Safe Speed Forums

I’ll try to be quick and I hope this helps others who are feeling 'the pinch'..

I’m skint and my Kaspersky is about to expire so I downloaded the free version of AVG tonight.

About three years ago a boffin I knew on these matters and runs/owns his small but lucrative PC place said to me words to the effect “why are you paying for protection when you can use AVG in conjunction with Spybot?” followed by “I have never paid to protect a PC”.

At the time I was using Norton AV and later went on to Kaspesrsky because everybody knows you don’t get something for nothing – right?

So now, in my state of penury, I started to download AVG tonight and it asks me if I want the 32 or 64 bit download. I don’t f n know! I know it’s quicker than my old 386 with co-processor but why are you asking me questions when all I want to do is use the b y thing to get a job done!

It’s like asking Mrs Miggins “when you drive your Ford Focus do you know what spark plugs your car uses and the correct gap?” or “can you tell me the bore and stroke of your cylinders?”.

No! I just want to use something we call a car to get from A to B for feck sake!!! It’s a tool to get a job done, okay??? That’s how I see a computer these days and for the last umpteen years actually.

So, I have an Acer mini-form desktop I bought about four years ago running on Vista. Is there something in the Control Panel that will tell me what my system is so I can download the right version of AVG?

Is the AVG free version going to protect me like a paid-for version? Do I need to use it with Spybot and is that any good or going to slow my PC down?

I mention this not just because of me but because it may well be applicable and helpfull to many others in my position who are trying to make ends meet.

8 bit Tone

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Tone.

I have been using AVG free on several computers for some years now. That is on the advice of my son, who is a computer professional. I t has worked well for me.

Computer Shopper magazine reviewed 14 AV products, including AVG-free in its February issue (which came out just before Xmas!!)

AVG got 5 stars and was joint best buy (joint with Titanium Internet Security at £23). Norton also got five stars, Kasparek, four and McAfee only two. The review concluded: AVG's free anti-virus tool performed better than almost every paid-for suite. If you want want simple protection, this is the product to have

Expert reviews also say "Oil giv it foive" here http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/software/1281145/avg-anti-virus-free-edition-2011

So go for it.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Oh great stuff and thanks Dave. Something free and good then, that's rare

Still wasn't sure aout this 32 or 64 thing though so I downloaded and installed the 32 bit. As little as I know about these things, I assume if my pc is 64 bit it will run the 32 bit software but not vice versa? If, however, mine is 64 bit, it may not be running as fast as it could using the 32 bit software?

Like I say, I lost interest in keeping up with it all years ago because it was too time consuming and I just want to use it as a tool to get things done. Kasperski is £30 this time and that's a lot to me now.

Oh and what about SpyBot or does AVG take care of that as well these days? I hope your advice is free too btw?

Right then, back in the drivers's seat again ta..

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Mts Miggins

If you are as poor as you say you are likely to be driving a 32bit system and you will loose little by assuming you are. I dont think that AVG tackles adware so you should stick with spy-bot.

I get the distinct impression that the underlying paradigm of these forums is anti-virus.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Which version of Windows do you have? If you can find System through Control Panel, the summary page that says how much RAM you have etc. will say if it's 64 bit or not.

If it's XP or older it's 99% going to be 32 bit. If it's Vista or 7 I think it'll be 64 bit.

AVG Free is very good, I put it on Mr Theboy Snr's PC that I'm typing on now, though I have Avira on my own PC for some reason I can't remember.

Fount it ta JtB! I did look there to start with but I went back and used ‘Classic View’ of Control Panel and go to ‘System’ and there it was “System Type: 32-bit Operating System”

For a minute there I thought I’d got no bits.

It also tells me “Windows Vista™ Home Edition”.

Some of us can save a bit of money on software as a result of this then.

I see I’ve also got a “Rating: 3.2 Windows Experience Index : Unrated” whatever that is? If that’s out of 10 it sounds a bit crap to me. (No pun intended).

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

I didn't know there was a 32 bit version of Vista, well raise my rent!

I dunno bud but I guess what can't speak can't lie. It's all over my head these days, unlike my hair. Thanks again.

I suppose the next logical progression will be 128-bit and 256-bit and.. Gotta keep the punters feeling behind the times and buying as usual.

I installed SpyBot btw and it looks very good indeed. I was a little concerned that it came up with spelling mistakes as it was installing, which didn't inspire confidence in the product, and also some words were overwritten and illegible during the process, but I don't know if that's because of how my PC and video card is set up. I've got it so a mole could see it to read.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Aye Tone. Have we saved you enough money for you to but me a pint?

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Maybe half a pint and two straws.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Tone, Iv'e been using AVG free for years, seems to work just fine and gets good write ups. IMO the best way to not get a virus or spy bot etc, is not to induge in risky behaviour! Don't install anything that did not come straight from the genuine supplier or someone you have 100% confidence in. Don't surf "dodgy" websites (porn warez etc.), don't open email attachments sent by anyone (even friends) if you don't know 100% what it is, don't open or follow links in spam emails .... no matter how big they say it'll end up

Years back I did a fair bit of computer fixing for friends & relatives, almost all virus infections could be traced back to doing something really pretty dumb ..... installing ripped off software bought at markets, installing software from "warez" sites and file shares. I've seen some very red faces when I've been digging around in some very respectable folk's machines when they see what I've found that they had no idea there would be record of

A place I worked got a real nasty virus despite having very good protection in place .... it came from an employee installing illegal software they'd got on a file share It took over two weeks to get everything clean and back on the network

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You only need two tools - WD40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. :0)

I tried AVG but found it rather a memory-hog.
I now run Avira Anti-Vir.
Also tried spybot, but now run Malwarebytes instead.
I also use HiJackThis......
The best solution to computer problems is to never let children near them, especially those that play computer games.
And then ensure that the children do not have admin rights....

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

From Diablo's own site ... http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

or

Avast Free Version

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The Box said "Windows XP or better" ... So I installed Ubuntu

Yeah.
Microsofties.
I [still] run XP (SP3), bought and paid for and still have the box and original disc.....
And Microsofties STILL refuse to acknowledge it as genuine.....so their sec_essentials will not download.
Fortunately my much newer laptop now runs Ubuntu.....after throwing Vista in the bin (much like Microsofties did)
There is so much free software out there.....

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

lol

I wasn't going to mention Linux but as you did... It's nice to not have to worry about all that security stuff aint it.
I've been running Ubuntu since v7:04 (Feisty Fawn) and Debian64 before that... Linux has certainly come on in Leaps and bounds this last year.

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The Box said "Windows XP or better" ... So I installed Ubuntu