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Coley
Lv 6
Coley asked in Computers & InternetSecurity · 1 decade ago

What is the best free protection for my PC?

I have a home computer that is currently unprotected in any way. I am running windows XP if it helps.

I am computer stupid and this is my first. Needless to say I do not understand what I need & what this computer lingo is that I must protect against. I understand I cannot run 2 antivirus programs but I do not get what the difference is between those that people recommend. Spy bot, adware, firewall, antivirus etc etc etc- Sorry I don't get it??? Is there one that does it all?

Could someone please tell me in plain english what I need, a link to how to get it. If you include 2or more options of the same thing and then go on to additional things I need, could you number it so I understand that it all does different things?

**Something important to me is that it doesn't bog my PC down considerably (it's older) and easy to run. I do run Ccleaner biweekly, scan disk and defrag weekly and it helps a lot.

Update:

Will Avira detect and remove viruses? How about the little sheild that put itself on my toolbar telling me I have viruses that I know I don't? I was running the demo version of Windows Live One Care and the sheild told me it was off all the time when it wasn't! Is this just gonna be an inconvience I must deal with?

Update 2:

I installed Avira, it seemed like most agreed that was the way to go, thanks :o)

I also installed 1 anti spyware (malewarebytes) BUT i don't know what it does for me...No I am not blonde LOL!

I MAY have a firewall already, I will have to check.

I don't have a prob with pop-ups etc.

And to the Mac fan...thanks, I can't afford a Mac right now & don't understand them at all, my girlfriend swears by them too. For now I will stick to my PC.

26 Answers

Relevance
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Like you said make sure you only have one antivirus and one firewall

    But you can have more than one antispyware

    I'm going to stick with freeware with my answer so if you want paid antiviruses I would recommend either Kaspersky or Nod32

    Freeware

    1. Antiviruses

    I would recommend either Avira Antivir Free or Avast! Home Edition

    Avira is easier to use and has a slightly higher detection rate

    http://www.free-av.com/

    Avast! has boot time scanning and email scanning

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

    Also I would NOT get AVG free since it has a lower detection rate than the other two free antiviruses. Also it has NO Anti-Rootkit

    2. AntiSpywares(you can have more than one antispyware)

    I would get a backup antispyware even if you get Avast!(which as antispyware) or get the paid antiviruses and antispyware

    The free versions can detect and remove

    Malwarebytes AntiMalware

    http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/...

    and

    SuperAntiSpyware

    http://www.superantispyware.com/

    3. Prevention

    I would recommend switching to Firefox from Internet Explorer since Firefox is more secure and has more addons

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

    Get a webadvisor

    MyWot tells you if a site is good or bad

    http://www.mywot.com/

    Get NoScript to block malicious scripts(and all scripts) Optional.

    Since NoScript blocks all scripts you will need to add trustworthy sites to your whitelist. When entering a trustworthy site you can go to the bottom right hand corner and "allow yahoo.com"

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

    Look at the screenshots on the page

    NoScript is optional though.

    Get a free firewall

    You may only have one firewall

    ZoneAlarm Free Firewall

    http://www.download.com/ZoneAlarm-Firewall-Windows...

    OR

    Comodo Firewall

    Make sure to uncheck the antivirus if you have another antivirus

    http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

    Pick only ONE firewall

  • 5 years ago

    Free Pc Protection

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    1

    Source(s): Best Mac Antivirus http://teres.info/MacCleanerAntivirus
  • fittje
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    Best Pc Protection

  • How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
  • 5 years ago

    2

    Source(s): Industry Top Antivirus Software : http://moveantivirus.com/?fSMb
  • Sarah
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    Greetings. My name's Sanjay Patel, and I currently hold an honorary Master's degree in the field of Computer Science. I am aware of, and have personal knowledge related to your question. There are computer maintenance businesses which are probably in your area, however they come at the cost of hiring a professional to enter your home. There may also be some local destinations where you can drop off your computer and wait to have a technician look at it. These options can often be costly, and pretty inconvenient. The answer to this question can probably be found doing a little extra research on Google.

    A well-running computer can be a hard thing to maintain. From my experience, there is but only One software which is reputable- and consistently reliable for healing sick, slow computers. Reimage™ is a world-renown, easy to use software designed by Forensic scientists and made for the average person. This thing will fix literally just about ANY problem you could possibly be having with your PC. Reimage was recommended to me by a Professor during my 2nd year of Graduate school.

    Source(s): Personal Experience with https://tr.im/ReimageRepair
  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    Hello. My name is Sanjay Patel, and I currently hold an honorary Master's degree in the field of Computer Science. I am aware of, and have personal knowledge related to your question. There are computer maintenance businesses which are probably in your area, however they come at the cost of hiring a professional to enter your home. There may also be some local destinations where you can drop off your computer and wait to have a technician look at it. These options can often be costly, and pretty inconvenient. The answer to this question can probably be found doing a little extra research on Google.

    A well-running computer can be a hard thing to maintain. From my experience, there is but only One software which is reputable- and consistently reliable for healing sick, slow computers. Reimage™ - https://reimagefix.im/ is a world-renown, easy to use software designed by Forensic scientists and made for the average person. This thing will fix literally just about ANY problem you could possibly be having with your PC. Reimage was recommended to me by a Professor during my 2nd year of Graduate school

  • Dexter
    Lv 5
    5 years ago

    What Is The Best Protection For My PC? -- https://reimagefix.im/

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. The best PC cleaner and antivirus program is PC Health Boost, it's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate.

    It's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than nomal. Download it here for free: http://www.pcboostsoftware.com/

  • 7 years ago

    what is the best free protection for my pc ?

  • 7 years ago

    I need free protection for my pc, I don't have any extra money right now. so what kind of all in one protection? help

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