GameBanshee Forums

...piece of freeware that will keep your comp. clean from viruses and spyware?

I use proprietary stuff from my ISP but my dad needs some assistance and it is tough to help him long distance, over the phone, with his limited understanding of computers.

Any links or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/tech- ... 85034.html

That was a good old thread, should have been stickied IMO.

My personal recommendation goes to the AVG software package. Also, you can set up computers these days for remote help from other computers. It's a good way to help if you're not around. I am not sure how it is done, I usually turn off all the unnecessary services.

THANK YOU!!!

Some good stuff in there, definitely.

I've tried most of them, if not all, and my vote still goes to Avast as the best free AV out there.
They also just released a new version, and so far it seems excellent.

dragon wench wrote:I've tried most of them, if not all, and my vote still goes to Avast as the best free AV out there.
They also just released a new version, and so far it seems excellent.

I already recommended Avast to him but he said that after downloading and running it, that Avast would only clean the first 20 (of 237 ) spyware instances. He'd have to upgrade to Pro to have the rest cleaned.

If true, that is pretty sleazy. But I'm more inclined to think that he just d/l'd the wrong version or did something wrong during the set-up.

237 ?!?!?! :speech:

Good Lord, does he collect em as a hobby or something?

OK, seriously, what I'd suggest in that case then is to download the free trial of [url="http://www.kaspersky.com/trials"]Kaspersky.[/url] Unless something has changed, it is fully functional for 30 days, so use the time to clean out the computer. Once it expires, uninstall it and switch over to Avast.
Kaspersky is one of the best pro AVs you can buy, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Avast just cleaning the first 20 doesn't sound right to me... though anything is possible. This is also the type of thing I'd expect from my father... he's not the most computer savvy..

Kaspersky is my favorite--which is not to denigrate any other. I prefer the interface by far to McAfee's, and it really is very good at what it does. There are several that are just as good; I've simply grown used to it.

Thanks everyone.

Computers became mainstream when my pa was in his late 50's and it's usually a difficult transition for that demographic. Proud of how far he's come with the tech, but ya...he's still got a ways to go.

So I've told him to think of a PC as his car, with the hard drive being his engine and the AV software as his oil. If you don't keep the oil topped up (updated) and replaced (scanning) at regular intervals, the engine starts to deteriorate.

It's a pain, but you gotta do it.

avast

i support the vote for avast as well. i don't know whats going on with only removing 20 of 200+ spywares though as i removed 1500+ virus's from my grandmothers comp during a boot time scan after using kapervsky. for the record i will never use kapervsky, defender pro, symantec, or norton again. plus avast is the only av i have found that will stop/prevent the limewire virus

dragon wench wrote:I've tried most of them, if not all, and my vote still goes to Avast as the best free AV out there.
They also just released a new version, and so far it seems excellent.

I couldn't agree more. Using Avast on every PC i have and they stay virus free for years now. Its also easy to use.. As long as you don't visit "suspicious" sites (and watch out what You're downloading) you don't have to do anything at all