free anti-virus/spyware etc. protection

[johnb]

However, without doing some form of testing, how can one ever know that firewall or AV software is working at all? A negative response does not tell you much. Maybe you need to get one of your friends to send you a copy of a virus!

It is possible that I have all kinds of problems that I am not aware of but all I can say is that I have never had any indication at all that any such problem exists. As for asking a friend to send me an e-mail containing a virus - dream on.

In any case I can't help but think that it is dangerous to play about with websites (which might of course themselves have been hacked) unless you know exactly what you are doing and what the risks are.

[Dave2002]

It is possible that I have all kinds of problems that I am not aware of but all I can say is that I have never had any indication at all that any such problem exists. As for asking a friend to send me an e-mail containing a virus - dream on.

In any case I can't help but think that it is dangerous to play about with websites (which might of course themselves have been hacked) unless you know exactly what you are doing and what the risks are.

I get scared just walking out of my front door. You never know what's going to happen!

Another useful tool is Soluto - though not everyone likes it. It'll give most users a fairly good idea of all the (probably not wanted) programs and processes they have running on their machines. Generally, though not always, using it can lead to faster startup - https://www.soluto.com/

[Pianorak]

Am I naive to rely on the Windows XP Firewall and MS Security Essentials? Have used the free AVG in the past.

[johnb]

Another useful tool is Soluto - though not everyone likes it. It'll give most users a fairly good idea of all the (probably not wanted) programs and processes they have running on their machines. Generally, though not always, using it can lead to faster startup - https://www.soluto.com/

I am extremely cautious about trying out various programme on my PC until I have don't extensive research. IMO taking a casual attitude to running software is just asking for trouble - especially when there is no need for the software in the first place.

You can see what programmes and processes are running on a Windows PC by opening the Task Manager (right click on the bottom bar and select it).

[Pianorak]

. . .
You can see what programmes and processes are running on a Windows PC by opening the Task Manager (right click on the bottom bar and select it).

Just done that - 44 Processes running. So what are the implications - what should I do? Most of those processes mean nothing to me.

[johnb]

Unless you are experiencing a problem and know what you are doing - leave it alone.

If your PC is behaving very sluggishly you can open the Task Manager to see if there any processes that are hogging the CPU - you can sort the list by clicking on the headings, e.g. clicking on CPU will sort by the CPU usage percentage (you might have to click twice to get the highest usage at the top, rather than at the bottom). It might not be immediately apparent what application the process belongs to but that can usually be established by googling on the process name, e.g. the notorious ccsvchst.exe is a Norton process.

(By the way, my PC currently has 101 processes running.)

[cloughie]

My AVG anti virus is due for renewal shortly. Any knowledge and views on the boards about the best antivirus to purchase? Also the renewal subscription seems to be quite excessive compared to buying new and starting again buying from amazon rather than direct from AVG, strange but is there any catch here?

[Petrushka]

After a particularly unpleasant virus disabled my computer a few years ago, on the advice of my computer guru, I purchased Bullguard, and while he may have been on commission, I've never had reason to regret it. I would no longer recommend a free one to anyone and Bullguard seem to be well ahead of the game with all the bad stuff that exists out there.

[Dave2002]

I feel that trying to work out which AV products are good without technical knowledge is like looking for water using divining rods. On the other hand software from Russia is currently not being recommended in some quarters.

It’s a difficult area to discuss and to get useful advice about.

[Richard Tarleton]

I would no longer recommend a free one to anyone

Indeed - you get what you pay for, and if you don't pay anything....I've had Norton for many years, and have found it excellent.

[Dave2002]

Indeed - you get what you pay for, and if you don't pay anything....

That’s not a maxim which I’ve endorsed as being generally true. Sometimes paying, or paying more, gets a good result. Sometimes it simply costs more, possibly a lot more, and sometimes the results are worse.

In the past I found that some paid for AV software virtually crippled the machines I was trying to use, though things may have go better now. One thing which is not a great idea to try is to use more than one AV software at the same time dynamically - that can reduce the processing speed to close to zero. Also some AV software makes it very hard to switch to another later on.

There’s always going to be a danger that any AV software, free or otherwise, will actually be actively trying to find exploits for “itself’`- whether one should worry or not .... act of faith. I wouldn’t use any on-line scan, but even with downloaded software there’s a very large element of trust.

I hear that a sandbox approach can reduce risks, but even there care has to be taken. The major threats are presumably from email and web sites, so if one wishes to carry out activities related to email and web browsing could be carried out within a sandbox or a VME, but even then there could be issues.

Some people exchange documents - maybe VPNs are the sensible way to go there, but then the VPN should be isolated from the rest of the internet and the threats which may exist there.

For some people, and some organisations, the new GDPR regulations which come into force in the UK soon may force a rethink about all this.

[Dave2002]

Unless you are experiencing a problem and know what you are doing - leave it alone.

If your PC is behaving very sluggishly you can open the Task Manager to see if there any processes that are hogging the CPU - you can sort the list by clicking on the headings, e.g. clicking on CPU will sort by the CPU usage percentage (you might have to click twice to get the highest usage at the top, rather than at the bottom). It might not be immediately apparent what application the process belongs to but that can usually be established by googling on the process name, e.g. the notorious ccsvchst.exe is a Norton process.

(By the way, my PC currently has 101 processes running.)

Responding to an old post here .....

Besides trying to monitor tasks you can also track internet connections. Sometime this appears to be very revealing - though whether it really is, who can say?

This page has some suggestions ... https://www.howtogeek.com/98601/easi...tion-activity/

I used to have TCPView running when I used PCs, and sometimes I’d track back to the IP address of some connections. Sometime connections would “mysteriously” disappear at that point. I suspect that in many cases further investigation is often pointless. I did have the feeling that disconnecting some connections would suddenly speed my machine up, but who knows ....