Is free ok?

dc157_1 · 05-23-2007, 11:02 AM

This is my computer security setup:

* Anti-Virus: AVG Free Edition
* Anti-Spyware: Ad-Aware SE Plus
* Firewall: ZoneAlarm Free Edition

The thing im worried about is knowing that my firewall the anti-virus programs are free will they still do a good job protecting against viruses or should I buy an actual program from the store? Also do you even recommend using AVG? If not what is a good anti-virus program?

**Cellus** · 05-23-2007, 11:59 AM

They do a fairly decent job at protecting your system considering they are free. Ad-Aware SE and ZoneAlarm Free are infact very good.

There are paid solutions out there that provide improvements over the free alternatives. For example, many subscription-based (paid) antivirus solutions do have better chance of detecting and cleaning viruses as their signature databases tend to be updated more frequently and thoroughly. That isn't to say AVG Free is a poor antivirus - I can already hear the AVG Free-Fiends scratching at my door - however many paid solutions can improve on what currently exists.

Ad-Aware SE provides good protection from spyware. Many like to adopt several anti-spyware solutions to better protect their systems, for example using SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard, IE-SPYAD, Comodo BOClean, and so forth on top of the on-demand protection provided by Ad-Aware SE Personal (or Spybot Search & Destroy and so on).

ZoneAlarm Free is a fairly good Personal Firewall. While paid solutions exist, like ZoneAlarm Pro, they provide extra functionality such as information safeguarding and such. There are of course other good Personal Firewalls out there, such as Comodo Firewall Pro (free), Sunbelt Personal Firewall (free), and so on. There are firewall appliances (hardware firewalls) which can cost a pretty penny, however they have the benefits of having network traffic filtering off-loaded to an actual physical device (unless using a virtual appliance), as well as provide filtering for the web, e-mail, FTP, IDS/IPS support, VPN support, and so on.

All in all you're pretty well off. On a personal note, I prefer having a paid antivirus solution over a free one any day of the week on one of my machines (I'm, for example, typing right now on my laptop protected with NOD32 amongst many "other things"). Antivirus is not something I care to be cheap on, and highly recommend to everyone that spending the money on a good paid antivirus is money very well spent. However that does not mean that all free solutions are inherently inferior (this laptop is also using Comodo Firewall Pro after its subscription of ZoneAlarm Pro expired) because some are pretty darn good. I am sure many people here have their own setups for their Home/SOHO machines, and wouldn't be surprised in the least if some were using a mix of paid and free security solutions.

Quick Addendum: An extremely powerful and free security solution to protecting your machine is available for everyone. It's called your noggin' (aka: Gray Matter). Being aware, using caution when necessary, and using some common sense can surpass some of the best security measures available. Be aware of what websites you visit, what programs you download, and what e-mails you receive will protect you immeasurably. While I hate using cliches, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure. You couldn't imagine the number of security issues which could be prevented simply by using a non-administrator user account.

dc157_1 · 05-23-2007, 12:21 PM

Thank you that was VERY helpful! One more question though. I do have Spywareblaster on top of Ad-Aware but im really confused on how it works. It doesn't load up like my other programs so how do I know if it is on and working?

**johnwill** · 05-23-2007, 01:46 PM

Spywareblaster isn't "on", however it sets a bunch of registry keys that block known spyware from installing their own keys. You just run it periodically and get the latest updates, and it installs the new keys.

chesslord243 · 05-24-2007, 06:12 AM

i would add one last thing to your security things. you should install "site advisor" it's by McAfee and it's free and it's good! it basically tells you if a website has spyware and how much of a threat a site is to you.

**jen56** · 05-24-2007, 06:29 AM

Hi chauffeur2 and myself used to use the free edition of AVG without any problems...We now have a Licensed Program of Avg, still without a problem! If for any reason we do have a problem chauffeur just sends them an email and in no amount of time they have always responded, with an answer. This is about the only diff between the free and a Licensed program is the 24 hour support.
This is the only type of program we use..we do not mix and match..
No need to buy a licensed program of AVG from a store, you can go direct online to AVG and get it that way..
Hope this helps also....

**Chode** · 05-25-2007, 07:05 PM

Cellus nailed it with his post. DC, you are actually asking 3 questions here. By and large, AV software in general is fairly reliable these days, regardless if it is free or paid, but the freeware stuff has some serious limitations. I don't have much to add to my posts on the Kaspersky/NOD thread, so I won't repeat myself here.

Spyware/Adware is something of another issue. The best AV programs are pretty effective against most malware, but I run Ad Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy every couple of weeks as a second line of defense. Most antispyware programs tend to be reactive, and even the paid stuff usually alerts you after the fact. Actually, a lot of the real-time monitoring these programs do is just a waste of resources. A message like "blahblah.exe is attempting to change your home page. Block or allow" means your system is already infected. Personally, I notice if my home page changes at random. If an antispyware program can't block a pest in the first place, I'm not sure I want to pay for it.

Having said that, removal is an area where the paid antispyware software has outstripped the best freeware, and I pay for a couple of different programs to use in cleanup of customer machines. Really though, most spyware is self-inflicted. Always ask yourself "Why is this software free?" before you load it. Or, "Why is the software to play poker online a 60 MB! download?"

Firewall software. Mostly I'd just say "no". Most software firewalls (paid or free) tend to bug you to death with endless "Block or Allow" messages. Most users end up at one of two extremes. They either over-block or over-allow. A router is a better solution for firewall protection when used with good AV software (software that detects a range of malware). Again, firewall software tends to be reactive; not proactive. Frankly the number and frequency of alerts a firewall generates isn't a worthwhile indicator of its performance at blocking legitimate threats.

Running multiple programs that duplicate real-time functions eats up system resources and increases the chance for serious system stability issues.

05-23-2007, 11:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
dc157_1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 68 OS: Windows XP My System	Is free ok? This is my computer security setup: * Anti-Virus: AVG Free Edition * Anti-Spyware: Ad-Aware SE Plus * Firewall: ZoneAlarm Free Edition The thing im worried about is knowing that my firewall the anti-virus programs are free will they still do a good job protecting against viruses or should I buy an actual program from the store? Also do you even recommend using AVG? If not what is a good anti-virus program?

05-23-2007, 11:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,664 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	Re: Is free ok? They do a fairly decent job at protecting your system considering they are free. Ad-Aware SE and ZoneAlarm Free are infact very good. There are paid solutions out there that provide improvements over the free alternatives. For example, many subscription-based (paid) antivirus solutions do have better chance of detecting and cleaning viruses as their signature databases tend to be updated more frequently and thoroughly. That isn't to say AVG Free is a poor antivirus - I can already hear the AVG Free-Fiends scratching at my door - however many paid solutions can improve on what currently exists. Ad-Aware SE provides good protection from spyware. Many like to adopt several anti-spyware solutions to better protect their systems, for example using SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard, IE-SPYAD, Comodo BOClean, and so forth on top of the on-demand protection provided by Ad-Aware SE Personal (or Spybot Search & Destroy and so on). ZoneAlarm Free is a fairly good Personal Firewall. While paid solutions exist, like ZoneAlarm Pro, they provide extra functionality such as information safeguarding and such. There are of course other good Personal Firewalls out there, such as Comodo Firewall Pro (free), Sunbelt Personal Firewall (free), and so on. There are firewall appliances (hardware firewalls) which can cost a pretty penny, however they have the benefits of having network traffic filtering off-loaded to an actual physical device (unless using a virtual appliance), as well as provide filtering for the web, e-mail, FTP, IDS/IPS support, VPN support, and so on. All in all you're pretty well off. On a personal note, I prefer having a paid antivirus solution over a free one any day of the week on one of my machines (I'm, for example, typing right now on my laptop protected with NOD32 amongst many "other things"). Antivirus is not something I care to be cheap on, and highly recommend to everyone that spending the money on a good paid antivirus is money very well spent. However that does not mean that all free solutions are inherently inferior (this laptop is also using Comodo Firewall Pro after its subscription of ZoneAlarm Pro expired) because some are pretty darn good. I am sure many people here have their own setups for their Home/SOHO machines, and wouldn't be surprised in the least if some were using a mix of paid and free security solutions. Quick Addendum: An extremely powerful and free security solution to protecting your machine is available for everyone. It's called your noggin' (aka: Gray Matter). Being aware, using caution when necessary, and using some common sense can surpass some of the best security measures available. Be aware of what websites you visit, what programs you download, and what e-mails you receive will protect you immeasurably. While I hate using cliches, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure. You couldn't imagine the number of security issues which could be prevented simply by using a non-administrator user account. __________________ TSF Networking Team Virus/Trojan/Spyware Removal Help Donate! Last edited by Cellus; 05-23-2007 at 12:05 PM.

05-23-2007, 12:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
dc157_1 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 68 OS: Windows XP My System	Re: Is free ok? Thank you that was VERY helpful! One more question though. I do have Spywareblaster on top of Ad-Aware but im really confused on how it works. It doesn't load up like my other programs so how do I know if it is on and working? Last edited by dc157_1; 05-23-2007 at 12:29 PM.

05-23-2007, 01:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,685 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Is free ok? Spywareblaster isn't "on", however it sets a bunch of registry keys that block known spyware from installing their own keys. You just run it periodically and get the latest updates, and it installs the new keys. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

05-24-2007, 06:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
chesslord243 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 7 OS: XP	Re: Is free ok? i would add one last thing to your security things. you should install "site advisor" it's by McAfee and it's free and it's good! it basically tells you if a website has spyware and how much of a threat a site is to you.

05-24-2007, 06:29 AM	#6 (permalink)
jen56 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Elizabeth. South Australia. Australia Posts: 2,649 OS: XP My System	Re: Is free ok? Hi chauffeur2 and myself used to use the free edition of AVG without any problems...We now have a Licensed Program of Avg, still without a problem! If for any reason we do have a problem chauffeur just sends them an email and in no amount of time they have always responded, with an answer. This is about the only diff between the free and a Licensed program is the 24 hour support. This is the only type of program we use..we do not mix and match.. No need to buy a licensed program of AVG from a store, you can go direct online to AVG and get it that way.. Hope this helps also.... __________________ GO AHEAD MAKE MY DAY!!! Regards Jen

05-25-2007, 07:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
Chode TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,280 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Is free ok? Cellus nailed it with his post. DC, you are actually asking 3 questions here. By and large, AV software in general is fairly reliable these days, regardless if it is free or paid, but the freeware stuff has some serious limitations. I don't have much to add to my posts on the Kaspersky/NOD thread, so I won't repeat myself here. Spyware/Adware is something of another issue. The best AV programs are pretty effective against most malware, but I run Ad Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy every couple of weeks as a second line of defense. Most antispyware programs tend to be reactive, and even the paid stuff usually alerts you after the fact. Actually, a lot of the real-time monitoring these programs do is just a waste of resources. A message like "blahblah.exe is attempting to change your home page. Block or allow" means your system is already infected. Personally, I notice if my home page changes at random. If an antispyware program can't block a pest in the first place, I'm not sure I want to pay for it. Having said that, removal is an area where the paid antispyware software has outstripped the best freeware, and I pay for a couple of different programs to use in cleanup of customer machines. Really though, most spyware is self-inflicted. Always ask yourself "Why is this software free?" before you load it. Or, "Why is the software to play poker online a 60 MB! download?" Firewall software. Mostly I'd just say "no". Most software firewalls (paid or free) tend to bug you to death with endless "Block or Allow" messages. Most users end up at one of two extremes. They either over-block or over-allow. A router is a better solution for firewall protection when used with good AV software (software that detects a range of malware). Again, firewall software tends to be reactive; not proactive. Frankly the number and frequency of alerts a firewall generates isn't a worthwhile indicator of its performance at blocking legitimate threats. Running multiple programs that duplicate real-time functions eats up system resources and increases the chance for serious system stability issues. __________________ Sweet!