What is the best antivirus/internet security to run for vista?

Question

Mine came with Norton NIS 2008 preinstalled

Answer 1

My husband is a software developer and he has had some experience with Norton. My Mom has Norton, and it just doesn't cut it. My Mom has had problems with Norton, and my husband is not fond of it either.

With our Window's Vista, we have McAfee. We really like this, and it has worked very well on our personal computer and laptop computer.

I would suggest uninstalling Norton, and installing McAfee. You will get better security, along with a better user friendly program.

Some people may have a problem with McAfee, and that's understandable as every one has their favorite with what's best for them. Since my husband knows computers very well and has a long history of experience, he does computer stuff as a hobby, and as a career, things like McAfee, may come easier to him than to most. He knows how to tweek stuff to make it work better.

Just get something that is user friendly, and works to protect your computer.

Oh and Windows Vista does suck...I hate it.  My husband doesn't like it either. It's more difficult than it needs to be. We prefer XP. You could always uninstall Windows Vista and reinstall the XP for a more user friendly version as well. :-)

Answer 2

personally, I would just get rid of Vista, It's been as much a problem as ME and MANY people that get a new computer either request XP or put XP on it themselves, As far as anti-virus protection I have yet to find one that doesnt slow the computer down  big time. I Have Mcafee but it slows it down also

Answer 3

Avast,its free,forever.Norton sucks,all viruses get through Norton,so get avast

Answer 4

Well, I think that windows live onecare is the perfect companion for windows vista.

TRUST ME, everyone will put it down ONLY because its by microsoft.  They wrongfully misjudge microsoft products JUST because its the best!

So yea.. it tunes up your computer and alot more things, and it doesnt slow it down like bit defender, norton, and mcafee do.

DONT GET AVG!  

GET IT HERE FOR 90 DAYS

http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/d...

★Good Luck!  

If you need any help, feel free to email me via my profile page - Eric

Answer 5

Spyware Doctor with Antivirus.  I have Windows Vista and I purchased this and got rid of the Norton it came with.  Spyware Doctor with Antivirus works great for me.  It is constantly having pop-up windows that block everything.  I feel much safer than with Norton.

Answer 6

I run Windows Vista as well. Let's narrow it down for you:

~* Free anti virus options*~

Avast! is a nice anti virus. I've heard that many people enjoy using it. There is also AVG anti virus. I used that for awhile and it was good, but I found a better free anti virus called Avira AntiVir. The only thing that may bother you about the anti virus is the fact that it updates A LOT. It pops up a lot, but the updates are normally very quick, usually less than 5 minutes depending on the update. Avira AntiVir found more viruses than AVG ever did on my computer.

~* Paid Anti Virus Option*~

I will warn you against some paid anti viruses, such as Norton Anti Virus and McAfee Anti Virus. I have used both. Norton is a major system resource hog, meaning it slows down your computer by a lot. McAfee just gave me more problems then it seemed to solve.Kaspersky seems to be a very good anti virus, or so I have heard and so is Nod32.

~*Anti Spyware options*~

Personally, I've used SuperAntiSpyware. It's a great powerful little free program. I also used Spybot which was good, but not as great as SuperAntiSpyware.

Good luck!

Answer 7

free stuff  like avira anti virus and maybe comodo firewall

Answer 8

I  had my vista changed back to XP . it was nothing but trouble.  I use McAfee.But, still had one virus get through when my grand kids were here. So, I am assuming they ignored the warning.  I prefer Norton. but my son insisted on McAfee.  He takes care of my computer needs for me. So far he has done a great job.for me.

Answer 9

Try a online antivirus scanner and a online anti-adware/malware/spyware scanner in safe mode with network to clean up your computer BEFORE you download anything. This because the program you download can get infected.

Disable "System Restore" for Windows Me and XP, then restart your PC to clean your system restore points for viruses, spyware, adware etc.

Now restart in safe mode.

To get in safe mode Press "F8" upon bootup.

Select "Safe mode with Networking".

Go to Start – Run - type iexplore http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html Enter(ok).

Do a full system scan. If something is found, delete it, reboot and do the same again in safe mode with network.

When that scan does not find anything you reboot again in safe mode with network.

Go to Start – Run – type iexplore http://www.ewido.net/en/ Enter(ok).

Do a full system scan. If something is found, delete it, reboot and do the same again in safe mode with network.

**NOTE: Do NOT do anything else with your computer when scanning. This because you can start virus/adware/spyware/malware manually.

When no one of these scanners are showing anything you can reboot back to normal mode.

Turn on "System Restore".

Online virus, adware and spyware removal.

http://www.precisesecurity.com/antivirus...

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You need to get one antivirus program, one firewall and some spyware/adware/malware removers if you don't have it.

I use Norton Internet Security (antivirus, spyware, firewall, add blocker, mail spamfilter, pop up blocker etc) Ad Aware, Spybot and more on my desktop running XP Home SP2 with Firefox and Yahoo Toolbar with pop up blocker.

On my laptop i have Ubuntu 7.04. No security needed in Linux, but i use antivirus and firewall. Firefox is standard.

I have no virus, spyware, adware, pop ups etc on my computers.

Mozilla Firefox and Opera are safer browsers to use then Internet Explorer.

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/produ...

http://www.opera.com/

Here are some free programs.

BitDefender Anti-Virus Free.

http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en...

Avast Anti-Virus Free.

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.ht...

AVG Anti-Virus Free.

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl...

Avast Virus Cleaner - free virus removal tool.

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cle...

Firewall Protection.

ZoneAlarm Firewall Free.

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/c...

Easy-to-use firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats.

* Systematically identifies hackers and blocks access attempts.

Automatically makes your computer invisible to anyone on the Internet.

Use ZoneAlarm if you normally use Windows Firewall.

Disable Windows Firewall after downloading ZoneAlarm if it's not done automatically.

Ad-Aware 2007 Free.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_a...

Ad-Aware 2007 Free remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. Our free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers. If you want real-time scanning capabilities, consider upgrading to Ad-Aware 2007 Plus for real-time protection against spyware, all the time.

SUPERAntiSpyware Free.

http://www.superantispyware.com/

AVG Anti-spyware Free.

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tp...

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirro...

AVG Anti-Rootkit Free.

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/39798/lng/us...

AVG Anti-Rootkit is a powerful tool with state-of-the-art technology for detection and removal of rootkits. rootkits are used to hide the presence of a malicious object like Trojans or keyloggers on your computer. If a threat uses rootkit technology to hide itself it is very hard to find the malware on your PC. AVG Anti-Rootkit gives you the power to find and delete the rootkit and to uncover the threat the rootkit is hiding.

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast and contains NO spyware or adware.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

ClearAllHistory - clears browser history, cache, cookies, clipboard and remove other computer activity tracks.

http://www.clearallhistory.com/delete-pa...

**NOTE: Only have one antivirus program and one firewall installed on your computer.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav...

Anti-adware/malware/spyware are ok to have more of.

Also scan with online scanners sometimes.

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home....

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/

http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols...

Also run Windows Update http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

and defragment you hardisk(s).

How To Analyze and Defragment a Disk in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305781

MY SECURITY

Windows Defender

Windows Firewall

Avast anti virus

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-...

Spyware Blaster anti spyware

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownlo...

Spybot anti spyware

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/downl...

Firefox 3.0 web browser

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all...

Firefox Security Extentions:

Dr Web link checker

This plugin allows you to check any file you are about to download, any page you are about to visit with online version of Dr.Web anti-virus!

New menu item "Scan with Dr.Web" will appear on hyperlink context menu.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox...

Finjan multi blocker

Finjan SecureBrowsing alerts you when any malicious content in a webpage

that proactively alerts when you encounter a potential malicious content hiding behind links of search results, ads and other selected web pages.

is a free service that proactively alerts you to potential malicious content hiding behind links of search results, ads and other selected web pages. Finjan SecureBrowsing accesses each of the URLs in its current form on the web, and scans the relevant pages in real time using Finjan's patented behavior-based technology. Finjan SecureBrowsing then displays a safety rating next to each link it has scanned.

is a security extension for your browser that scans and classifies web addresses to provide you with safety rating of URLs before you visit them. Proactively alerting you to potentially malicious web addresses in links of search results, ads and other selected web pages, SecureBrowsing protects you from webpages that could be used to compromise your privacy and identity.

in searches [ google,yahoo,ect ] there will be green [ safe ],yellow [ caution ] and RED [ DANGER ] icons on each link

PAY ATTENTION HERE TO THOSE RED [ DANGER ] ICONS !

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox...

Blocksite website Blocker

* Privacy & Security

BlockSite is an extension, which automagically blocks websites

of your choice. Additionally, this extension will disable all

hyperlinks to these websites, by just displaying the link text

without the clicking functionality.

This extension should by no means be used for parental control

or access control purposes, just because it isn't secure and

can easily be disabled or even removed.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox...

Remove It Permanently

\Permanently hide content from web pages using the Context Menu.

Simply, click and "Remove it Permanently".

Now includes previewing of items before removal

I have found that MOST of my security problems were coming from sites like Washington Times,Salon,USA Today,ect.

they all have [ drive by ] flash ads that leave a pop UNDER when you leave the site.

R.I.P. when R.I.P. option remove from this domaim is used,those flash ads no longer are loaded.

you get a bar at the top of the page saying parts of the website were not loaded.

just click away and not worry about those flash tracking cookies anymore

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox...

Suggested Internet Options Security Settings:

control panel

internet options:

Advanced tab:

all unsafe/unsigned ActiveX disabled

unsafe authenticode disabled

Scriptlets disabled

File Prompting disabled

Access Across Domains disabled

Scripting Internet Explorer disabled

No Addressbar or status bar disabled

Launch Unsafe Applications/Files disable

Software Permissions high safety

Allow Statusbar update By Script disabled

Allow Websites Prompt for Info Using Scripts disabled

Privacy Tab:

advanced

override

allow 1st party cookies

3rd party [ spy/malware/tracking ] cookies BLOCKED

Firefox Options Security

Content:

check block pop ups

should pop ups get through [ and they will ],get the url and enter that in the load images section and choo

Answer 10

Norton has been the best for me.  When I bought my toshiba I installed the protection that came with it from the store.  It made it so slow I uninstalled it 5 min later.  I also use the Windows defender that came already on my labtop. I have them both set to run a scan everyday.

Answer 11

Norton is absolutely fine...norton will not slow up your computer...but u need to pay for norton

There is Avira AntiVir- http://www.free-av.com

Avira has better detection rates than AVG and avast!

the choice is yours