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Original poster

I know I should know, but ...

32 replies

Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 13:45

Norton has expired on the PC.

DP was due to go to PCWorld yesterday while he was at work but forgot as he was busy. (It is cheaper there than online and we're on a budget).

He was then supposed to go this morning but got caught up with other things. Is now out for the day.

I am stuck at home and can't go out as am on call for a few things (long story).

I need to do some Internet banking.

DP says it's fine. I don't think so.

I know I should be able to suss this out for myself and it annoys me that I'm not sure.

After the thread about weedy women, I would just like to stress that I can make up IKEA flat-packs, will drive anywhere and am more than happy to confront officialdom, so plese don't call me weedy for not knowing the answer but ...

Is it safe?

OP posts:
tinierclanger · 12/03/2011 13:51

The router should provide enough protection, I would think.

Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 13:57

Thank you tinierclanger - how does the router do this?

I feel even more ignorant now. Blush

OP posts:
LunaticFringe · 12/03/2011 14:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tinierclanger · 12/03/2011 14:02

If it's a wireless router it would normally have a built-in firewall.

tinierclanger · 12/03/2011 14:03

And yes put avg on instead!

PersonalClown · 12/03/2011 14:03

Use a free antivirus.
AVG do one
So do Avast.

Hang on I'll find some links

Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 14:03

Lunatic - I was going to use AVG download, but for the protection they recommend when using Internet Banking, it isn't free. It's more than Norton.

I appreciate your thoughts though. Smile

OP posts:
PersonalClown · 12/03/2011 14:05

Here's Avast

And here's AVG

Both get good reviews.

Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 14:26

Blush at utter ignorance.

Are we saying that the free versions of these are sufficient protection for internet banking and online shopping?

Sorry for being dim.

OP posts:
PaperView · 12/03/2011 14:36

Avira is brill and free. Your computer will have a firewall too.

DOn't put Norton back on.

Tee2072 · 12/03/2011 14:38

I have never used anything beyond AVG including internet banking. That isn't so much your firewall as the bank's security.

Delete Norton. It's horrible.

Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 14:40

Can anyone tell me why Norton is the work of Satan?

OP posts:
Tee2072 · 12/03/2011 14:42

Because it's security isn't any better than AVG considering what you pay for it.

And it crashes a lot.

And conflicts with other things all the time.

PersonalClown · 12/03/2011 14:44

I know some banks are pushing for people to install Rapport to help protect their Internet banking but that is in addition to your usual antivirus.

I think the paid for packages have more than just antivirus. They include anti malware etc.

You can find free ones online instead of paying over the odds for crappy Norton.

Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 16:16

Shit, shit, shit .... ignore everything I said about not being a weedy woman.

I am a pathetic, 18th century, fainting away, squealing, needy, weak and feeble woman.

I have run the AVG as advised and it has gone on page after page and .....

How do I know it's done? How do I know it's working?

Do I need to do anything else?

I hate myself.

(Berates self sternly - I have a degree, I have a job and contribute to the home, I am afraid of no-one, I can make up IKEA flat-packs, I have changed a tyre by a motorway, I AM WOMAN!!!!!

But fucking useless at computers.

Help.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 12/03/2011 16:36

Help?

OP posts:
Tee2072 · 12/03/2011 17:02

Not sure what you are asking, ooops. Do you have an AVG icon on the lower right of your screen where it shows programs?

BadgersPaws · 12/03/2011 19:33

Avast and the free AVG are both "just" anti-virus software and while an essential part of a Windows machine are not enough alone to make you secure. You should also be running Malware Scanners (e.g. MalwareBytes) and a firewall.

Relying on a router alone to act as a firewall is not sufficient. Yes it's a lot better than having nothing but it's not enough and even if you're router does have a "proper" firewall on it it's a lot harder to manage and configure than having a firewall on each machine is. The routers are good at stopping stuff getting into your home network, having a firewall on each machine inside is then a good method of stopping stuff getting out back onto the internet.

Most computers should come with a firewall and it's usually good enough to work with.

For the anti-virus and Malware parts of the equation the free software that's out there and that people have already named is really rather good.

SquirtedPerfumeUpNoseInBoots · 12/03/2011 20:52

You need to make sure your machine is "patched", as well as running updated antivirus tools. Easiest way is to enable automatic updates in windows, but if you Want to check the status of your pc download and run a Microsoft tool called Baseline Security Analyser. technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/cc184924. This will check for missing patches and also check for configuration errors.

Niceguy2 · 12/03/2011 20:57

Actually Badgers, I am respectfilly going to disagree with you on the desktop firewall being insufficient.

Personally I think for most people a router is sufficient. XP onwards have a built in firewall too which is enabled by default.

Yes they don't offer outbound protection but then most people just blindly click "OK" anyway when prompted....assuming they see it. If they don't permit it then most people don't understand what they've just done and then its the programs fault when not working. So a desktop firewall is often more trouble than its worth.

AVG & Malwarebytes is more than enough IMO.

BadgersPaws · 12/03/2011 23:21

"Actually Badgers, I am respectfilly going to disagree with you"

You do have a point. But I've seen and been asked questions by relatively inexperienced users who've been faced with a pop up by something asking for permission to access to the internet. At least it made them stop and think about what was going on and they were at least worried enough to ask about it. And even when there have been times when people did just click "allow" the machine firewall has at least given some quick and easy clues to me as to what can, and what cannot, access the internet.

I wouldn't recommend paying any more for a firewall, but the one that came with XP SP2 onwards seems to be easy enough to use.

But yes, in the end, if people will just allow anything through it then it's benefits will vary and I go agree that Malware and Anti-Virus are far more important things to have. However on Windows I'd always recommend that people set up all three.

bigTillyMint · 13/03/2011 09:32

Another dim woman hereBlush

So we have a nearly 1year old PC - Windows 7. Do we need any extra protection when the protection it said it came with expires in a month or so?

And what is McAfee? Do we need it?

TIA!

BadgersPaws · 13/03/2011 10:43

"So we have a nearly 1year old PC - Windows 7. Do we need any extra protection when the protection it said it came with expires in a month or so?"

Yes you do.

You need anti-virus, AVG and Avast are both free and highly rated by people.

You need a Malware scanner, the free version of MalwareBytes is very good.

I would also recommend turning on the Windows Firewall, instructions are here.

"And what is McAfee? Do we need it?"

A huge pain in the bottom :)

McAfee offer a number of products but typically offer anti-virus, anti-malware and a firewall depending on exactly which product of theirs you have.

Original poster
Ooopsadaisy · 13/03/2011 11:06

Big thanks to everyone who has posted.

DP is now offering to "look at the PC".

I have gone into manic independant mode and told him "It's all under control - I'm dealing with it."

Which of course I'm not.

I now have AVG icon in the bottom right corner. If I click it and open the interface, I am told that it is all active.

However, when it was doing "it's thing" it advised me that there were many errors that it couldn't resolve and recommended the AVG that you pay for. Is this a scaremongering technique? If it's any good then why is it free? What sort of errors is it talking about?

I have followed the directions to turn on the Windows firewall. Why would this not have already been done - the PC is about 6 years old! What effect will this have?

Went into the links for MalwareBytes but even on the free trial it was asking for lots of personal information so I came back out of it. Should I?

Determind to understand this.

When you mend a bicycle chain, you can see it is mended and you can get on the bike and see that it works.

Computers scare me. I don't understand them enough.

Can anyone answer any of this?

OP posts:
BadgersPaws · 13/03/2011 11:14

"Went into the links for MalwareBytes but even on the free trial it was asking for lots of personal information so I came back out of it."

It shouldn't ask for any personal details at all... Are you sure you're clicking the right links?

From here click "Download Free Version"

That will take you to a page at download.cnet.com with a big "Download Now" button labelled "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware".

Clicking that takes you to a page that should say "Your download will begin in a moment..."

That might well find and fix the issues that the free version of AVG seems to be complaining about.

"I have followed the directions to turn on the Windows firewall. Why would this not have already been done - the PC is about 6 years old! What effect will this have?"

Norton probably included a firewall and you only need one of them so it turned off the Windows Firewall.

The effect you will notice is that if it's set up right you'll get lots of questions from it asking if a certain program should be allowed to access the internet. You'll get a lot of such questions at first but they'll gradually fade away as it learns more about what programs you are running.