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best FREE anti-virus, malware, spyware program(s)?

Hard to provide answer since you did not provide any info on type of system/OS you're using.

You can start by:
* Looking at the various AV, AS, and AT Poll links at the upper left column of this forum.

i'm using windows xp with 4gb ram and yes 32bit as of right now.
I don't have time to search through millions of posts for what i want.

can someone please help?

reply to mikedz4
I've been using these for some time, and no infection so far.

Browser: Firefox with WOT addon
Windows Vista Firewall turned on

Resident:
Avira AntiVir Free
Sandboxie free

On Demand:
SUPERantispyware Free
MBAM Free

All free (but both Avira AntiVir free and Sandboxie free give nag screen).

reply to mikedz4
IMHO for free and very good protection:

avast! Home 4.8 will provide AV, AS and Rootkit protection. It has done very good in latest tests at several different reptible AV test sites.

Free SUPERAntiSpyware known for doing a very good job at removing various spyware, malware, etc. After you use the free SUPERAntiSpyware for awhile you'll get the option to purchase at a reduced price--note that its a one-time purchase which makes it an excellent value.

Are they the "Best", some will agree and others will disagree.

reply to mikedz4
Good advice from both markeleven and JTM1051.

As your using XP, you could do worse than Online Armor or Comodo for your firewall. Are you using a router?

On a spyware/trojan/root-kit app, I third's Super. It's excellent.

(edit): I intended to add .. I like Opera.

--
A sticky proposition.

reply to mikedz4
some more info here for the reading and a decision...to be made at a latter date, I think it does come down to personal preference but with a few tools one can rest a little easier. »www.techsupportalert.com/pc/secu···ols.html

reply to mikedz4
In addition to McAfee ISS, I use, MVP Hosts, BOClean and Threatfire Free.

»www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

»www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html

»www.threatfire.com/Download/

Also, don't forget to add Noscript and Adblock Plus to Firefox.

»noscript.net/

»adblockplus.org/en

»www.mywot.com/
--
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Sir Winston Churchill

reply to mikedz4
If you don't have time to search for your own answers when the information is provided, I am wondering if you will have time to keep up with upgrades or even just updates of that which you have or download? One of the most important things when having a computer, IMHO, is to educate one's self. If someone else tells you that they have a great program for security, it might be lousy on your system or may take too much time for you once on your system. For every question, there are far too many responses, and all you're really going to get are opinions that may not be applicable on your system. Take a little time. Do a little educating for yourself. I doubt you will miss the time and I know you will gain from it.
--
JKK

Age is a very high price to pay for my maturity. If I can't stay young, I can at least stay immature!

»www.pbase.com/jaykaykay

reply to mikedz4

reply to mikedz4

reply to mikedz4
Im prone to agree with Ironwalker and Jaykaykay,,,,
One of the problems is that a lot of people wont or dont want to spend the time administering a system, any system no matter what the OS to keep it safe.....that having been said--

For me the following...XP Pro with the XP firewall on and system kept fully patched even to the out of bandwidth updates from Microsoft (I dont use XP much anymore, all of the systems here are OSS.. 2 desktops and a laptop with XP Pro dual boot on only one of them). I run with automatic update off to have control over, and moreover awareness of what happens in the XP environment. . I also pay frequent i.e daily attention to this and a few other forums to see what the current threats and vulns are and workarounds.

All of the systems run behind a Netgear FvS 318V3 firewall with up to date firmware, a strong password and remote admin disabled.
In XP I run Avast Pro updated daily with daily scans and the process guard features turned on. I also guard against process execution using built in XP Pro tools for that and do not run as administrator but in a limited user account. All unneeded services are disabled. Firefox browses and Thunderbird is the mail client. Internet Explorer gets opened once a month for updates, more often as needed but only for updates.
Additionally at a minimum of weekly I scan the system with Spybot S&D and will use this more often depending on the threat level. Spybots' immunize feature gets used as well every time its run.I will also run up to date versions of a rootkit detector like Blacklight.

Other admin tasks involve running a boot time chkdsk weekly and Perfect disk to keep the system fast in as much as is possible running XP Pro, As I commented earlier though, I run almost exclusively OSS for everything now. The considerations for OSS are different but nonetheless present and for me the admin tasks are easier and take less time under OSS.

Monthly I open the cabinets up, brush and vacuum everything out and monthly run Seagate Seatools from a bootable disk to check hard drive health as well as a RAM diagnostic to check memory health. As a system utility I run Speedfan to monitor system voltages, fan speeds and CPU loading. All of this may sound excessive but I use the systems to make a living and Im my own IT department. As a note I ve never had (knock on wood) any security problem of a serious nature....I have had hardware failures, most recently a power supply but running a HW monitor alerted me to that before it happened.

Finally I cant emphasize enough the value of the forum here and a lot of the security pros who help us all out. Running secure though, takes time to learn whats needed and administering any OS. My machines operate in a home office, I occasionally trade futures contracts and all of my account info is present...so security is paramount to me.

Hope this helps.

reply to mikedz4

reply to mikedz4
a2
SUPERAntispyware
avast!
you are good to go with all those
in my opin...no bloviating

reply to mikedz4
Browser Opera as per Secunia and for free AV, its Avast without doubt.

reply to mikedz4
I see alot of people recommending SuperAntiSpyware, but in reality that software sucks. Here's a review.

»www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2127210,00.asp

If you want competent anti-spyware, you need to cough up some cash and buy Spysweeper, Spyware Doctor, or Counterspy.
--
"I never knew my father was an alcoholic until he came home sober one night..." -Andre Botes

reply to Tempus45
Crazy. I always thought it was greatly favored by the security experts. I use both SAS and MAM for my on demand needs. I thought those are the top 2?!?

Pc Magazine has been in publication for more than 27 years and has millions of subscribers. They are the original authors when it comes to personal computer magazine services.

I would rather take there word for it rather than yours.
--
"I never knew my father was an alcoholic until he came home sober one night..." -Andre Botes