Ahhh! New Computer!...NEED TO PROTECT IT!

[Doc ock rokc]

so I got a new Fancy computer for a Steal! (this system should cost $1000 bucks but i picked it up for $500!) it's windows 7 but I still want a Security system on here What's Some of the best for a budget?

[Krylo]

Fire wall.

And by that I mean surround it in a literal wall of fire. Sprinkle oil all the way around your machine and apply a match.

Also: there's lots of free stuff like Avast and Zonealarm etc.

[Doc ock rokc]

I had Zone on my last system So I might check them out Does anyone else have a suggestion?
also For the record I put Firefox with NoScript on here to protect me

[synkr0nized]

On the free route, I am a big fan of Avira (http://www.avira.com/en/pages/index.php) for antivirus and COMODO (http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/) as a firewall and for some of its defense+ features.

Both have performed as well or better than the McAfee suite I had before, free from my ISP (so you may want to see if your ISP offers any solutions, as well), and I've not liked Norton in a while. I have personally enjoyed the use of Avira more than AVG, another free antivirus solution, but others may feel the opposite.

If you're behind a NAT, you won't have to get super-aggressive with a software firewall, so you might be fine with Windows's own.


e: NoScript is probably one of the best plugins ever made.

[Azisien]

I've found Kaspersky useful. And it's relatively cheap compared to Norton. Though Norton did recently score really high on the PC magazine I subscribe to. Bastards probably paid them off!

[Nikose Tyris]

I seriously just get by with nothing but Avast! and my systems all seem to benefit in the long run.

I rarely run firewalls, too. I've got myself behind a router with a decent encryption on it, I've never really... felt the need.

[Doc ock rokc]

I seriously just get by with nothing but Avast! and my systems all seem to benefit in the long run.

I rarely run firewalls, too. I've got myself behind a router with a decent encryption on it, I've never really... felt the need.

call me anal call me paranoid...I call it safe.

[Nikose Tyris]

Never said not to have one. Just that I highly doubt my computer would ever be targetted by anything, honestly.

Also I have nothing of value on that computer anyway. I'm not nearly so retarded as to put anything sensitive (Except my cookies, obviously) onto one of my non-closed network computers. :S

[synkr0nized]

Not running a software firewall when behind your router or a real firewall, etc., isn't the end of the world at all. As you said, it's not likely that you're computer will randomly be targeted, and if things go through your router/dedicated firewall anyway it might be better to look at tightening that up.

Still, the added layer is nice, or can be.

Additionally, COMODO likes to pop up an alert window whenever anything tries to modify something else, even legitimately, on my computer. That likely gets annoying to a lot of users, but I like being able to block programs' access to each other and system hooks (eg. rundll). If you ever did get infected with something, something like this can help lock it down.

[Doc ock rokc]

Additionally, COMODO likes to pop up an alert window whenever anything tries to modify something else, even legitimately, on my computer. That likely gets annoying to a lot of users, but I like being able to block programs' access to each other and system hooks (eg. rundll). If you ever did get infected with something, something like this can help lock it down.

Zone has one. but it can save settings to remember certain programs have priority

[bluestarultor]

I prefer AVG, myself, but damn they're getting annoying about trying to trick you into paying money for it. Walked a friend through how to get the free edition and he nearly had a breakdown from all the hoops and red tape.

[synkr0nized]

Zone has one. but it can save settings to remember certain programs have priority

That is nice. If I couldn't have this thing remember previous answers, which sounds like the same kind of idea, I probably would be annoyed with it.

[Preturbed]

I've been installing Panda Cloud Antivirus a lot lately. As far as I can tell, it's the best and lightest free scanner out there.

[Magus]

I just run Avast! as well, it's really just as good as anything that ever cost me money. In fact I used to get the odd virus with Norton or McAfee, now at best I get one that requires me to reset my system settings to an earlier date and its only happened twice in about five years and took about five minutes to fix.