A little computer help

MillerLiteScott

I just got a little net book for Christmas and don't want to fill it up with all the usual crap. It has Norton which I have not activated.

What would you computer guys recommend for FREE anti-virus programs?
I have used AVG and Anti-Spyware in the past. Just asking to see if there is anything that is better or comes recommended.

Any other recommendations would be great.

Thanks,

Scott

ben62670

I still like AVG, but it is getting fairly bloated like Norton and MacCrappy.

bigaudiofanatic

AVG for viruses and anti malware for malware. That is ALL I put in nothing else

Systems

I would recommend putting Microsofts new one they recently released. Been using it without any issues, doesn't hog any resources either..

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Of course their are the naysayers out there, but they wrote it for their operating systems and its incorporated into the OS....not like the third party programs...

MillerLiteScott wrote: »

I just got a little net book for Christmas and don't want to fill it up with all the usual crap. It has Norton which I have not activated.

What would you computer guys recommend for FREE anti-virus programs?
I have used AVG and Anti-Spyware in the past. Just asking to see if there is anything that is better or comes recommended.

Any other recommendations would be great.

Thanks,

Scott

bigaudiofanatic

A friend of mine tried that. Junk he went back to avg.

Systems

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

A friend of mine tried that. Junk he went back to avg.

I rest my case.....Pretty vague there, a friends comment that it was junk....

bigaudiofanatic

No used it for 4 weeks than went back to avg. Sorry if it was not to descriptive enough for you. I wanted to trry it but heard poor reviews on it.

ben62670

Lorthos wrote: »

I would recommend putting Microsofts new one they recently released. Been using it without any issues, doesn't hog any resources either..

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Of course their are the naysayers out there, but they wrote it for their operating systems and its incorporated into the OS....not like the third party programs...

Micro soft fails every other OS. I can't put my faith in their anti virus.

Fireman32

AVG for me.

Sami

MillerLiteScott wrote: »

Any other recommendations would be great.

Since you said that, I have to ask... what are you planning to use the netbook for?

I also assume it is preloaded with XP. Disable themes and all the other services you don't need. Clean up the startup selection (Run -> msconfig). Uninstall all the unnecessary pre-installed software.

How big is the harddrive or is it a solid state drive?

Serendipity

Turn off any of the programs that run in the system tray. Usually you right-click on them and unselect "Run at startup". This makes the system more usable.

My netbook was loaded with junk when it was delivered, disabling startup items made it much faster.

Also select "Windows Classic" in Display Properties and the system will run faster. Defrag the hard drive and uninstall any junk preloaded on the system.

halo71

ben62670 wrote: »

I still like AVG, but it is getting fairly bloated like Norton and MacCrappy.

+1 AVG is becoming another Norton blimp IMHO.

Sami

Serendipity wrote: »

Also select "Windows Classic" in Display Properties and the system will run faster.

Disable "Themes" service and the screen turns into Windows Classic automatically.

Serendipity

Sami wrote: »

Disable "Themes" service and the screen turns into Windows Classic automatically.

Is it better to do that? I've always just set the display to Windows Classic instead of disabling the service "Themes".

Sami

It's one less less service running in the background taking up memory. I also recommend turning off indexing and automatic updates among other things, just update your netbook manually every once in a while.

Another is the visual effects settings found in 'Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Visual Effects'

Serendipity

I'll try that, thanks!

Also turned off "Distributed Link Tracking", "messenger", but not automatic updates. I kinda like that feature.

Sami

Serendipity wrote: »

I'll try that, thanks!

Also turned off "Distributed Link Tracking", "messenger", but not automatic updates. I kinda like that feature.

Keep in mind automatic update does not do all the updates, you should still run it manually sometimes to see if you have f.e. hardware driver updates available.

Sherardp

I have the MSI U210. Here's what I suggest if not done already. Upgrade it to highest memory modules possible. Go to manufacturers webpage and see if Win 7 drivers are available. If so buy copy of Win 7 and install it from scratch. From there run AVG and Malwarebytes. With these two running you should not run into any problems, plus it will run allot faster on Windows 7.

Also I found using a netbook to be awesome, I have mine setup apart as my HomeGroup so it can access all 200gigs of music on my desktop when I travel. Also they are nice to carry around, easy to just throw in a small bag, etc.

SKsolutions

M$'s Security Essentials, has been better than anything that I've used recently. It reminds me of when AV's first came out: They were lightweight, effective, and you couldn't much tell that they were operating. Like anything else, try it for yourself. Last review I read had it ranked better than the pay-for-use AV's in terms of effectiveness, the lighter weight is just a bonus, and it's free. No need to run multiple programs, although I also run Winpatrol with it. . no brainer.

Sami

Sherardp wrote: »

If so buy copy of Win 7 and install it from scratch.

Putting another $100-200 for Win7 for a notebook is a waste of money IMHO. Either keep the XP, strip it down or install a Linux distro with lightweight window manager. That decision depends on the usage but for what the netbooks are mainly good for, Linux is the obvious choice.

bigaudiofanatic

As far as I know no netbook can run windows 7. That is why they come with xp they are not powerful enough to run vista or 7.

dorokusai

I'm a fan of Webroot. I'm officially done with McAfee and Norton as there's simply no need for the big names anymore. Someone mentioned earlier that they more and more bloated and bury themselves in your registry...done and done.

bigaudiofanatic

dorokusai wrote: »

I'm a fan of Webroot.

My neighbor tried that out. After it almost taking over his computer and not letting him on the internet he got it removed. It is powerful but unless you know how to use it I would not recommend it.

woodsman10b

Spybot Search and Destroy works well for me.

dorokusai

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

My neighbor tried that out. After it almost taking over his computer and not letting him on the internet he got it removed. It is powerful but unless you know how to use it I would not recommend it.

I guess, never found any problems in the last couple years, perhaps he's retarded. Some folks just can't handle technology.

bigaudiofanatic

woodsman10b wrote: »

Spybot Search and Destroy works well for me.

That does not protect against malware or viruses.

bigaudiofanatic

dorokusai wrote: »

I guess, never found any problems in the last couple years, perhaps he's retarded.

Please do insult who you do not know. Trust me it was a pin for even me to remove it.

dorokusai

That's the freedom of the internet. If he would like to go toe to toe in a game of scrabble...let him know I'm free.

John30_30

Sami wrote: »

Putting another $100-200 for Win7 for a notebook is a waste of money IMHO. Either keep the XP, strip it down or install a Linux distro with lightweight window manager. That decision depends on the usage but for what the netbooks are mainly good for, Linux is the obvious choice.

+2 on Ubuntu. It has gotten so user-friendly, and even pretty in the 5 years or so since they took a Debian distro and ran with it. Drivers are just no problem anymore, basically never were.
That was the last time I played with Redhat when Debian, and then Ubuntu had native wireless drivers for the laptop I was using. Man, screw Redhat and that old-schoolnerd ndiswrapper jerkery, even if I did get it working.

If you're just doing web and mail, it's a snap. Heck, most netbook builders have the linux option, if you hadn't already made that choice.

Download & burn the free image and run it as Livedisk to see how easy you can live with it. Oh wait. No cd/dvd player on netbooks..... still, you can boot off a jumpdrive you've made bootable with the image, same deal.


Otherwise, AVG and Avast are about the top free AV's still.
AVG free is too paranoid for my liking, but a 3-machine license of $60 for the full AV/firewall/anti-spyware,etc./etc. enchilada is too good to pass, imho. Plus you can cheat an extra machine or 2 in there, they won't ****.

huggies

I used to push AVG when ever these questions come up, until my daughter got a virus via LimeWire. I switched over everything to Avira and it has caught everything that has been thrown at it. Saved me a couple times, and my daughter uncountable times. Go Avira.

Systems

ben62670 wrote: »

Micro soft fails every other OS. I can't put my faith in their anti virus.

Well they didn't fail with this...you'll just have to trust me....