Community Newsletter: Q&A: Free vs. paid security software
- 6/8/07 9:43 AM
good for you
by BHOULE - 6/7/07 10:12 AM In reply to: Bunk by waytronlike i said this is my experience , only mine ,(about 2 years ago) it did not downloed any thing else
i kept the report of microsoft anti-spyware has proof
I did send this message to help others, I dont have anythinds to gaine.
If you beleive ok if you dont thats is ok to..
Y repeat i have proof of this.. I swear to god that this is true.
I try others avast avg Free that works good and also norton that i paid for.......
I don't think you need antivirus software.
by unknown55 - 6/2/07 8:29 AM In reply to: Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing" by 4DeniseI've been running windows for a LONG time, since before windows 95, and the only cases where I have gotten a virus was when it was my own fault. I've also helped get rid of other people's viruses, but I found out that this was thier fault too. I reccomed that If you don't want to get viruses, then don't steal programs from the internet, such as getting that new program/game from kazaa, which was a big thing awhile ago. And lastly, just don't check suspicious emails.
If you do happen to just be unlucky though, I do reccomend getting a free virus/adware remover. Don't buy them, since most of the ones that you buy will slow down your computer all of the time by doing unneccisary scans every hour or so, or limiting you from doing things. Also, don't get extra firewalls, unless your a big buisness, there's no reason that someone will hack your computer.
May be just Jetico
by Breeze4you - 6/3/07 2:07 AM In reply to: I don't think you need antivirus software. by unknown55I never used any anti virus since most of them regardless free or buy they slow the PC and that's Big No,, I have only got one virus which was the Sasser that's realy fault of stupid Microsoft OS which hit every one, and the other was trojan silently exeucted by IE just by vistiing a web page, only after that I installed Jetico fire wall the free one. Maybe it's hard to learn but once you master it, you can keep most of garbage out.
Maybe you need to have one free anti virus installed but run them on demand in case of you suspect certain download,,
Free V Paid security software
by Dr.Fade - 6/2/07 7:48 PM In reply to: Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing" by 4Denise4Denise gets my vote.
I run a free antivirus program and find it excellent.
Before using this I bought and ran two major apps.with nothing but pop-ups and and holes.
I would gladly pay for a program if it does what its supposed to do,but alas, many don't.
Something for nothing
by Teodolinda - 6/4/07 12:06 PM In reply to: Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing" by 4DeniseThanks for the advice. I had not given thought to why the software was free except to say that I was a little suspicious about free stuff. But what you said makes very good sense. I am 55 years old and am learning something new all the time. It is great to have people such as you Denise that can explain things so clearly yet in ordinary words. I like CNet and was turned on to it when a friend suggested I download Spybot. In my search I opened CNet and also opened a great opportunity for easy and free learning. What a deal! Yes, on my paycheck this week I will make a donation. It is worth it. THANKS DENISE.
Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing
by Steverd01 - 6/4/07 6:19 PM In reply to: Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing" by 4DeniseI thought this answer was really informative and well written. Thanks for sharing your expertise... and the professionalism of your writing.
Here's a site for free software, check it out:
by walshaw4 - 6/8/07 3:57 PM In reply to: Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing" by 4DeniseI recently stumbled onto a website that offers a superior free firewall pro, antivirus software, malware, and antispam. I have all these installed on my computer and I am very happy with them. Best of all these are free lifetime licenses for all these products.
The website is www.comodo.com
BENEFIT OF FREE PRODUCTS
by rodneygarnett - 6/9/07 8:02 PM In reply to: Actually, in this case you can get something for "nothing" by 4DeniseHELLO I AM A RETIRED MINISTER FROM A SMALL CHRISTIAN CHURCH. INCOME IS VERY LEAN. 90% OF AL THE WORK ON THIS COMPUTER IS OF A SPIRITUAL NATURE. COST ARE ALWAYS A HUGE CONCERN. I TRIED WINDOWS NEW ONE CARE PRODUCTS. SEEMED GREAT BUT THE PRICE WENT FROM 20.00 TO 50.00 IN ONE YEAR. THEN I TRIED THE PRODUCTS FROM MY ISP PROVIDER,SYMPATICO,AND IT IS MINIUM 10.00 PER-MONTH AND THAT IS TO MUCH. I TRIED BUT ALL THINGS WOULD NOT WORK WELL WENT I USED AVG FOR SPY WARE ETC. ZONE ALARM FOR FIRE WALL AND AVAST FOR VIRUS. WHEN I TRIED MY EMAIL WOULD NOT WORK AND I COULD NOT FIND SOME ONE TO HELP WITH THE PROBLEM. I DO FIRMY BELIEVE THAT THE FREE ARE THE TRUE ANSWER. BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE SUPPORT. I DONATED TO JAVA COOL FOR THE PRODUCT SPYWARE BLASTER. THIS IS A FANTASTIC PRODUCT. IF I COULD HAVE A SAFE COMPUTER I WOULD BE HAPPY TO DONATE A FAIR AMOUNT TO BE PROTECTED. I AM NOT TO SECURE IN MY OWN JUDGEMENT ABOUT PRODUCTS. IF YOU CAN MAKE SOME RECOMENDATIONS THAT WOULD KEEP A CHURCH COMPUTER CLEAN OF FILTH AND ALL THE OTHER GARBAGE I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. GOD BLESS ROD GARNETT rod.garnett@sympatico.ca or rodgarnett@hotmail.com
Answer to Jasmine's Security ?
by rocky1a - 5/26/07 12:08 AM In reply to: Free vs. paid security software by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Since my 1st computer(1st Apple in a case),later when Apple no longer supported the II series and I went to PCs, I have used many diverse protection programs. Sadly to say, no one program was sufficient to cover even 50% of spyware, pop-ups,firewalls, catch all virus, spyware etc. I used most of the free & pay programs some of which were AVG, Panda, Ad Aware, Bug Doctor Spybot Search & Destroy (the latter 3, used in conjunction with each other and kept current daily do a pretty FAIR job). Up until 3 or 4 months ago, I used both Norton & MacAfee. Now I have trashed them both, as I tried eAcceleration's STOP Sign suite through a free trial offer. Before the trial even ended, I signed on with them for MY LIFETIME, NOT the computers!! Buy a new computer, they will allow you to continue your subscription on the new computer!! Yes its a paid service and absolutely the best. They have several tiers of subscriptions, but the one I chose was the payment of $99.00 for LIFE and $10.00 for the CD! Figure out how much you pay for the original horrible Norton or MacAfee program & what the renewal costs are! Boo & Good riddance to Norton & MacAfee and their yearly renewal! The STOP Sign Suite gives you so much more. Example: Pop-up blocker; Firewall; Threat Scanner; Constant Virus Protection; E Mail (if you desire it, Speed-up your computer; LIVE help 16/7, auto help 8/7; when they see you have a problem they will create a custom cleaner especially for YOUR computer automatically; a game; plus more. A quick comparison: Norton Suite deep-scanned my files - they found 35,000 files. MacAfee deep-scanned and found 50,000 files. STOP deep-scanned and found ALL the files - I have 836,000 FILES!!! Yes, It takes several hours to deep-scan that many files, BUT are YOU satisfied with a <10% file scan? Not I! I want my 'puter squeaky clean! Its on DSL 24/7; updated automatically, and deep-scans after I go to bed. I can also use the computer while its running, albeit a wee bit slower. You can also suspend it & it will go back where it left off. Its EASY to set up and start-up!
I use XP Pro on (HP)an AMD Athlon XP Processor 3000+ Board; 512 mb DDR SDRAM Memory, soon to be 1 (or 2) gig; 160 gig HD; Back-up 360 gig external USB Hard Drive. I have been building\upgrading\repairing PCs free for friends since 1989 as a hobby. This STOP program really works!
The 3 programs I mentioned above (that I use in conjunction with each other) I still use during the day when I don't want to use STOP and I use them for quick checks. Hope this helps you. Try their trial offer.
free vs paid utilities, for Jasmine H.,
by mike spencer - 6/5/07 7:33 AM In reply to: Answer to Jasmine's Security ? by rocky1aI have paid for McAfee, and Norton, as well as ZoneAlarm and several other firewalls, I have run Spybot and half a dozen others,over the last 10 years. I now run AVG Free from Grisoft, and I run the AVG antivius(paid), as well as AdAware SE plus(paid). For me this mix is best, and works well. I run the firwall all the time and the anivirus and antimalware weekly and have had no problems for the last 16 monthes since I installed them.
Whatever YOU find that works for you is best!
Be aware that many antimalware and antispyware utilities regard each other as spies, etc and will trigger false "alarms" if running at the same time.
Good Luck! Mike.S
Tech support is the biggest difference
by BigGuns149 - 5/26/07 12:10 AM In reply to: Free vs. paid security software by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The "free" products are free because they are largely unsupported by the vendor. The idea is to give non-commercial users a taste of the product so that they will eventually buy the product.
As for the differences between the paid versions and the free version it varies between vendors. All security software vendors obviously give their paid customers first priority for tech support. Users of the free edition receive support as time allows.
At least with Grisoft, the producer of AVG, they are upfront that the free version receive lower priority for updates. The free editions usually just provide a manual scanner.
Background scanning is the most common example of a feature usually reserved for the paid versions. Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, probably the most well known vendor with a free version, has always distinguished their free version from the commercial versions by only including a background scanner in the paid version. I know some of my less knowledgeable friends ask me why they would want to pay for Ad-Aware when they can get it for free. The background scanner is designed to prevent you from getting spyware in the first place.
Another feature that some of the free security software excludes is a command line scanner. While it may seem like a quaint idea it can be very useful when you have a serious spyware or virus infection and want to minimize the damage. The less time Windows is running the less damage the virus or spyware can do. This is especially true of viruses. Some spyware are almost impossible to remove while Windows is running. Instead of trying to kill the all the processes that a piece of spyware spawns to defend itself, you can remove the spyware because it gets a chance to start by booting up in the command line.
Even if the missing features of the free security products bother you, I might question whether you should stay with the same vendor. Not all vendors are created equal. Norton and McAfee are notorious for gloated security suites. In addition, there have been several reported have reported the obvious, Norton and McAfee, are the first targets of malware. ZDnet did a a story about a year ago noting that the big name AV software was frequently disabled by malware. AV software that has been disabled when you NEED it is worthless. Furthermore, some of the AV vendors have dubious effectiveness. Microsoft's OneCare has lower effectiveness than AVG or Avast's free editions. There are multiple serious security firms that have given it poor reviews.
I would check out reviews from someone like AV-Comparitives (http://www.av-comparatives.org/) or the Virus Bulletin. I would steer clear of the recommendations from PC Mag, PC World, Consumer Reports etc. The big names like Norton and McAfee seem to consistently receive awards despite questionable reasoning. It may sound like a consipracy theory, but there is strong reason to believe that the "winners" of these magazines' awards are predetermined. Consumer Reports despite not taking advertising dollars doesn't seem to know how to do a good review.
Beware of Consumer Reports
by john3347 - 6/2/07 5:23 AM In reply to: Tech support is the biggest difference by BigGuns149I know this thread concerns computer protection, but one needs to be aware that Consumer Reports should not be one of your sources of information. They have SERIOUS problems with accurate ratings and product information. Remember the recent car seat fiasco that they finally had to make some public retraction for? For your protection, do not rely on Consumer Reports for AV ratings.
Free Security Suite-GO FOR IT!
by gazab1 - 5/26/07 1:10 AM In reply to: Free vs. paid security software by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dear Jasmine, in reply to your post. I used to use a paid for security suite from a well known company, however since trying out several free ones i am of the opinion they are just as good, and some much better!
Best thing to do is check out the reviews on CNET, thats what i did and now use- AVG Antivirus, AVG Spyware, AVG Rootkit,. I am so impressed i am thinking of paying for the Spyware through the AVG web site, as my free version has now run out,[but is still very effective]. Perhaps because they are free and so good i am now feeling guilty!
There are many options out there for you [other than AVG] this is just the one i like the most , and does not slow my computer down. Hope this helps you out. G - UK
Ditto AVG
by detroitsportsrockk - 6/2/07 2:00 PM In reply to: Free Security Suite-GO FOR IT! by gazab1AVG Free products are usually all you need. They've been doing a sterling job for me now for over 3 years and my PC is on and open to the web 24 X 7. Using these in conjunction with Ad Aware and Spy-bot along with another program called CCleaner should be all you ever need.
Jeff
Free Anti-Virus programs
by Snobbie45 - 5/26/07 1:50 AM In reply to: Free vs. paid security software by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
While the free anti-virus programs seem good at first glance,they offer only basic cover unless you take the option to update the standard of protection.This of course costs you to do so, which means you are back to 'Square One'.
I would suggest using a comprehensive Program such as Kapersky or Norton 360 which are updated every day or 2 days automatically and also advise all attempts to invade your computer.These can be purchased at discount prices from suppliers on the 'net'. Hope you buy a regular program,it will pay in the long term.
Best regards
Brian
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