Best AV for none techy user

[sggaunt]

I check over a PC that belongs to an old guy (86, family member), it came with Norton (now Symantec) preinstalled, and I had hoped that it would be 'idiot proof'.

But earlier this year his 1 year free was up and he failed to notice. So it went for several weeks with little protection (luckily he doesnt go online that much and it seems to have survived un-infected).

It took me quite a lot of work to find him somewhere to send a cheque (he has no Credit cards) and get the setup out of the tangle it got into ['your subscription has run out'-'your subscription is current'-'your subscription has run out', etc, etc, etc type messages]

In another thread Symantic was not recommended for home use, I can now see why, to be honest I doubt that there is any AV suite that can be 'just left to it', but if anyone has any recomendations for this type of use.


Steve [The sane]: Delphi a feersum engin indeed.

 

[Ed2020]

The best AV I've used so far is Avast. It's free (so no need for credit cards), although does need to be re-registered once every twelve months.

Ed Metcalfe.

Please do not feed the trolls.....

 

[electronicsfreak]

I highly reccomend antivir. Its free and my personal favorite. It is what I use. You can download it from here.
Keep in mind before antivir or any other antivirus, be sure to remove norton off the computer. They tend to not get along.

http://www.free-av.com

If you do choose to use antivir this is how I reccomend configuring it after you install it.

This is to setup antivir after it has been installed.

Right click on the logo in the taskbar(a red square with a white umbrella), then left click configure. Towards the top left, you will see a box beside expert mode. Check this box. Now click the + beside scanner, and now the + beside scan. This will expand them.

Now click on scan itself to where it is highlighted. Now to the right under files, select the circle beside all files. Now click on action for concerning files. To the right, click the circle beside automatic. Now to the right of that, set primary action to repair and secondary action to delete. DO NOT check the box that says "copy file to quarantine before action".

Now click on archives to where it is highlighted. Make sure all boxes on this page are checked, if not check them. Now click on heuristic. To the right under win32 file heuristic, check the box beside "win32 file heurisitic", then click the circle beside medium detection level.

Now click the + beside guard and the + beside scan to expand them. Now click on scan to where it is highlighted. To the right under scan mode, check "scan when reading and writing". To the right of that under files, click the circle beside "all files".

Now click on heuristic to where it is highlighted. Check the box beside win32 file heuristic, and then click the circle beside medium detecion level. Now click ok and antivir is now setup for scanning. I highly reccomend doing a scan now.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[electronicsfreak]

In the above post it should say "Keep in mind before installing antivir or any other antivirus, be sure to remove norton off the computer. They tend to not get along."

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[xit]

I highly recommend AVG free edition. It is as says, free, I use it personally. Now, you have one matter to attend to, that is removing Norton, which is not an eaasy task sometimes. Go here and down load this tool: Norton removal tool & run it

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Norton_Removal_Tool_SymNRT_d4749.html

xit

 

[sggaunt]

I use AVG free myself, and there is only one problem with this approach.
The Norton suite he has installed does (or attempts to do) everything, Firewall,AV and AS.
If I set him up with the same free tools that I use, Thats 3 programs to look after.


Steve [The sane]: Delphi a feersum engin indeed.

 

[electronicsfreak]

If hes using windows xp he can use the built in firewall. Not as good as software ones but less to look after.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[xit]

Most AV & AS programs can be set to automatically scan when time is appropriate, also they update themselves, so there is really no upkeep & as for the firewall, it runs in the background. I would be tough to find an all in one that was free.

xit