Sign In
Register
Help
I'm trying to bring my parents' Windows box back to life. It was misdiagnosed by some phone tech support agent as having a bad NCI card, when it was actually over-aggressive firewall settings that prevented any browsers from reaching the internet.
I have updated XP to SP3. I'm interested in good anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewall software that I can install. Currently, it has McCaffee AV, which hasn't been updated in atleast one year, probably longer. The firewall software is also McCafee.
I would do a clean install, but I have been unable to locate the XP discs, so I don't have a serial/key. WGA doesn't say anything, so I'm confident the WinXP license is valid. However, without the discs, I think I'm stuck cleaning things up with add/remove software, and then defragmenting the hard drive.
What AV, firewall, etc. software is recommended? Also, is there anything I should take care to do or not do as I clean the machine up? It's been a few years since I've had to use Windows.
Thanks.
Page 1 of 1
What free apps are recommended for WinXP SP3 security?
#1
JaywalkerExtraordinaire 
- Advanced Member
-
- Group: Members
- Posts: 227
- Joined: 11-December 08
- Location:crossing street
Posted 18 December 2008 - 01:13 AM
MultiQuote
#3
number6
- Expert
-
- Group: Members
- Posts: 2,357
- Joined: 28-March 08
Posted 18 December 2008 - 03:58 AM
I agree with Snorg, but I would like to recommend Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5 for faster and safer web browsing, Piriform's CCleaner to keep the system cleaned up and running smoothly, and Foxit Reader for reading PDFs more quickly and safely.
#5
number6
- Expert
-
- Group: Members
- Posts: 2,357
- Joined: 28-March 08
Posted 18 December 2008 - 04:19 AM
Of the five or so cleaners that I've use CCleaner is the best. It has always sped up the systems I've run it on. Maybe you need to download the latest version. I've seen some major improvment in the newer versions. If it doesn't find what you want it to you can add custom folders for it to clean out. I consider CCleaner to be a truly superior cleaner.
#7
TheVoid
- Newbie
-
- Group: Members
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 27-December 08
Posted 27 December 2008 - 09:16 PM
The mother of all free and highly recommended anti-virus utilities is:
www.comodo.com/
There's an interesting service for analyzing a file you upload, using dozens of various (and up-to-date) anti-virus engines:
[http://www.virustotal.com/]
{noformat}-- {noformat}
[http://Harvey-Mars.com]
www.comodo.com/
There's an interesting service for analyzing a file you upload, using dozens of various (and up-to-date) anti-virus engines:
[http://www.virustotal.com/]
{noformat}-- {noformat}
[http://Harvey-Mars.com]
Page 1 of 1
