bitdefender/norton etc

Originally Posted by Tom Line

I tend to recommend against AVG, and suggest instead AntiVir or Avast.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivi...a/freeav_2.htm

Both are also free and have a higher detection rate than AVG.

As a general rule, I also suggest changing to a web browser like firefox, and install the adblock plugin. For additional security you can install the noscript plugin, though I found that one a bit of a hassle.

However, please realize that these programs stink at picking up adware. You'll need to install another program, like Spybot Search and Destroy, or Ad-Aware, both of which are also free. Of those, Ad-Aware is currently considered the "best".

The best for-pay system out there is Kaspersky, FYI. Highest detection rate, and also gets the spyware at the same time.

Please note, when I say best - that is based on the latest reviews. These are always somewhat subjective, and everyone always has an opinion one way or another. Be careful of anecdotal evidence from one user. You know how many computer illiterate people there are out there, and they are far more dangerous than any spyware

Antivir is what I ended up going with and all is well, as usual as a last resort I knew if I came here I would get good advice. Kinda disappointed that Bitdefender 2009 would not install for me but I'm sure that bug will be corrected in due time.

I came across a wierd one this evening, my quickbooks would not run, unexpected error and it would close, turns out you have to set all you're internet explorer settings to default for quickbooks to now run even though I actually use Firefox as my browser.

[Tom Line]

You got reasonably lucky

AVG just had a bug that deleted the user32.dll file from some computers so they wouldn't boot

If you want to get rid of the antivir nag screen, go to Control-Panel, Computer Administration, Security Policies, and add a new path policy to deny avnotify.dll.

You can find better instructions online.

Not only was I happy with Avira free software I upgraded and bought the premium suite and wow! it's like the old Bitdefender before there big problems with Bitdefender 2009.

Thanks again, works great and hardly uses any CPU. just amazing and not ONE bug installing it, it installed and set itself up and it working flawlessly.

mark