Virus checks

[Chrisg]

Been reading some scary stuff about some of the latest ways of tracking /remote control of home coputers.Got mw thinking (dangerous !).

I'be had about three or four spam e mails to myself in the last couple of weeks, included in the usual rubbish that comes through.

Should I be running a better set up ( Mcaffe Internet security Suite + spybot (+ BT version of some Norton spyware)?

Should I do a complete check after setting into safe mode ?

[Gren]

It's unlikely that spam emails will be stopped by any anti-virus programs although they will clean them if there is anything nasty in them. Just make sure you never open up any attachments. There are spam filters out there but I'm no expert. Make sure you 'blacklist' them in your mail client program.

If you want a good AV program NOD32 and Kaspersky are amongst the best. Most will advise you to keep clear of McAfee or Norton as they can slow down your PC.

For spyware get SuperAntiSpyware. It's free if all you want to do is scan. You can pay for it if you want it to be permanently active. A-squared is another good one with similar free/paid for options.

Also get a firewall (a security suite has one built in) - this will stop nasties phoning home and giving your details away, just in case your other security fails and stuff gets onto your PC.

[Chrisg]

Thanks for your comments. Some of them I have, I switched to McAffe 18 months ago, I was using Norton before , it seemed to slow everything down. Used AVG in addition, was told not necessary( by local repair guy) but not since using McAffe.

Have to say I picked up a couple of trojans with Norton but not so far with McAffe.

[Paulstevo]

Nod32 all day every day..

Best behind the scenes anti virus out there...

[Gren]

That's what I use. Light on the resources too

[LostKiwi]

The big thing is to only run 1 suite of antivirus resident software at any time. Same goes with Anti-spyware. Othewise you can get conflicts where the two products are 'arguing' about who is going to deal with the infection whilst the nasty just slips through...

Personaly I use Avast AV software (free and very good) and Micorosft Defender. I also have SpyBot but not runnning resident to do periodic sweeps on demand as a double check.