Some Computer Security Programs That I Use And Recommend

http://tinyurl.com/Computer-Security-Programs

Updated - September 15, 2010 - F-Secure Online Scanner & TrendMicro Housecall Added and MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) removed since I've had two recent customers who had infected computers using MSE.
Updated - August 08, 2010 - a-Squared Free changed to a-Squared Anti-Malware and now to Emsisoft AntiMalware, which Emsisoft was always the main website and name of the software developer.
Updated - August 04, 2010 - Added info about VirusTotal.com since I forgot that info initially.

So... I just replied to a "Help" request in one of the Computer Tech forums that I participate in and decided to give them a long reply with lots of details about the computer security programs that I use and recommend. This isn't everything I use since I don't want to alert the cyber-criminals about some of my other defenses but this is a good list that most beginners should be able to use and utilize.

Here is a snip of my long reply...

BTW, there is no need to spend a single penny on security programs. ALL of the *good* companies make their programs available to home users at no charge, either by a fully or mostly functioning download or as an online scan.

I use and recommend:

Comodo Internet Security http://www.Comodo.com as a FREE and fully functioning security suite that has a professional featured, award winning firewall, good antivirus with real-time and scheduled scanner and good real-time antimalware protection.  http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php

NO SINGLE PROGRAM IS 100% EFFECTIVE. While Comodo Internet Security will keep most computer users malware free, for folks that do not practice safe surfing habits, it's a VERY GOOD idea to have multiple backup programs to also scan for things that CIS might miss from time to time. Here are the other programs that I use from time to time.... or all the time for a couple of them.

Also, remember that ALL programs will report false positives from time to time so check things out before deleting files if you are not sure of what you are about to delete.  For those instances, I use Virus Total http://www.VirusTotal.com which will allow you to upload the suspicious file and then scan it against ALL of the major security programs to see if more than just your scan is showing it as an infected file. If only one or two show it to be infected, it could be a false positive and you should check it out with the security program's help section, tech support, online forums, etc., to see what they say... before deleting the file.  If you find it to be a false positive, make sure you report this to the security program's tech support people so they can keep others from having a problem.... otherwise, someone might delete a file that causes their computer or one of their programs to no longer work.  While s-Squared is one of the best free scanners available to us, it's also the most likely to find false positives... at least that's been my experience when using a-Squared Anti-Malware.

MalwareBytes http://www.MalwareBytes.org as a backup scanner for when needed or folks that surf the net wildly, they can do weekly scans just to make sure that their main security didn't miss anything.

SuperAntiSpyware http://www.superantispyware.com/ as another backup scanner for when needed as above.

Emsisoft AntiMalware, formerly a-Squared Free or a-Squared Anti-Malware, which can be a paid for full-time background scanner or the FREE as needed scanner which does not provide full-time scanning but can still be used as one of the backup scanners, which is what I suggest - http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware/  

SpywareBlaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html - This doesn't do any scanning or use any system resources. You simply download the updated definitions on a weekly basis and enable them to protect your computer from LOTS of malicious websites, adding them to your Hosts file and registry... and it also block LOTS of malicious drive-by software.

Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/ - I really only use the Immunization feature on this program although it does have a scanner as well. The Immunization feature will build a nice Hosts file to supplement the one with SpywareBlaster. I do use the scanner from time to time to look for Flash Cookies that CCleaner might miss.  I DO NOT recommend using the Tea-Timer real-time scanner from Spybot as it seems to cause more problems than it fixes.

You can get the FREE online scan from Microsoft, called Windows Live OneCare. http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm - When using the Windows Live OneCare Scanner, RUN the FULL SCAN once a month and it will check your system online for virus/malware and also do a cleanup and tune-up of your computer, repair your registry and also defrag your hard drive.  The above link is for XP but the link for Vista and Windows 7 is listed in the introduction to this scan.

Here's another good and FREE online scan.  http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/security/security-lab/tools-and-services/online-scanner/  While doing a FULL scan is always a good thing, heed the warning on the scanner that it will take several hours depending on the number of files on your computer.  One of my computers has over a MILLION files and it too over six hours to scan each and every file.  One of my other newer, faster computers only had around 400,000 files and it only took about two hours.  F-Secure also has an anti-rootkit program called Black Light which is free to download and scan as well, as a backup to Comodo's rootkit scan.

TrendMicro's Housecall Online Scan - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

There are many other online scanners from nearly ALL of the other computer security software makers so I will not go through that list. The above should be all that most folks need.

I hope this helps... and if you need any help with the above programs, feel free to leave me a comment below and I'll post a reply... or you can hunt me down in one of the many forums I'm in or go to your own favorite computer tech forum. Most of the above programs have their own respective specialty forums listed on the main website as well.

Lenny Vasbinder

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