblue Spyeraser. Avast! has an antispyware provider as well but when I ran Spyeraser it did find some adware as well as a couple of Trojans. Can I leave both programs running at the same time or should I disable the Avast! antispyware provider and let Spyeraser do that job?
Posted by: J. Y. at September 14, 2008 8:34 AM