Free anti-virus and firewall software

[discman]

...so what was the one thing?

It never picked up anything dan.

[Gary D]

@ BR7: got it ... lately I am kinda of jittery since friend of mine was ripped of on his credit card. But I don't do any online business anyway ... but still ...

The best defence for this is to contact one of your CC suppliers and ask for a CC that will only be for online purchases with a maximum credit limit of $1000 and that only one purchase per day can be made on it. They have software to monitor this. If someone steals it then; they can only make one purchase. The CC company will then contact you if they try to do a 2nd. This is the safest way to do online purchases.

PS: Always open the monthly bill even if you think it has a zero balance! I always overpay by a dollar or two so they have to send me a monthly statement. Because after 30 days, you are then liable for the purchases!

[gonwk]

Hi Gary D,

Thanks for your input. I was actually thinking about opening a card with "LOW" amount $500 or $1000 ... with a reputable company ... now that you mentioned it I will do it for sure.
Q1: When you say open "monthly bill" ... you are talking about your Online Bill ... right!?!?

Q for all: BTW, has anyone heard of "Keylogger" programs stealing your Credit Card number right off your computer when you are trying to pay your bills online???
- Is that Possible!?!?!?
- And How do you protect yourself against that?
I suppose that puts a damper on doing "Online Banking"!!?!?

Thanks,
G!

[Dan]

It never picked up anything dan.

sigh...guess I need some sleep, sorry. I'm happy it didn't find anything,lol, but I mistakenly thought it did pick up 1 thing.

[Dan]

Q for all: BTW, has anyone heard of "Keylogger" programs stealing your Credit Card number right off your computer when you are trying to pay your bills online???
- Is that Possible!?!?!?
- And How do you protect yourself against that?
I suppose that puts a damper on doing "Online Banking"!!?!?

Thanks,
G!

I have used online banking via RBC for years without a hitch, but I also take all safety precautions.

As for the keylogger, most are installed by someone with access to the computer, parent, boss, etc.

Unless you have been hacked which shouldn't happen if you are properly protected, and it looks like you will be blocked like Fort Knox before you surf.

[Chewy]

Avast vs Avg

I am having a hard time deciding which one to try?

[BR7]

I have used online banking via RBC for years without a hitch, but I also take all safety precautions.

As for the keylogger, most are installed by someone with access to the computer, parent, boss, etc.

Unless you have been hacked which shouldn't happen if you are properly protected, and it looks like you will be blocked like Fort Knox before you surf.

Agreed Or you can get something like PC-cillin and take advantage of the private data protection it offers.I am sure others do this but I havent used anything but PC-cillin for a while now so I am kind of clueless to what other programs do

[Dan]

I am having a hard time deciding which one to try?

It seems like a coin flip to me. I have used both and decided to stick with AVG this time, just seemed more to my liking.

I like AVG email scanner (I use Thunderbird) and it has great updates and low resources.

However, I did read somewhere that Avast has the Kaspersky engine behind it??

Agreed Or you can get something like PC-cillin and take advantage of the private data protection it offers.I am sure others do this but I havent used anything but PC-cillin for a while now so I am kind of clueless to what others programs do

This isn't the first time you have tempted me with PC-Cillin. If I ever bought an av, it would be right at the top of the list. Is it a resource hog?

[BR7]

It isn't a resource hog at all it just sits back and does it's job quietly it's performed flawlessly for me The only knock it has is it's big downloads for updates it takes a little bit of time with my dial up, but it shouldn't be a problem for for high speed users

[Dan]

Thanks for the info BR. . Definitely something to consider.

[BR7]

Your welcome I would like to mention that if anyone is using the free version of zone alarm
that there has been reports that it leaks like a sieve but the pay version is like Fort Knox.From what I have been reading it sounds like Sunbelt Personal Firewall (Kerio) is the front runner for free firewalls.The free and paid versions of Sunbelt Kerio are the same some of the advanced features are automatically turned off when 30 day trail ends

[Dan]

Sunbelt is a great freebie. Another is Comodo, one that you mentioned several months ago. Sygate isn't too bad either.

[BR7]

Yes COMODO is very good but unfortunately the newest version has a bug that you need to fix manually otherwise it will use 50% to 75% of your PCs resources once you fix the problem it works great

[Gary D]

Yes COMODO is very good but unfortunately the newest version has a bug that you need to fix manually otherwise it will use 50% to 75% of your PCs resources once you fix the problem it works great

Do you have the link??

I use Comodo and every once in a while, that happens. It does not happen all of the time. But there is no reason why it does happen sometimes.

[BR7]

Here is the link There are 3 different reasons it uses so much resources so your better off reading all 6 links.
These are 3 up from the bottom
1.Version 2.4 - cpf.exe and High CPU
2.Version 2.4 - cmdagent.exe and High CPU