Virus Protection Question

[starfire]

Been having trouble with my computer. Pages wouldn't load or else took so long to load that it was too aggrevating to be on. Received messages that my computer had recovered from a serious error etc. "Recovered" don't think so!!

Anyway, FINALLY, today I tried to delete something and it told me that a certain file was missing and it couldn't proceed.

I have/had Panda Antivirus. Have used it for years with no problems. Anyway, the file name started with some letters that made me think it might be part of Panda. How in the world, though, did the file come up missing. I tried to open Panda and it said it was missing that same file. I removed the Panda program and the computer is working like a dream now. Soooo fast - it's wonderful.

However, I am nervous about virus protection. Should I re-install the Panda? Should I try a different program? Any advice?

Love, Shirley

[tex]

Shirley,

I'm not familiar with that one, however, I used to have the same problem with Norton's programs, after Symantec bought out Peter Norton. Usually, reinstalling the program would solve the problem, (for a while), but eventually it would cause problems again, and sometimes, it wouldn't allow reinstallation, due to the presence of a registry entry that was never removed when the program was uninstalled, and could not be manually removed, (because I never could locate all of them). Anyway, I stopped buying programs that corrupt my computers' operating systems, and I've been a happy camper ever since.

Actually, running without an anti-virus program is not as risky as it used to be, due to better firewalls in Microsoft's operating systems. I still think it's a good idea to have one, though, along with a good anti-spyware program or two, and these are the ones that I use, (on various computers). Computer Associates makes a pretty decent anti-virus program, and so does Trend Micro, (PC-cillin). The PC-cillin also includes a good anti-spyware program. On the computers where I use CA EZ-Antivirus, I also use Spybot - Search & Destroy, (a free download).

All anti-virus programs slow down the computer, but the CA EZ-Antivirus seems to be the least offensive in that respect. PC-cillin is almost as slow as Norton's Anti-virus, and it downloads tons of updates, sometimes multiple times per day, but it is more reliable, and does more to safeguard the computer, (I've never had it swarm on me, so far), and it has never let anything slip through, so far). To be fair, though, I've never had anything slip past the CA EZ-Antivirus, either. I can't say the same about Norton Anti-Virus - it let several viruses slip through, and then it couldn't remove them, even after regular updates.

If you want a free anti-virus program, it is generally agreed that Grisoft makes the best one, (AVG Anti-Virus), and it comes highly recommended by Grannyh. I have it running on one computer, (still running on Win 98SE), and it seems to do a good job, and hasn't cause any problems, so far. You have to update it manually, but they offer a non-free version, which will do more, and update automatically, if you feel you need that feature. You can download the free version here:

http://free.grisoft.com/

I'm not saying that these are the best choices, they're just the ones that I'm using, these days, and I'm happy with them. YMMV, and I'm sure that other members have other favorites.

Love,
Tex

[starfire]

Thank you, Tex. I'm still debating about which route to take. Wish I could just leave it "as is" - haha. It works so much faster, but I don't dare.

Thanks so much for your time, especially when I'm sure you have gone over this before in some other thread.

Love, Shirley

[barbaranoela]

Shirley-----was just going to say what Tex said---- and if U can believe that----wow!!!

Me-----I still dont get this machine-----BUT the problem is---I dont take an interest---- cus all I do is *yell LOUIE*

Hope it works out for U---

Luve Barbara