12-26-2006, 06:30 AM
Quote:Perhaps I should provide some more information. My husband is, um, not as meticulous about how he cares for his computer or what sites he visits from his computer. That's one reason that we don't share computers, and I don't have any sharing enabled on the internal network.
For me, I'm happy with my AVG free, along with Adaware and Spybot. For him, I'm not sure it's enough. We just spent the better part of yesterday cleaning his brand new computer, which was *just assembled on Friday*. :o It seems that something icky came in on an old hard drive.
He was running AntiVir on his old computer, and on his new one. I'm not sure how often he updated it or scanned it, or what he usually did when he had an infection (usually and infection are words that make me cringe when used together, I know). He wasn't able to clean out the most recent infection without my help.
I don't think that I can get him to change his surfing habits. I probably come across as preachy even when I try not to. However, I think I have his ear for the short term as far as installing and configuring some quality software that will help avoid this problem in the future. I want to take advantage of this opportunity and get something good set up.
Looking at some guides, I'd like to get either Kasperski or NOD32. I am concerned about the interface with NOD32. Does anybody have experience with this? Can it do auto-updates and auto-scans?
Sounds more like a browser problem to me. Get Firefox (ditch IE - there are IE plugins for Firefox so you can run Windows Update and such from Firefox) and DON'T DOWNLOAD ANYTHING unless you know what it is and trust where it is comming from. This alone should protect the computer from most viruses. While Norton will slow your computer down by about 15-20% (yes, you will notice a difference), it has a better firewall that what comes in Windows, a spam blocker if you use Outlook Express, pop-up blocker, and all sorts of nifty things without much need for customization. Norton is kinda like a no-brainer program; just install it and let it do its job - to protect your computer.
By switching to Firefox browser, not downloading anything unknown (and if he does insist on bad downloads, don't open/click on the file without scanning it first), and getting a good Firewall/Antivirus, he should be good to go. Honestly though, I've heard a lot of good things about AVG from just about everyone. I don't really like Zone Alarm however for firewalls... I prefer Norton or even Windows.
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin