Anything I'm missing...

[shadowg3]

Hello all,
I've been browsing this forum for a while (aka lurking) to find information on protecting my computer. In the past I've reformatted almost monthly to avoid the hijacking of personal information, but my family has had to share my computer due to lack of computer funds lately. My mother is a professional photographer and keeps all the work for current jobs on the local harddrive, and exports all done jobs to an external and dvd for backup.

Currently I'm running:
Ad-Aware 2008 free
Avira Antivir Personal
CCleaner
McAfee Virus Scan 8.0.0

Is there any other programs to protect / scan for infections?
I've heard good things about AVG free but I'm not sure if its neccesarry considering my current protection. Also I want to find a free alternative to McAfee Virus Scan 8.0.0 because it is highly out of date.

I am also a WoW player and am worried about keylogging. Is there any specific spyware programs to search for keyloggers? I use firefox for my browser with KeyScrambler and Noscript.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[PokerDegenerate]

This is a real world test of FREE anti-virus programs done by one of the members here

 

[forumuser1]

Do what the "MoDeRaToR" says.

How do you become a moderator. I would like to moderate this site.

 

[tom-knox]

Based on the kind of useless posts you make and your negative rep, plus the ways in which the forum is stuck atm i'd give you a percentage chance in decimal figures.

 

[LukaszR1]

Based on the kind of useless posts you make and your negative rep, plus the ways in which the forum is stuck atm i'd give you a percentage chance in decimal figures.

lmao....

This is a real world test of FREE anti-virus programs done by one of the members here

i remember that review. pretty much answers the OP's question!

 

[Daeva]

Well, the best thing you can do is install a router (if you don't already have one). This is your best first line of defense to attackers. Next, you shouldn't really have more than one antivirus product because they can interfere with eachother and greatly reduce system performance. I've found AVG to be a wonderful product and it isn't very demanding on your resources. As for Anti-spyware, at my organization and at my home we use superantispyware, it is very aggressive without damaging any system files. Purchasing the full version of Superantispyware gives you real-time protection.

Other best practices include:
1.) Don't even look at an e-mail from an unrecognized sender, just delete it!
2.) Never put contact information (such as e-mail, phone or address [sometimes even last name]) on sites where it is publicly viewable (like in a signature).
3.) Use your computer's built-in firewall (but don't go overboard)
4.) Don't visit suspicious sites, or click on suspicious links (AVG will scan links from Google and some other sites before you visit them and will display the sites reputability next to the link).
5.) Keep your system up-to-date! Windows updates are essential to maintaining system security, especially when you are dealing with multiple users on the same system, since you can't control their actions.
6.) Limit administrative privileges for users who don't know what they're doing, this will help safeguard them from doing something they didn't know they shouldn't be doing.

Also keep in mind that running scans every day can dramatically reduce the lifespan of your hard-drive. Set scans for weekly or bi-weekly, or when a threat is detected. The same goes for the anti-spyware. Both AVG and Super have real-time scanning that should keep you safe.

Super also prevents websites from changing your homepage with it's homepage protect option.

Hope this helps. Most of the time, hijackers will come from bad downloads and malicious websites, so avoiding those will put you in pretty good shape.

As for games, only communicate with players that you trust. You can get as crazy as you want for security but the bottom line is that if someone wants your info badly enough, they can get it.