Should I Buy Anti-Spyware or Anti-Virus Software? - Comments Page 6

Gday Bob,please help, i'm using an old system i think (windows xp professional version 2002). Everytime i go to open a file it tells me that windows has encountered a problem and has to shut down which subsequently then wipes out what ever i'm woking on. It also says at the end of msg do you want to send a report or not.

i find out a cleaning of my drives ,#1 i run avg antispyware, free edition #2 i run adaware 2008 free edition, then ill do an internet files clean up under internet options (be sure to click offline content )and delete all,#4 ill run euregistry cleaner (its free and a really good program)#5 ill run ccleaner from filehippo.com its free and cleans up the mess,#5 then ill run a good defrag tool, (defragler,,, free from piroform on filehippo)#6 the i go into disk cleanup in ie, besure to go to the other tab that says erase all old restore points and create one known good one. all this and i am running avg antivirus free edition, it has saved me many times, be sure to log off the internet, and disconnect the wi-fi or wirelees lan or cable/dsl. and any programs running thats not necessary before starting the cleaning, then enable internet and reboot, your machine should be pretty well clean

EDITOR'S NOTE: Looks like one of those tools sucked all the capital letters and periods out of your BIOS.

Bob, I reinstalled XP Pro on an Acer laptop yeaterday, using a USB stick, since it will not boot from the CD. I was able to boot a Ubuntu installation disc from the CD 2 times, but Ubuntu ran from the CD, not a permanent installation, as I wanted to do. Windows will NOT boot anything from the CD, it will not even read a CD. I believed the XP installation to be a reformat, but the new installatin had not erased anything! How can I force an installation of Ubuntu?

Hie ! great article.
btw i have AVG 08 and im afraid i dont really find it all that handy. i have already experienced various system crashes thanks to imported viruses (from college labs and shop pcs) and have spent several bucks on getting my system fixed from service centres until i found this:
http://www.besttechie.net/2008/06/20/malwarebytes-anti-malware-review/

i just had this one really nasty malware attack a few days ago and was despairing badly. on a whim i googled anti-malwares and found this. and guess what ! it cleaned up my registry and fixed the whole thing. right there ! i wud therefore highly recommend it to everyone.

Thanks for the great articles! I would like to add another contender for freebie anti virus. I reformatted my computer (WinXP Pro) to get rid of the sludge buildup. I had been using Comodo Firewall as a defense against the dirt and bugs on the internet. Before I formatted, I downloaded their latest free internet security system, which has an anti-virus tool, and great firewall with other internet security tools. It seems to be working very well; and I was wondering your opinion of it?

I use Avira, Spyware Terminator, and Super AntiSpyware Professional. They're all free and my friends think I'm inasane, but before I had them installed I got a terrible virus that installed about ten trojans on my computer. They helped me clean it up and I really love them. Thank you very much for the articles, though!

Great article - one more resource that has helped me get rid of some trojans/ malware that avg found but couldn't kill is a simple free program from freefixer.com - it runs a complete check, lets you know what's doing what and you can go down the list it has a link to check the freefixer.com database on each item you can't identify.

This program doesn't run all the time, only when you ask it to, so it doesn't replace anti-virus/ anti-spyware or firewalls, just a great free supplemental resource to help clean up a system.

I had tried rootkit revealer and some other complicated programs without any luck.

Okay, here's one that won't be posted: You discuss anti-popup applications. I wonder, will they block the ones that annoyingly pop up on YOUR OWN SITE???? Shame on you.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't recall ever saying that popups were evil. If you don't like them, get a blocker! And shame on ME for what... having advertising on my site to pay the bills? You want high quality content, for free, and you want to heap "shame" on the heads of the people who work very hard to bring it to you at no charge. Do you work for free? Let's put shame where it belongs.

I used PC Mighty Max and paid thirty dollars and have not seen any improvemnet at all in my computer. It was a total waste of monet for me! I am now getting tons of junk mail also! I cancelled and did the unistall of PC Mighty Max but I have two windows running that I do not know how to stop now. Both are from PC Mighty Max. I have looked for a phone number to no avail to call them to help remove these two windows that run all the time. What can I do here Bob?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm not familiar with PC Mighty Max, but it sounds like a rogue anti-malware package. If you can do a System Restore to a point before you installed it, I would recommend that. At minimum, run a good (reputable) anti-virus package, such as the ones I recommend in this article.

Bob, how come you never mention Comodo Internet Security (free)? Its better than anything, period.

Thank you for your comments on Norton Internet Security 2009. It was recommended by the magazine ComputerActive. I bought it from Amazon and it is very good but the details on how to use it are dreadful. I still cannot get the anti-spam element working despite instructions from their website and it takes AGES for the site to respond. Now IE refuses to let me download free anti-spam software. Ridiculous!!!!!

In response to harry firth's post. Norton/AVG/Mcafee..none of the 3 will protect you from the XP-antivirus-2008-2009 trojans. Only comodo-firewall-antivirus-& Boclean-antimalware from comodo will stop these. Ive personally cleaned up over a 100 computers since thanksgiving last yr. All had these programs on there puters and all got infected. Im still helping cleaning up. Im just offering a little advice. Comodo is free and works very well. Ive been trojan free for over 2 yrs.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm glad that you found a solution to remove Antivirus 2008/09. But it's not true that ONLY Comodo and Boclean (never heard of that one) will remove it. MalwareBytes AntiMalware will do the job, and there are others as well.

hey bob not all free anti virus come out handy, like i used to have AVG antivirus, and it didnt helped me at all, i got a bunch of virus and avast and avira they are ok not so cool but they work. And actually McAfee its free if you're an AT&T costumer, so i dont know, McAfee helps me clean my registry and other junk, but avira and avast are good tools if you cant afford an anti virus.

Here's anothervote for SUPERAntiSpyware Free

Edition. I had a serious infection that nothing else could remove, and this program removed it with ease. And it's FREE! No nags, completely clean, Though you must update manually. (I think it gives you reminders though.)

Also used Avast free for years. It's comprehensive and automatically prompts for updates, and lets you know when new definitions have become available. Easy to use and works great, detecting some threats that paid programs can't

Hi Bob,

I have used Spybot search & Destroy, seems to work fine. Since you havent mentioned anything about this I was wondering if this was legit antispyware? Any comments?

Thank You

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've mentioned S&D in other articles. I think it's good, but I prefer Winddows Defender.

At work we have "sonic wall" which detects trojans and others. This is the message I received when I tried to download the X-RayPC.

"(blank blank) Schools: "This request is blocked by the SonicWALL Gateway Anti-Virus Service. Name: Suspicious#asprotect (Trojan)" Might want to check the download page again for that product.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's probably just blocking ALL executable files. Nothing wrong with X-RayPC...

I agree with your article. It is an excellent start for computer security. I hope you will follow with a further article explaining layered defense.ie Guard program and a back up cleaning program for viruses and malware.
A third article by you discussing the concept of reduced browser privileges using either Sandboxie or DropMyRights would be very helpful to both newbies and experienced computer users.

i use norton , what do u think about that product?

EDITOR'S NOTE: See http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Bloated-Pig-Posters_i2848945_.htm

I use AVG and am very satisfied. I have only dial-up available at home since I reside in a small village (no cable or wireless options) so had to resort to the paid version for my PC as the free version would not load on it and the tech support was not helpful. I was able to take my laptop into work and load the free version onto it in a matter of minutes. Both versions work well and perform regular updates. Thanks for all the helpful tips Bob.

ESET SMART SECURITY is the best and light antivirus I have ever seen. It is the fastest antivirus of todays world.