edenfalling | wherein Liz asks for help with antivirus protection and other computer security

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My computer has been glitching and crashing these past two weeks, and one of the crashes or system repairs wiped my Norton antivirus and internet security programs completely off the hard drive.

I have heard that Norton is not the world's most efficient (or memory-efficient) security program around. It's also kind of expensive.

But I don't like having my computer unprotected.

So.

Does anyone have recommendations for good security programs? I am currently running Windows Vista (yes, I know, but I couldn't get XP when I bought the computer and Windows 7 wasn't out back then, and if you can give me advice on the feasibility of changing operating systems without losing all my files, that would be great too...) on an HP Pavilion. I am also pretty much programming-illiterate, so if you recommend anything much more complicated than "go here, click this, pay that, and the wizard will set it up for you," I am not going to use your recommendation.

Also, please do not comment just to talk up Apple and/or Linux, because frankly, I do not give a damn about the evils of Windows or the superiority of open-source or anything else along those lines. (Like I said, programming-illiterate.) I just want functional antivirus software.

All advice is greatly appreciated!

ETA: Thank you to everyone for all the advice! I am currently trying out the free versions of avast and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware; if those don't work out, I will look into the other options you guys pointed out. *crosses fingers that these programs don't get mugged by a system restore like the Norton did*

Current Mood: curious
Current Location: ithaca, ny
Crossposts: http://edenfalling.livejournal.com/498184.html

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From:

I use a combo of Avast Free and Malwarebyte anti-malware and it works really nicely. And the one time I had a virus that didn't let Avast just clean it easy, I went to their forum and the people there were very helpful with easy step by step processes to fix it.

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Elizabeth Culmer

June 2025

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