hey all, not sure if this is the right forum, mods free to move if necessary.

i bought a new computer last month, and of course got a couple free trials of antivirus. i got a free 6 month subscription to "Webroot AV", and free 1 month to "Trend Micro Security". well, Trend is about to expire, will Webroot protect my computer sufficently? idk even what the difference is, why did i need 2 to begin with? my buddy said just to download Avast for free, is this the route to go, and is this all i need? any advice from you tech-savvy people would be appreciated.

CTH - Computer Technical Help is the forum this should have went in.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/48...echnical-help/


I wouldn't use either of the 2 you mentioned, personally. All you need is Windows Firewall and Microsoft Security Essentials, IMO. It is all I have used since last September and no issues. I even run manual scans every month or 2 with MBAM and SAS to make sure the windows stuff is doung it's job. I can't remember when the last time was I had any form of bug/virus.

could a mod please move this to CTH?

i personally feel the need for additional protection, since i have a wife and a teenage daughter who also uses this computer. our last computer is complete toast thanks to myspace, facebook, and all the other crap they mindlessly click, so i want to make damn sure i have good AV.

really, i just want to know what the difference is between these programs, and which one(s) are actually worth paying for

Neither program you mentioned is worth paying for imo, if you need to spend money on an antivirus and dont feel security essentials is enough my recommendation would be nod32. You may want to set up limited user accounts in Windows for your wife/daughter so they cannot do too much damage, another option is to dual boot and run Ubuntu.

^
I agree neither is worth paying for, and definitely set up limited user (non administrator) windows accounts for your family and yourself as well.

Nod32 is a solid paid AV, but you want to go the free route you can't go wrong with Avira personal.
www.free-av.com

Also use firefox and Noscript
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

NOD is by far the best.

Such statements, without any kind of evidence kind of tilt me.

C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost -k DcomLaunch
svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\S24EvMon.exe
svchost.exe
svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\WLTRYSVC.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\bcmwltry.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgwdsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehRecvr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehSched.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\EvtEng.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet\NICCONFIGSVC.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\RegSrvc.exe
C:\Program Files\SafeConnect\scManager.sys
C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgrsx.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgnsx.exe
svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Common\ViewpointService.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\WLKeeper.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgemc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG8\avgcsrvx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\ehome\ehtray.exe
C:\WINDOWS\stsystra.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet\quickset.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLTRAY.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\jusched.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxsrvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxpers.exe
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\bin\ZCfgSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\ifrmewrk.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllhost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehmsas.exe
C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe
C:\Program Files\TK8 StickyNotes\TK8StickyNotes.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\Dot1XCfg.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\Program Files\SafeConnect\scClient.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wscntfy.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k HTTPFilter
C:\Documents and Settings\JK\My Documents\Downloads\dds.scr