Computer Question
 

My FREE AVG anti virus is about to expire. Can i just download it again free?

Just uninstall that (junk in my experience) and try malware bytes or microsoft security essentials

Antivirus programs just slow the computer down, I've never run one, and I have yet to get a virus.

Yes, you can download the latest version for free.

If you don't have a virus scan utility, how do you know that you've never or don't have a virus or trojan? Many run in "stealth" mode.

Unlike the days of old where you can get infected just by visiting a site we have a lot of tools now that basically make antivirus software obsolete.

I call it practicing safe computing. Kind of like safe sex, but with more high tech stuff.

For starters if you use Internet Explorer you deserve to get a virus period. IE is by far one of the worst browsers out there in terms of security.

Use a browser that not only supports internet standards, but also has extensions like Firefox's adblock plus or Adblock for Chrome. You can also download a tool like "NoScript" which takes adblock plus to a whole new level of configuration.

Also make sure you are running the latest software. Run Windows Update on a weekly basis and make sure your third party software like Flash, Java, etc are all updated.

Run a firewall and set it up so you have to review every program that wants access to the outside world. You can set up the firewall so once you click yes it will always be able to connect.

Finally, if you don't know what a program is or does do not run it. Do not install a fish tank screensaver, download a program that claims you have a virus and it found all sorts of stuff through an online scanner, etc.

Be smart, safe, and above all vigilant. I treat my computer like I treat my car.

Edit: If you're not as computer savvy as the rest of us, then I recommend you download AVG's free version. There is no sense in paying for antivirus since they will always be a step behind the virus writers. Heck Norton, McAfee, etc have never been able to successfully remove a virus for me.

I'll second that.

Thanks for the great advice. As the director of information technology for a large government agency, I will take this to heart and implement immediately. Thanks for saving my digital life. :rolleyes:

I do what I can. Government IT departments need all the help they can get :D I'll take my consultant fee in a check sent to...

At the enterprise level, there are some great antivirus options that can pinpoint trouble makers.

Do you guys deploy Firefox over active directory with adblock plus? That was one of the best things I did for the wee little school district I work at.

Firefox isn't approved. The government uses IE except in certain circumstances. There are several security tools in place which I can't discuss.

Good luck with getting rid of AGV.

I work in IT. For business use, I have to use IE for certain apps/CMS systems. With web development you need to test deployment and code in a variety of browsers, and IE is still the dominant browser and if often interprets code differently from FF and others. Some dev code will only work in IE. So not using it isn't an option.

Hence I use IE on both my work and personal computers. I'm guessing many work environments do as well as there are licensing and support considerations tied to this. Some vendors will only qualify support and SLA agreements when using Microsoft certified products, from OS to browsers.

AVG runs very lean, if it even remotely affects a PC's performance, then there are bigger issues with said PC than AV software.

There are also sophisticated malware hijacks out there that can slip in through browsers and can and will infect an unprotected PC - even with browser security and add-ons enabled. To not run a free service that works well is not a good idea, IMO.

Just adding my $0.02...the more I learn, the more grey everything becomes...

After many years of AVG, I have switched to Avast!
It seems lighter and less obstrusive than AVG, and is free as well.

I understand the pain :( We finally killed off our older IE6 only web apps with some better home brewed web apps. After that ended we phased out IE6 for IE8 and basically switched over to it.

I agree with the sentiment that AVG is lean. It's a great program and I recommend to users all the time for a home environment. We have a special version of Mcafee for the campus, but after the whole miserable experience a couple of weeks ago AVG is just better to use overall.

However, a properly configured firewall will catch malware very quickly with outbound and inbound rules set up. Windows 7 has a pretty good built in firewall and the Tomato firmware for my Linksys router is just as good.

I think we can all agree though that backing up daily is important. Between 7 and 10.6 my terabyte enclosure is almost full.

At the Federal level you guys have some nifty tools in place. I have a vendetta against internet explorer, hence my hatred for it. I still hope though that your critical systems aren't connected to the outside world. I've read enough articles about power plants, hospitals, various alphabet soup agencies, etc connecting critical systems to the outside world.

What agency do you work for if you don't mind me asking or is it classified? :P

Our critical systems are on a closed network. I work for an agency in the DOD.