Anti-Virus and Mal-ware software

It is hard for the average person to determine the best course of action or the best Anti-Virus Software or Mal-ware software to use

What is mal-ware it is software that comes from a website and is unwanted.  This type of Software comes in via security holes in Internet Explorer, Firefox or other web browsers as well as in the Operating System
The best way to stop this from happening is to update your computer with the latest service packs and hotfixes from Microsoft.  if you are unable to do so contact a Computer Solutions Company to help.

Sorting out the flavours to remove Mal-ware if you get it
There are so many out there so many flavours
In the home user market the possibilities are endless which one is the best.
I have tried various kinds in order to help make the average person make an informed decision what I have come up with is listed below.
  1. Mal-ware Bytes - free and easy to use and removes 99.9% of what is out there if it is kept up to date  available from www.malwarebytes.org
  2. Super-AntiSpyware free or paid version available from http://www.superantispyware.com
  3. Adaware has been around along time and is still reliable but doesn't remove alot of the current ones out there but it does allow you to control what comes in by monitoring your system with Ad-watch.
There are other ones out there but I have had the luck with these.

The Anti-Virus Dilema what is best.
1.  Norton Anti-Virus - is a good one but it has a tendancy to bog down systems with its real time scans and can be annoying when you are trying to do something - it also has alot of other features such as built in firewalls and other protection that makes it more cumbersome and a true resource hog.  Norton has Live update set it and forget it
2. Avast Free Edition - is easy to use and does a good job of removing the majority of viruses and doesn't tie up resources with unneeded monitoring you can set it to scan when you want and how you want.  It also has live update options as well
3. AVG Anti-Virus is easy to use and does a good job of removing the majority of viruses and doesn't tie up resources with unneeded monitoring you can set it to scan when you want and how you want.  It also has live update options as well

In order to best protect your machine it is best to run an Anti-Virus program along with an Anti Mal-ware program scanning from time to time or when you notice a slow down in your machine.

A firewall is also another way to help stop unwanted software and attacks and will be covered in another post

Duncan Computer Services offers solutions in Brant County and Surrounding areas