Free vs. paid security software

I don't see any reference in any of these posts to CA Internet Security Suite 2007. This is a free (or nearly free) after rebate suite that is reportedly used by many large companies. Maybe someone will offer some personal experiences or professional opinions on this suite.

Do you think this "free" software is being developed by philanthropic code monkeys who do not have to eat? Most likely somebody is paying for it. So, the conspiratorial right half of my brain asks "Who and why?"

On the other hand, there are no-load mutual funds with zero sales charge. They make their money by having higher management fees. There are discount stock brokers who make their money by automating everything. What good is a regular stock broker who is always trying to get you to buy what his firm is liquidating? I wouldn't ask for his advice, and I wouldn't follow it if given. Both mutual fund and the broker provide an excellent product with the appearance of reduced cost. There are kitchen remodelers who work much cheaper than the going rate. The hidden cost there is that they do not have business or contractor licenses, they do not speak english (ours was from Arkansas), and there will be quality problems several years downstream. I'm glad we didn't get a brake job from them!

If you want the truth, follow the money!

They both run about the same although I have paid . Avg is pretty simple . But the fact it doesn't have a fire wall keeps me away from it . And although they do have zone alarm out there its still not the greatest protection aginst hackers . If you chat in places like yahoo they will walk right threw zone alarm . I seen it happen . The ones that they have a problem with are the paid ones and Im not talking norton or mcafee. I guess I would worry about the fire wall more than a virus protection . There are plunty of online scans to help you with the virus part of your computer . housecall.com bitdefender.com are a couple I know . With spybot you have to know what you are looking at and what you are deleting other wise it ends up deleting things you need . Yet a top notch program if you know what you are doing . So depending on your skill level on the internet and these programs would be depending on free or paid . I make my mom go for paid. Also It depeneds if you want them in one neat pack or all seprate. Have a great day !!!!!!!

I have been using a computer home computer since 1984, my first was a 25 mb Epson. After years of trials , headaches, frustration, and anger with some of these purchased AV software packages, i.e., Norton, McAfee, Computer Associates, I gave up. I still received an occasional virus that damaged the computer's ability to function properly. I took matters in to my own hands by doing a ton of research. I rely on CNET Download.com for information and a few other sites where people provide their opinion, professionally & non.

Best AV to date: free AVG7.5, great program, captures anything that has been a threat so far. It updates automatically daily prior to scanning, which I have scheduled for daily scanning during my sleeping hours. All I have to do is to check the scan log from time-to-time to be sure it is working. (NEVER HAVE MORE THAN ONE AV INSTALLED ON THE COMPUTER--IT CREATES CONFLICTS THAT ARE NOT RESOLVABLE!!!)

Spyware: I have Ad-Aware SE Personal, Spybot, which are free. I did buy Spyware Doctor which has performed phenomenally. You will need more than one Spyware since all of them do not capture the same things. What I liked about the Spyware Doctor, it reads my e-mail incoming & outgoing for any potential problems, just as the AVG AV does; yet it never slows down the computer's speed.

Registry Cleaner: Freebies just don't work here. I have tried many, settling on Registry Mechanic. I then decided to use another registry cleaner and uninstalled Mechanic, what a mistake. I reinstalled RM and have not had any problems since with the computer slowing down. You may have to run the reg cleaner a few times to get everything back in order, but that is okay.

Good luck!
Douglas Johns, L.I.F.A.
Centurion Asset Protection Group, Inc.

Hello Jasmine,

When I first set myself up for internet 3-4 years ago just like any other computer rookie I went out and bought an antivirus progam. The one I chose was called VET which is part of Computer Associates for $50 aust. It was reccomended to me by others and the price was pretty cheap compared to Norton etc.Initially I thought it worked fine because I paid for it of course. Anything that's free is rubbish,right?

I became involved in filesharing programs like Kazaa etc and was foolish enough to visit some of those naughty sites that are generally considered off limits and things started going wrong. Slow computer,annoying popups and things basically not working the way they're supposed to.

A friend said he could help me out and I gave him my HDD to scan.I made him aware that I had paid antivirus installed and he gave me the funniest look."Do you actually pay for your antivirus?"he said.He then scanned my HDD with Avast and found over 50 items that the paid stuff didn't even know was there.After that experience VET promptly got hit with the delete button and got replaced with Avast.

That was some 3 years ago and I am still using Avast today.It is free for personal use and most importantly it works.The interface is easy to work with and updating is automatic,it even tells you if a new version is available.A few weeks back I saw a CNET forum comment from an IT Manager who also swears by Avast.The network he maintains uses the paid version of Avast and he uses the free one at home so it must be pretty good if a proffesional reccomends it .

I also use Adaware Se and Spybot to keep the hackers and trackers in check. Again these programs are free and they work.

I do not live in the U.S.but I do know that in the 1950's Ford proudly released a new model car that they thought was their crowning glory.People parted with their hard earned money to buy an Edsel.It was a lemon wasn't it?

The same goes for paid antivirus,just because it has lots of bells and whistles and costs money doesn't necessarily mean it's good.If the free stuff can do just as good a job or better I know which way I choose to go.

Hi, I also used the free AVG antivirus until my computer got a Trojan which was removed by the McAfee Security Center that I purchased.If free software works as good or better than what you can buy then why is McAfee & Norton still in business?You & your computer send personal information to every web site you go to.Are these sites harmless?You still get what you pay for.Free is not always best but that's the choice you make.

Well, I've asked the same question in another forum, and I got one answer that may be very true: it really depends upon your environment setting.

If you're at home, you can get away with using freeware. I, personally, use freeware and I have had little problems. Of course, before you decide to download any freeware program, it's a good idea to research about the product first. I'd enter it in something like Google to see what kind of reviews are on it, and what people say about the product. Of course, freeware isn't, by any means, obligated to offer you great support; however, you may not need the support if you do not have problems with your product. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that your software will be up-to-date. That normally isn't a problem if you're keeping track of how current your software is, and if you check for updates (or updates for virus/spyware definition files). I don't see any real problem using freeware though. As I already said, there are some great freeware software items on the net, but I won't say (as I am going to agree with someone else who said this) that freeware is actually better than commercial software.

If you're in a professional/workforce setting it's better to use commercial software. Why? Because you have better protection than you would with freeware. I am not saying that freeware is bad security: it can be good security, but you would not have some of the support that commercial software would offer you. With paid software, you also know that you're getting as good as you paid for; therefore, you can assume that you're getting a "bang for your buck". Just a bit of advice from me, I wouldn't suggest using Norton. You don't have to follow what I say, but you can try it out for yourself (if you have the cash).

To Jasmine:
In the last upgrade to a new DVD-R and filling up the last slot for 1.6g of RAM I asked the tech. who has worked on our PC for the past 2 years; to take the following out:

Fretrust Mail washer Pro fee
Firetrust .b9 I was a BETA tester, and got this NO CHARGE
AD-Aware/ SP
Spy Bot
AVG (free)
Outpost by Agnitum fee
Tauscan (anti trojan) fee

And install:
Avast! free AV program
Crap Cleaner free
Mindows Defender comes with MS XP Upgrade
Leave Windows Firewall and ensure upgrade(free)
Ive used a Gateway router for awhile

And Ive had a gammit of other addons free and 'fee' based programs. Symantech, Bit Defender ( couldnt get House call to install with OutPost. even after UNinstalling it. And, there was no tool to rub it out. The scrubbing (wipe) data was the only way to kill it ALL.
I beleive I'd really rather to network for dialy avtivitees and not "pc servicing work".
So, I hope this has given you some clue as to keeping the system up to dated regularly. My wife uses a port on the router for her LAN to her lap top with VISTA. Awesome program but with the matching router to handle the 1.5g of RAM from us both at times at the same time with no HASSLE for over a year, what can I say. I think I fell in love with our PC, once a again

Hello,
I have used Avast for more than 5 years now, I have also tried other free anti virus apps on my other pc but I have to say Avast anytime. Its surprising that you can fit your computer up free with the complete range of Firewall and anti malaware apps but try them out and if they dont do what they say in the blurb or there are strings attached simply uninstall them and move on.
Mick

U know what they say-sometimes you have to learn about it by doing it yourself. I know 1sthand what all of you are going thru. I've had 15yrs 2fight cancer & 2 fight all the Bugs, Viruses, Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Spyware, Hacker initiated rootkit-stealth fishing.....OK I got worked up there. BUT, here's a list of some of my favorites and a short cut to one of the Goodguys. Get Ad-Aware SE Personal, A-Squared Anti-Dialer, A-Squared Free, Spybot S&D, Spyware Blaster, Spyware Guard, Xp-Antispy, use Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird INSTEAD OF Internet Explorer or Express & Netscape. 2 Purchase, Webroot Spysweeper is top on the List. For Virus and Firewall protection I have tried them all. Free- get AVG Anti-spyware , Windows Defender, Zonealarm. 2 Pay, My Fav is Norton Systemsworks 2006 and Norton Internet Security 2006. These 2 programs are easy2use, set-n-4get, have VG rep & test scores(NOTE; at the end of yr subsrptn just pay $10.00 via net for anothr yr. Allright, now the rest of the story!!! Go to Spyware Warrior and download 52pgs of pure poetry. This group of smart whitehats have methodically shinned a big light on what is what. For every good piece of sw there are 20 that masquarade as same. All the while stabbing you in your cpu. Read and check out the links to the real goods for your PC. Good Surfin-R.J. ranger_769@hotmail.com

First trust that there are a number of individuals and companies to help those who are less fortunate and cannot afford to buy expensive commercials software. These individuals and organizations earn their living by getting donations from their users or by producing commercial and licensed versions for companies. We must appreciate and value their passion and commitment.

I recommend you to start with 'Active Security monitor' by AOL. This nice application scans your system thoroughly and suggests you about your system's security needs. This app does not protect you from security threats but it evaluates your system's security needs and the security applications that you have installed to protect your system from online threats. After a thorough scan, it rates security of your system by allocating a score on a scale of 100. It even suggests you how to improve your score to improve security of your system. This helps you to maintain and protect your system effectively.

Following is a list of my recommended applications necessary to build your own completely free security suite to protect your home computer.

1.AVG free antivirus or AVAST home edition to cater you antivirus needs. These are highly trusted, widely used and very effective antivirus programs. I personally prefer AVG free.
2.Ad-Aware SE Personal and AVG Anti-Spyware to cater you antispyware needs.
3.WinPatrol and HijackThis are fine utilities that perform multiple tasks. Both are lightweight and very effective utilities that save your system from spyware, malware and malicious software.
4.ZoneAlarm for your firewall needs. Please do not forget to turn off your built-in firewall shipped with WinXP.
5.Mozilla FireFox is a better option to cater your browsing needs as compared to IE. It saves you from the online risks and threats that are typically associated with IE.
6.Always update your operating system, browser, antivirus, antispyware and other softwares regularly and religiously.
7.Always back up your data on regular basis.

Try to avoid the following.

1.Try to avoid using Peer to peer (P2P) software. The most popular use of P2P computing is to share files over dedicated file-sharing network to download music and video files. P2P application allows another computer user to directly access your computer over a peer-to-peer network. This increases your security risk in a number of ways. Use of P2P exposes your system to viruses, spyware, malware, malicious software, unwanted file access and backdoor attacks are some of the potential risks involved.

2.Try to avoid using emailing application. Instead, decide on for web-based email applications. This saves you from several online threats.

Visit CNet?s AtoZ Security to make yourself aware of security issues by pointing to the following URL
http://news.com.com/The+A+to+Z+of+security/2009-7355_3-6138407.html?tag=hed.

Also pay a visit to CNet?s ?How to use security softwares using the URL http://www.download.com/How-tos/1200-2023_4-5157516.html?tag=morehowto.

Wish you a happy and safe surfing.

Zahid Sheikh

Jasmine. You do not need to extend your subscription. The free progams you can download work just as well as the paid programs. I have been using Avast Anti-virus, Zone Alarm firewall, and Ad-Aware on my systems for years, and never have had a problem. I also put them on my customer's machines when their subscriptions run out. They are easy to install, and they update themselves when you run them. How can you go wrong? They also use less resouces than the big programs and your machine will run faster. I don't see any downside. Try them out and you will see. Jerry M.

I am late getting in on this one, but I was away. I know I have said this before but I have never felt that we should be paying extra for Microsoft?s short comings or for software/protection that should have been included with Windows in the first place. But having conceded to the fact that we absolutely need additional protection installed on any computer that is connected to the internet, I have experimented with many options over the years and I will almost always go with FREE if given a choice. If you read through the reviews such as the one last month in PC World, it would appear that some of the paid products perform better at catching and removing viruses and Spyware than the Free Versions. However, these reviews do not report any information on how much each product uses for system memory and resources, which ones slow down your PC the most or which ones are most likely to cause problems or have compatibility issues with other software and hardware. I have over 100 customers now using AVG Free antivirus and many of them have been using it for more than 2 years now, including myself, with out a single virus infection. Personally I feel that with the right combination of Free products installed, you can achieve the same level of protection as the paid versions. Almost all of these customers were using Norton or McAfee antivirus until they ran into problems of one kind or another. Many gave up when they tried to renew online and things went south or found that their current version was slowing down their computers to an absolute crawl.

Yes, I usually believe that you get what you pay for, but in the case of software, there are many companies that offer slightly stripped down versions of their software to home users with hopes that you may upgrade later to their full, paid versions or purchase other products from them. Other suppliers rely on donations for their efforts. The only real disadvantage with many of the Free products is:

You do not normally get any technical support with free software.

You generally will not find any all-in-one products that include Antivirus, Antispyware, Spam protection and firewall in one suite. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, some of these all-in-one security suites can be real resource hogs, slowing down even the fastest computers.

In some cases you may have to manually update the Free versions.

CAUTION : You do have to be careful when downloading free software to make sure that you are getting legitimate products. There are many titles out there posing as the real thing but are in fact spyware and malware. Stick to the known list of Free software and research any other selections before installing. The safest place to download software is from Cnet. www.download.com

THE FREE CHOICES

ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE ? It is highly recommended to have ONLY ONE antivirus software installed on your computer at a time. I personally use and recommend AVG Free but there are others.
AVG Free Antivirus ? http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Avast ? http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

ANTISPYWARE ? It is generally recommended to have more than one Antispyware program installed. I generally use the combination of SpyBot, Defender and AdAware.
SpyBot Search and Destroy ? http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
Microsoft Defender -http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en

AdAware ? http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en
AVG Antispyware ? http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5

FIREWALL ? I do not normally recommend the use of a software firewall other than the built-in Windows Firewall except for a few rare cases. They can be more of a problem then they are worth for the average PC user. Most users do not know how to answer the questions they pose and end up either disabling them or letting everything thru anyway. I DO recommend using a hardware firewall router with any internet connection. If you still want an addition software firewall try:
Zone Alarm Free ? http://www.download.com/3000-2092-10039884.html
Comodo ? http://www.download.com/Comodo-Firewall-Pro/3000-10435_4-10633448.html?tag=lst-0-1


OTHER FREE OPTIONS
There may be other ways to get your free protection.
Don?t forget, some ISP?s such as Comcast offer their members free security software.
Many Universities will also offer their students free protection.
Some companies offer their employees free home protection.

Dana
Wayland Computer

I use Zone Alarm Pro. I have tried several free ones, including Norton Symantec which used up too much memory, and didn't give enough protection for the money. I also used, together, SpyBot, AVG, and some others to save precious and limited $$.

After reading about Zone Alarm on CNET, decided to go with them, anyway, after trying free for 30 days. But I wanted it ALL, including privacy protection and first made a mistake in my download (off the internet). I had to upgrade for $10 more, when if I had purchased the right one in the first place would have saved me some money that first time.

I am very happy with the results. It costs $50/year, though .. that's the down side.

At least for now, though, think it's worth it, though I'd love to use $50 for something else, especially with the price of gas right now. Nevertheless, I do think it is worth the money. Everything I need is in one place, don't have to worry about updating, or keeping current, and it keeps me on top of everything, in my opinion. I have chosen to scan for virus and spys daily, and check for updates daily.

My husband thinks I'm a little overboard, paranoid maybe, when it comes to internet security. e But, well, it's my computer, and he chuckles 'knowingly' at me for not using the freebies, and indulges my whim.
I appreciate that it "takes care of me", all in one place, as much as I want. And I want it all. I go stealth, and as far as I can tell I have complete privacy on this sometimes dangerous place known as the web.

I expect to have regular spam and spys and virus attempts. But I didn't expect this: I am amazed at the other stuff that would have been sent out "good" freebies.

For instance, I set up the Privacy tab so EVERTHING I could think of as the kind of information frequently asked to access profile information, and when surfing the net, has to be given permission to be sent. I have my driver's license number, phone number, credit card numbers - everything of that nature, protected. Daily I receive notices from my privacy settings with ZA asking if I want to send my home address, my mother's maiden name, my dad's middle name, even the access password for my computer .. and it's happening when I'm not doing anything that would cause this information to be required. Even as regards submitting the CNET password to this site so I could access this forum, (in addition to other sites) it warns me that, unless I deny, the information is going to be submitted as clear text over the internet. I would have had no idea passwords were going to be sent clear text over the internet unless I denied permission -- some of the sites seem secure, at first, and my computer tells me "you are accessing a secure site" from the site I'm on, only to have it switch before being sent to " you are leaving a secure site" immediately. I always deny permission for clear text for some information, including passwords to any site for any reason. For one thing most people use the same password, or password with slight variations .. once an unsavory person has access to any password, they might have access to just enough information to do some damage with some effort. I think most of us ordinary folks would the thrilled to be even half as computer savvy as the scum that cause the need for security software in the first place. Zone Alarm tells, me, teaches me what's happening when I'm surfing, and them lets me protect myself as much as I choose.

So, in my opinion, even with money tight, is $50 worth it? Yes, IF the program is top notch. After all, $50 figures out to be just $4.17 a month -- or, another way of thinking, only 14 cents a day -- for complete virus, spam, spy, privacy which means protection against identity theft, another layer of firewall, program control, email protection, ease of use, and peace of mind. Let's see, how much would it cost me if my identity were compromised, or any of the other stuff that can happen? I'll FIND 14 cents a day.

Well, I'm a firm believer that you get what you pay for. as far as antivirus protection I use Avast Home Edition. Its better than AVG,because of its detection rate and it actually removes what it finds. AVG is not that efficent at removal of malware,also Avast can detect some adware. It has caught viruses that NOD32 and even Kaspersky has missed. As far as firewalls go,I would go with Outpost Firewall Free,it is the only free firewall that has passed all leak tests,which is very important for a firewall. Spyware is a different story.Free programs often have the lowest detection rates among all antispyware software.Realtime protection is key here.For a free program try Tenebrils Spycatcher Express.Low on CPU,excellent realtime protection,and very good detection and removal. I would purchase at least one program and that would be Webroots SpySweeper,probably the best around.It is a good idea to have at least 3 or 4 antispyware apps

I've had Norton anti-everything on my new computer pre-installed, but when there was a problem, they transferred me over to someone in India. I have nothing against outsourcing if the tech support is competent, but this guy only wanted to sell me additional "upper" level tech support; something I thought I'd already "paid" for. I'd used AVG and Avast on other computers; AVG wants you to pay after the long trial period, Avast offers a free program that only requires an annual renewal - still free. I uninstalled Norton and plunked in Avast. If previous history is any indicator, I shouldn't have a problem with Avast; automatic updates and all. I do agree you need more than one anti-spyware program; try running several to see what one has missed and the other has picked up in cleanup.

Warning you should not use any free software on any PCs or servers that you use for your business. All free software especially the Antivirus and spyware stipulate on their license that they are for non-commercial use. Non-commercial means not for profit which mean not running your business on it. We have clients that we many times recommended that they buy the commercial licenses, but thought can save money by using the free version recommend by so called computer experts only to have been fined heavy for not following license agreements. A local school was fined half a millions dollar for this violation.

For me I use a combination of free security software and paid. My antivirus software (Zonealarm suite) and Websweeper I paid for. However I also use XPL lite. Also some other free utilities. I believe both can be good depending on the usage of the computer user. And being smart about what sites you access. I for one, do not allow any of those chain emails or open any jokes or advertisements that I have not requested. And I also make them part of my rules on my email client to dump them into the junk mail folder. I think both can serve the purpose and like everything else both have their good and bad.

Getr an old computer with 64 to 256 ram on it and install one of these systems: m0n0wall, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and use that as a firewall and router.create a SMB shared with Linux or BSD.

These are free.

The catch: you'll have to learn how to use a computer.

Over the course of my computer usage, I have tried sevral different programs, sometimes to check them out, and mostly I switched to some other for purposes of ease of use, or if the program interferes with daily activities or whatever.
I think its safe to say that most god AV programs put out today work well enough that reasons for personal preference might be due to how it looks,menu choices ,personal control, and most importantly..; does it do the job and update latest definitions in a timely manner.

Presently i use a free program, and one of the best out there in 'AntiVirus' Personal. One of the main forums i vist has a sticky for most ALL of the best out there, and this one is in the top three overall. of course they want you to subscribe to the full suite, but thats another issue i will relate below. this program catches everything, and uppdates evry day and sometimes mor often depending upon whats the latest out there.

My reasoning for using just the one program, versus a package or suite, is that I like choice in other areas. Some companies just make better firewalls, and antispyware, or maybe i like certain ones better.
I use the Windows XP SP2 firewall settings , and use 'CounterSpy 2' for the other, along with installed and not running programs such as SpywareBlaster, SpyBot, and AdAware personal for the scheck periodic options.. I am very well protected. LOL

in the exact same position. I chose to convert a month before my own security software parts began to expire.The conversion was to AOL security, to which they have added much more. The account is "Free" unless you want or need technicalhelp. I chose to pay the $9.95 for that service and am pleased with it all.
I have been told by others that their contribution to my secuity is strictly from their vantage point and more for them than for me, sound right? I don't know. I have tried to source that one, check it out and have come up dry. Basically, all of my stuff is running about the same as when I paid for all packages individually - I don't feel strongly one way or the other, except that I am saving $$$.

Generally the subscription ware is better!
But there are some very good freeware.
You can check Cnet's Downloads
http://www.download.com/
or majorgeeks
http://www.majorgeeks.com/
Or UpDate Checker
http://filehippo.com/
most are easiest accessed at filehippo
I recommend Spybot Search and Destroy - Adaware -
Microsoft's Defender - AVG Free Edition 7.5.472
They are free. Try them you might like them.
Also download Update file checker It will keep you updated.

Use Free or Open BSD. Use m0n0wall.
Free operating systems in which you determine what is written to your hard drive, the permissions, and services which are run.
However, it requires thinking.