FREE COMPUTER PROTECTION

Opti_Silmara · Post by **Opti_Silmara** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 8:56 pm

Hi all. I know not everyone can afford to buy programs to protect their computers. These may not be the very best you can get, but they are free and I think the BEST FREE ONES you can get.

These programs have been godsends for me. If you are consistent in running them (I learnt my lesson now

) they will protect your computer. They are FREE and well-worth the wait to download IMO:

AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

(This has saved me twice now from 2 of the worst worms out there!! I swear by it's effectiveness!

If only I had remembered to keep it up and running!!!

I have it set now to start when I start up my computer, and don't turn it off. It will even intercept viruses to prevent you downloading or installing them)

Zone Alarm: http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/1 ... 37_202.exe

(A decent firewall considering it's free! I do still have some problems running it with logging in to play AC, and am playing with the settings for that. If I had been running it before I got the latest virus, I would have had a better chance. A good firewall is definitely a must for surfing the internet!)

Spybot Search and Destroy {Spybot S&D}: http://www.safer-networking.org/

(By PepiMK. Make sure you use the above address. This is NOT to be confused with viruses using the name!!! This removed heaps of horrid spybots on my computer (including trojans and registry entries by places like Marketscore), and is said to be the most effective you can get. It's new to me, but so far I think it's brilliant!

I have it set to start when I start my computer, and it runs a check before windows loads, because some of these bots can't be removed while running. A warning though

.. don't set it to everything automated. You will be asking me for help to reset the configuration settings... which took me a while in his forums to find out

)

Hope that helps people,

All the best,

Opti

Yafel · Post by **Yafel** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 10:58 pm

Bump, very nice info

Opti_Silmara · Post by **Opti_Silmara** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 1:51 am

Bump!!! Please sticky this? It will help those who can't afford programs, and goes along with the recommendations by Microsoft to install such now.

Opti

Phade · Post by **Phade** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:58 pm

I personally don't use firewalls or anti-virus other than on the one computer that I use Kazaa on or the web server, however AVG is the best of the antivirus programs that iv'e heard of.

as far as firewalls, Zonealarm is free, and not nearly as invasive as some others like McAfee or Norton <shudder>

if your going to use a firewall, ZoneAlarm is a good one, and easy to shut down if it causes trouble for techs

Other good ones are Black IC (think its still free?) and SyGate(also used to be free?)

Rathgryn · Post by **Rathgryn** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 3:09 pm

Thanks for the links Opti....

It detected a virus

Well, time to get to work fixing it....

Ryitsu · Post by **Ryitsu** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 5:28 pm

I use ZoneAlarm, Norton Antivirus, and AdAware 6.0 to keep my PC up and running, and would recommend any of them to anyone.

For those of you that might not have a good antivirus program running in realtime, there is a good free online virus scan to be found at

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

I have used this more than my fair share and it works great.

Also, if anyone has questions about configuring Zone Alarm let me know. I have spent a great deal of time working with it, and while I dont know all there is to know about it, I do know it well enough to set up almost any common configurations.

Ryitsu

Opti_Silmara · Post by **Opti_Silmara** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 6:21 pm

Bumping this and putting a little bit of review on it for the discerning or hesitant.

..

I really believe I am recommending the best free stuff you can get to protect your computer. I am sure there is better you could pay $100's for.. but if you can't afford $100's.. then I hope you will at least get this protection I suggested. For the discerning.. here's some research I've done on them:

AVG - I've tried a heap of anti-virus programs and bought them too.. but I'm yet to find a better one than AVG, that isn't a memory guzzler, intrusive and as effective. If I could afford it I'd pay to get the non-free version over any other.

Here's some reviews on it:

http://www.robertwade.com/reviews/avg/avg.shtml
http://www.5star-shareware.com/Utilitie ... s/avg.html
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270-1053679.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,2167,00.asp

Spybot S&D: Adaware is very good. I used it before I used Spybot S&D. For me I've foind that Spybot S&D finds things that Adaware didn't. Also Adaware tends to say some things are dangerous that aren't.. and can mess up things useful to you... and you can't retrieve it. At least that's my experience. It also comes with it's own advertising which if that is stopped, it won't work. Isn't that what we want to be rid of? Spybot S&D does not have any advertising. The maker made it as an act of love, and dedicated it to the woman he loves. Perhaps at some time he intends to sell it, but right now he provides it free. What reading up I've done has told me that Spybot S&D and Spy Sweeper mow are given equally the highest ratings of all of the anti-spyware. Yet, where Spysweeper is only a demo free.. and you have to buy it to get it's full benefits. Spybot S&D is completely free.

Here are some reviews on Spybot S&D:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4505-5_7-208485 ... egacy=cnet
http://www.tucows.com/webbrowser_adware ... ating.html
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v23/steve23.htm
http://www.webattack.com/get/spybot.shtml

Zone Alarm: This program has good and bad free.

Bad - I would love to be able to afford the non-free version of this program, if it has better features than the free version, or even a better firewall. Zone-Alarm does protect my computer, but it interferes with game-play no matter even if I follow the directions in AC and set it to recognize the client. You can't set individual ports either in the free version. I'm sure it isn't perfect and has holes, because the makers are big on recommending upgrading to the bought version for 'better protection'.

Good - Zone Alarm is user friendly. I tried Black Ice a while ago and got rather confused trying to set it up. I am thinking Black Ice might be worth another try though, if free. From what I've heard of it.. Black Ice is a very good firewall too... So I second Ryitsu here, and if you find it's better let me know!

Zone Alarm affords you free protection from a lot of attacks, is excellent for surfing the net, and gives you added protection on top of your windows firewall. With the dangers right now in surfing, I don't go into my browser, email or chat programs, without it running. However I do use Meginjarder in AC without it.. and that bothers me. I just can't get it to run with the game, so that's when I turn it off. I've got a long list of prevented intrusions in it's logs. It will pop up a window warning you too - Do you want to allow 'this one' to act as a server, etc. For a free firewall I'm yet to find better. If you can afford better though, I suggest shopping around.

Here's some reviews on Zone Alarm:

http://www.techsoup.org/sub_downdetails ... nloadid=39
http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-6A8- ... FA66-prod3
http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-33A8 ... 8B4D-prod6 http://www.mouthshut.com/readproduct/925013993-1.html
http://www.homecraft.bc.ca/software.htm

Thanks for the replies and recommendations. I highly recommend these free programs I suggested..and Ryitsu has some excellent suggestions too.

I want to see all of you safe... so if you hesitated to get these.. read the reviews and please consider doing so if you don't have protection.

Rath.. sorry to hear AVG detected a virus. Let it clean it out for you, and I would also suggest letting Widow know, so he can offer you other suggestions to be sure your comp is clean and safe.

Opti

Ryitsu · Post by **Ryitsu** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 2:04 pm

Thx for the heads up, Opti. I wasn't aware that AdAware has its moments of flakiness. I will check out Spybot S&D.

Ryitsu

Jezekiah Mc Phersun · Post by **Jezekiah Mc Phersun** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 3:38 pm

if u don't want to install freeware nor buy Anti-Virus Software u can go to :

http://de.trendmicro-europe.com/consume ... ll_pre.php

Thats a very good Scanner.

and if u want to know if ur Firewall is as save as it should be try

http://scan.sygatetech.com/

hrhr

Dumoss · Post by **Dumoss** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 4:23 pm

USA URL
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Trekman · Post by **Trekman** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:37 pm

Jezekiah Mc Phersun wrote:and if u want to know if ur Firewall is as save as it should be try http://scan.sygatetech.com

Another link to a website testing your firewall from outside is

http://security.norton.com

I did not try sygatetech yet, but the Norton page may try to install a little browser plugin or java applet for the security tests. Although there is no need to doubt the integrity of Norton/Symantec, it is up tp you to decide whether that procedure is too intrusive or not.