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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Netbook virus protection, et al

Dec. 21, 2009 9:25 a.m. jrw1621 Dork

At the end of this week there will be another computer in my house; Acer Netbook. Currently we have my company issued PC laptop and my wife's work issued Macbook. It has been years since I had to be concerned with self protecting a laptop, so my question is:

What products or services should I be interested in for virus protection?

Sure, free is good but I am not opposed to paying if that really provides me with a trouble free existance. I know that this topic has been discussed here in the past but I will be honest, I was not really paying attention since it did not apply to me at that time.

Thanks guys.

John
Dec. 21, 2009 9:28 a.m. 81gtv6 Reader

Avast. You have to register it but it is free, I have been using it for 7 + years without issue.
Dec. 21, 2009 9:31 a.m. Keith SuperDork

Agreed. Stay away from Norton and McAfee. Not only will they take your money, they'll have a dramatic performance hit. Avast works transparently on all my machines.

Doesn't really make any difference if it's a laptop, desktop or notebook.
Dec. 21, 2009 10:07 a.m. jrw1621 Dork

Two quick answers for Avast. Sounds good. I went over to the Avast website and I see there is a free home version and a $39.99 for 1 year Professional version.
I am truely going to be a "home user" but if I choose the free version will I be endlessly nagged to "upgrade" or pay-up?
If yes, should I just fork over the $39.99 to be left alone?

I watched the video on this page and the video stated that Avast is the second most downloaded free virus protection on cNet, but did not say what is the most popular.
Though the other is more popular, is it better?
http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Home-Edition-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
Dec. 21, 2009 10:56 a.m. pigeon HalfDork

Avast free is great, I've run it on many computers with no complaints and with no infections. Still a good idea IMO to run Spybot S&D and AdAware monthly to get rid of tracking cookies and other assorted crap.
Dec. 21, 2009 11:01 a.m. Shaun Reader

AVG is the most popular freeware. I used it for 5+ years happily but just switched to Avast because the release 9 of AVG slowed down my computer and is much more aggressive in trying to up sell me from free. The nerve. AVG 9 is getting widely dinged as bloatware. Here is a very recent review of some of the freeware choices-

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm
Dec. 21, 2009 11:03 a.m. Keith SuperDork

The only nagging you get from having the Home version of Avast is that you have to renew your license once a year. That's it. Renewing your license basically means clicking on a couple of links in the email they send you. Otherwise the software is invisible, although it'll tell you once in a while if there's a new version available to download. For free.
Dec. 21, 2009 12:07 p.m. donalson SuperDork

i've used AVG for a long time now... I used avast for a bit but went back to avg... but I have been noticing soem of the issues with AVG... i'll prob goto avast myself
Dec. 21, 2009 1:29 p.m. wherethefmi Dork
- 11ty billion Avast Spybot Search and destroy, malwarebytes also, it caught some stuff Spybot didn't on my computer, and vice versa.
Dec. 21, 2009 4:24 p.m. ditchdigger Reader

Longtime avast user here. Works great and the "Virus Database has been updated" voice at 4AM is a nice early alarm clock for me.
Dec. 21, 2009 9:21 p.m. benzbaron Reader

I use AVG but haven't upgraded to version 9 yet. Never heard of Avast so maybe I'll have to give it a try.

From previous experience it isn't worth paying for anti-virus, last time I did it both took my money and worked pretty lousy. Then every year they want to get you to register it again for another wad of cash even though the program is worthless to begin with.
Dec. 21, 2009 9:47 p.m. RexSeven Dork

I have Avast on my laptop and my dad's laptop. It's a great piece of software- almost a set-it-and-forget-it deal.
Dec. 22, 2009 12:08 a.m. wherethefmi Dork

ditchdigger wrote:

Longtime avast user here. Works great and the "Virus Database has been updated" voice at 4AM is a nice early alarm clock for me.

That voice can be turned off, I don't need to know the database has been updated.
Dec. 22, 2009 12:19 a.m. ditchdigger Reader

Man, I celebrate that voice! 4AM, 1:22PM on a saturday it doesn't matter. That monotone update gives me joy and comfort and a small sensation of excitement. High fives have been known to follow it.
Dec. 22, 2009 3:50 a.m. BoxheadTim HalfDork

Another free scanner that I tend to use a lot is Avira, to be had at http://www.free-av.com/. In fact, I do like it enough to currently trial the premium paid-for version on my desktop. Works fine on laptops including an older Lenovo that's not much faster than a current netbook.
Dec. 23, 2009 2:10 p.m. Type Q HalfDork

Shaun wrote:

AVG is the most popular freeware. I used it for 5+ years happily but just switched to Avast because the release 9 of AVG slowed down my computer and is much more aggressive in trying to up sell me from free. The nerve. AVG 9 is getting widely dinged as bloatware. Here is a very recent review of some of the freeware choices-

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm

I found with AVG 9 that Link Scanner seems to be the thing that slows things down the most. Setting it to do the least amount of activity, sped things up considerably.
Dec. 25, 2009 5:08 p.m. jrw1621 Dork

I have loaded Avast successfully and removed all the McAfee that came with this netbook.

Thanks guys.

Merry Christmas (written from Netbook)
Dec. 26, 2009 9:12 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

Sort of off topic, (I use avg free, by the way) but when does a laptop become a netbook? Is it a phisical size requirement? Do netbooks all have some sort of 3g or the like card built in?

Joey
Dec. 26, 2009 9:26 a.m. jrw1621 Dork

From what I think I know...
One: Most notable, netbooks do not have CD drive slots.
Two: Netbooks use Solid State hard drives
Three: Netbooks do not come with the "newest" operating system. New Laptops are now sold with Windows 7 while netbooks are still sold with Windows XP
Four: Most all netbooks have screens smaller than 11"

No, not all netbooks come with 3G or cellular internet included but some models can accommodate that.
All netbooks can accept WiFi.
Dec. 26, 2009 10:38 a.m. donalson SuperDork

basically said they are stripped down small sized laptops, not made to do power computing but more for basic playing on a computer... they are tend have longer battery life and are made to be more transportable.

JRW is right they don't have cd slots, many do have the SSD (faster and less battery consumption), OS yup many come with Xp (not enough power to run well with vista) although some of them now come with various versions of win7 (bare bones win7), or various distributions of linux

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook
Dec. 26, 2009 2:47 p.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

I an an AVG user, the bloat hasn't slowed me down but perhaps my setting are different.
Dec. 26, 2009 10:00 p.m. unevolved Reader

I'm an AVG user with no bloat.
Dec. 27, 2009 2:43 p.m. 1slowcrx Reader

I use Avast and love it. I've only got it on my Acer Aspire One netbook though because I'm running windows 7 on the netbook with an upgraded 2G's of DDR2 ram.

On my desktop and work laptop I run ubuntu 9.10 so no need for the virus stuff.

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