Security for new PC and Vista.

[soneric84]

I just got a new computer (running Vista Home SP1 32-bit) and I am wondering what would be a good firewall and anti-virus/anti-spyware program to have? Are there any free programs that are good? Any help would be much appreciated.

[Leticron]

On my Vista SP1 32-bit rig I use Comodo Firewall Pro v3.0.25.378
and Avast 4.8 Home Edition. Both are free and seem to do what they're supposed to
Comodo is a bit talkative tho ;)
Avast updates at least once a day and is much easier on the system than Kaspersky which I used before. Once in a while it gives me a false positive but those cases are easily verified by uploading the file in question to www.virustotal.com where it's checked against 33 different scanners

-le

[Cellus]

Personally I use Kaspersky Internet Security 7 on Vista SP1 and have rather liked it. The resource footprint from KIS7 has been quite small, and things like iSwift make scan times a lot shorter. If you want a good paid subscription AV/firewall combo, then KIS7 is a good choice.

If you want a good free combination, then Leticron's suggestion is pretty good as well.

[soneric84]

Thanks guys, I actually have the option of getting EZtrust suite because I have a subscription through time warner/roadrunner, but it made my other PC start up slow and I don't want to do that to this one too.

[truthseeker]

Originally Posted by soneric84

I just got a new computer (running Vista Home SP1 32-bit) and I am wondering what would be a good firewall and anti-virus/anti-spyware program to have? Are there any free programs that are good? Any help would be much appreciated.

I have been using PC's for 20 years now and I have never had a spyware, trojan, rootkit or virus. And I have never used a anti-virus program.

As long as you only download and install programs from well known and reputable companies, you won't need an AV.

No AV program will pick up 100% all virus' anyway and they do not pick up new unknown virus. So the best way to keep safe is to do as I suggest above.

Why run a resource hungry AV when you don't need to?

My Vista runs smooth and fast... and one main reason is because I do not have a slow AV running, taking ages to load and running in the background slowing down my PC.

And I am a heavy internet user, yet I have never had a virus etc and never used an AV. So do as I do, and you will have a clean PC that is not bogged down or slowed down by an AV.

The only people who get virus' are those who download and install stuff from illegal websites, warez websites, cracks and serials etc.

So avoid such websites, which you should be doing anyway as they are illegal, and then you will never have to worry about virus etc.

And if you ever want to check for virus', then use this free online checker:

http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

P.S If you really worried about virus, you can also create a dual boot with Linux. I have dual boot with MS Vista and Ubuntu Linux. Whenever I need to use Netbanking and secure transactions over the internet, I always log into Linux. In Linux we dont worry at all about virus etc. But as I said, my MS Vista is clean anyway, but it's just another option to install Linux if you are really concerned.

I hope this information helps you to consider alternative ways to keep your PC clean, while at the same time having it run smoothly and not slowed down by some heavy resource hungry AV.