my security issue (advice needed)

[AlexoftheWest]

first,id like to say that viruses for me, have been a serious bane to my overall computer enjoyment. ive had a number of computers over the years, and far more viruses in that time. some of the viruses i can personaly remove by hand, others i cannot. ive relied on trial versions of mcaffe and norton which from what i have personaly experienced, are only hit and miss at best. I recieved a virus that litteraly killed my computer today, while AVG was on, and from only visiting one website without downloading anything. ever since windows xp, ive been relying extremely heavily on factory restore mode. but this is bothersome to constantly lose all my data. I am going to be building my own computer within the next month, and i would like to protect it,and this computer as well.

first question: is there any effective security that is free, that actualy protects your computer? if so, which should i use. (for now just win xp 32 bit home) but id like to go with win7 64 bit soon.

second question: when looking for parts for my new computer, i see lots of gorgeous hard drives that hold the size of alaska (1tb) within them. however, i am constantly reminded of the horrible question, how can anyone fill up more than 150 gigs before encountering severe viruses that force you to format? how do other people tackle this problem?

third question: because i will be building a computer by hand for the first time instead of a store bought one, the lack of a factory restore is a slight concern but not a major one. can someone explain to me the process for formatting under vista and under windows 7?



any advice would be hugely appreciated, thanks in advance! if im coming across as frustrated, im sorry about that, i just keep running into these thorns called viruses.

 

[officemanager1]

first,id like to say that viruses for me, have been a serious bane to my overall computer enjoyment. ive had a number of computers over the years, and far more viruses in that time. some of the viruses i can personaly remove by hand, others i cannot. ive relied on trial versions of mcaffe and norton which from what i have personaly experienced, are only hit and miss at best. I recieved a virus that litteraly killed my computer today, while AVG was on, and from only visiting one website without downloading anything. ever since windows xp, ive been relying extremely heavily on factory restore mode. but this is bothersome to constantly lose all my data. I am going to be building my own computer within the next month, and i would like to protect it,and this computer as well.

first question: is there any effective security that is free, that actualy protects your computer? if so, which should i use. (for now just win xp 32 bit home) but id like to go with win7 64 bit soon.

second question: when looking for parts for my new computer, i see lots of gorgeous hard drives that hold the size of alaska (1tb) within them. however, i am constantly reminded of the horrible question, how can anyone fill up more than 150 gigs before encountering severe viruses that force you to format? how do other people tackle this problem?

third question: because i will be building a computer by hand for the first time instead of a store bought one, the lack of a factory restore is a slight concern but not a major one. can someone explain to me the process for formatting under vista and under windows 7?



any advice would be hugely appreciated, thanks in advance! if im coming across as frustrated, im sorry about that, i just keep running into these thorns called viruses.

My opinion is free antivirus software does not cover everything required to keep you safe.
Personly I use Nortons 2010 and 360 on two PC's and they do an excellent job keeping the PC's safe, Had no problems and no impact on PC performance.
Kaspersky, Avast, Avira Eset and Trend Micro are also good programs to use.
Another program I use in conjuction with nortons at times is Malwarebytes.

A good book to purchase and read would be Upgrading and Repairing computers by Que Author Scott Mueller, this would have to be a "must have book" for any person wishing to learn and build home made computers... Wealth of info for any question you might have and available in most book shops.

 

[Bahawolf1]

first,id like to say that viruses for me, have been a serious bane to my overall computer enjoyment. ive had a number of computers over the years, and far more viruses in that time. some of the viruses i can personaly remove by hand, others i cannot. ive relied on trial versions of mcaffe and norton which from what i have personaly experienced, are only hit and miss at best. I recieved a virus that litteraly killed my computer today, while AVG was on, and from only visiting one website without downloading anything. ever since windows xp, ive been relying extremely heavily on factory restore mode. but this is bothersome to constantly lose all my data. I am going to be building my own computer within the next month, and i would like to protect it,and this computer as well.

first question: is there any effective security that is free, that actualy protects your computer? if so, which should i use. (for now just win xp 32 bit home) but id like to go with win7 64 bit soon.

second question: when looking for parts for my new computer, i see lots of gorgeous hard drives that hold the size of alaska (1tb) within them. however, i am constantly reminded of the horrible question, how can anyone fill up more than 150 gigs before encountering severe viruses that force you to format? how do other people tackle this problem?

third question: because i will be building a computer by hand for the first time instead of a store bought one, the lack of a factory restore is a slight concern but not a major one. can someone explain to me the process for formatting under vista and under windows 7?



any advice would be hugely appreciated, thanks in advance! if im coming across as frustrated, im sorry about that, i just keep running into these thorns called viruses.

1. You should not always rely on a free antivirus. I personally prefer to use Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 which is not free. It all depends on what your security is valued at.

2. I have 2 hard drives (each 1TB) and I do not have any viruses on my system. Getting a virus is not going to happen if you have a larger hard drive. Getting a virus is what technicians refer to as.. "User error."

3. Since your building the computer you will have to buy an operating system. You can use the DVD/CD that you use to install the operating system, to also format it again and again.

---

Ultimately, your computer could be Fort Knox but will not keep standing if you smash it into the adware infested sites to much. It may act as a deterrent from some infections, but its not a 100% fool proof way to be safe.

I've never put it into an analogy like this, but here we go. -- You need to use caution when using the internet. Don't go to sites that you know have been infectious before, and don't keep falling for "FREE" things. Chances are, if it sounds to good to be true, it is. (Don't click the banner that says, "ATTENTION, YOU ARE A,, WINNAR!!1 OF A FREE 1P0D!!12211 LOLOLOL D0WN104D TH15 N0W!!1 LOLZ NEWB.")

In addition, perhaps try using a more secure browser like Firefox, and keep Windows up to date as much as possible. This will protect you from exploits that may be common within the internet, as long as they've been patched from Microsoft.

 

[cquinndesign]

okay, first of all the people on here are about half right.

1: free programs can work as good as paid programs. but sometimes you have to double up. (ie. AVG antivirus free with malwarebytes.org malware scanner, using windows firewall)

2: I have 2 x2tb western digital caviar (one black one green) - PARTITION PARTITION PARTION!
-----each of them have their own partions (my sample setup)
Physical Disk 1
---Partition 1: windows disk
---Partition 2: backup disk
---Partition 3: programs/software
Physical Disk 2
---Partition 1: games
---Partition 2: video
---Partition 3: downloads
---Partition 4: work

Thats the best way to do it. Its hard for viruses now days to infect more then one partition, especially if you have good security software....so if one partition becomes infect, delete it, restore your back up and start over again.

3: There are literally thousands of tutorials on the internet to building a computer and loading an operating system on to it. And now there's video's on the subject too. Your best bet is to shop at a local store (compusa or the like) and ask one of the tech's there.

You get more bang for your buck with a custom built computer.

 

[sheva249]

first,id like to say that viruses for me, have been a serious bane to my overall computer enjoyment. ive had a number of computers over the years, and far more viruses in that time. some of the viruses i can personaly remove by hand, others i cannot. ive relied on trial versions of mcaffe and norton which from what i have personaly experienced, are only hit and miss at best. I recieved a virus that litteraly killed my computer today, while AVG was on, and from only visiting one website without downloading anything. ever since windows xp, ive been relying extremely heavily on factory restore mode. but this is bothersome to constantly lose all my data. I am going to be building my own computer within the next month, and i would like to protect it,and this computer as well.

first question: is there any effective security that is free, that actualy protects your computer? if so, which should i use. (for now just win xp 32 bit home) but id like to go with win7 64 bit soon.

second question: when looking for parts for my new computer, i see lots of gorgeous hard drives that hold the size of alaska (1tb) within them. however, i am constantly reminded of the horrible question, how can anyone fill up more than 150 gigs before encountering severe viruses that force you to format? how do other people tackle this problem?

third question: because i will be building a computer by hand for the first time instead of a store bought one, the lack of a factory restore is a slight concern but not a major one. can someone explain to me the process for formatting under vista and under windows 7?



any advice would be hugely appreciated, thanks in advance! if im coming across as frustrated, im sorry about that, i just keep running into these thorns called viruses.

I think that you should check the rank report for the antivirus than you may easily judge them. If you required personal experience than I'll prefer Avira. I am using it since two years and I never suffered with the virus trouble during those two years.