Protecting my computer

[goooba769]

Right then i've just had loads of problems with a slow laptop and after reformatting the hard-drive it is flying! Now some people mentioned a large part of the problem could be the Norton virus software so my question is:-
How can I protect my computer(spyware?viruses?etc) without slowing it to a snails pace?

Any suggestions on setup and software would be most appreciated.

 

[Igorian]

It would depend on your current setup and whether Norton was the problem. Restoring a system to it's "factory" state will often cure these kinds of problems, because you will have removed lots of other accumulated junk.

Norton A/V alone, is generally not a problem. Norton Internet Security however, is rather bloated.

Maybe you can tell us a little more about your hardware, including your Internet setup?

 

[goooba769]

Sorry about that should have given more info.
Iv got an Acer Aspire 5003 Laptop. 64bit AMD, 1Gb Ram, 100Gb HDD and Iv got orange wireless connection to internet.

I did have the Norton internet security but as mentioned its all been removed with the reformatting.

 

[holmslaw]

AVG free
windows defender
Thats what I use, no problems in years of use.

 

[Igorian]

AVG free
windows defender
Thats what I use, no problems in years of use.

My choices would be Avast + Spybot, but everyone will have their favourites.

There are plenty of freebies to choose from and most of them will serve you well. Upgrading to the pro versions will cost you little money, once you have found a combination you are happy with.

If you are using a router, this will provide you with a reasonably adequate firewall by default. The better ones will have additional protection and you should refer to the manual to ensure that is is configured correctly.

Your wireless connection should be using WPA encryption as a minimum.

 

[dave.m]

An extensive (but not exhaustive) list of freebies:

http://forums.vnunet.com/thread.jspa?threadID=117012&tstart=0

The charts in the link show some of the favourites.

dave

 

[goooba769]

Manythanks for the replys

 

[foxhole]

Should have a bought an apple mac, no virus software needed.

 

[Rider]

Sandboxie offers good protection. Read about what it does here.

 

[Chud]

What I use (and most of my colleagues (3rd line IT support) on home machines is Avast Antivirus (free) and ZoneAlarm (free for home use) - not had any problems!