What security programs whould I install for a laptop?

tony kop77

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
6,693
Reaction score
424
Points
1,168
Age
48
Location
Northamptonshire
My laptop is due to arrive soon and would like to know what programs you recomend to protect it from trojans etc. I have AVG on my desktop PC will I be able to download it agaian and use the same e-mail address that I used for my desktop?
I have AVG and I use windows xp firewall will this be ok for the laptop? I will be using a wireless router obviously to go on line and have put a password to stop other people sharing my bandwidth via my router is there any other programs I should consider?
CCleaner, Registry Mechanic, AdAware Profesional and Search and Destroy are these programs also worth installing?

PS I have Half life 2 which is already installed on to my desktop can I install it to my laptop as well?
 
Sure, carry on using AVG for your laptop. If it ain't broke...

About firewalls. If the Microsoft one works for you, go for it. Never run more than one firewall - there can be conflicts. I have Zone Alarm Pro on this PC. When I get my laptop, I plan to use Comodo (rave review in US PC Mag - google) as I'm tired of ZL incessant pop-ups

For spyware and adware, use Spywareblaster, Spybot and AdAware

5 programs, that's it. Don't visit 'adult' sites so much and you should be virus and spyware free ;) :D :smashin:
 
LOL I dont visit porn sites and I dont use shareware such as Kazza etc. I am dubious about installing stuff at times because something wont come off even though you go to programs and uninstall.
Half Life is a game I would like to buy but I had it on old PC untill it started playing up and had to download stream which was a bit of a nightmare. I keep thinking the more programs and more security programs I put on the more I slow the machine down. Do I worry too much :D

Thanks for your advise I will install them programs, I will be using a wireless router obviously and I have a password set up for it is there anything more I should do to protect from others sharing my bandwidth?
 
Search General Chat - there was a thread about a copper I think stealing someone's internet - it had some advice

See the 2 stickies at the top here (theming and best free software stickies)

Might as well have fun :p If you're getting the Acer I think you are look at the acer section of the forum in link above to see which bloatware others get rid of. Or reformat with your own XP disc :) Do make sure you make a driver disc if Acer don't give you one
 
Is it worth partioning the hard drive? I was thinking of breaking it up into sectors as it is a 100 gig hard drive and putting 10 gig for pics 60 gig for gaming etc or does this slow the machine down?
 
Ebuyer's great! Look out for items that are highly reviewed. Most people there know what they are talking about, so many potential problems can be found out pre-purchase.

As for partitioning the drive, I wouldn't bother. You might exceed your allowances for certain things, plus, if you want to change it all, you might have to reformat the drive. When I got my PC, I thought I'd keep things organised, it soon went to pot.

An idea you can use is seperate accounts on windows, that way you can change the windows settings to reflect what performances you want!
 
Thanks for your help, just as the pc gets older you start getting files you dont know what they are or where they come from :D The Acer got good reviews at ebuyer but people on another forum (not a computer or av related forum) that Acer are not very good and components are poor and customer service is poor :(
My one year warrenty is with Ebuyer if that helps.
Is there any advice people can give me to keep the laptop running at a fast speed when I get it tomrow and everything tidy?

First thing I will do is install the programs LFC recomended.
 
crazzy kopite said:
Is there any advice people can give me to keep the laptop running at a fast speed when I get it tomrow and everything tidy?

Buy a Mac :) Or, don't install anything on it :)

A clutter free tip is that when you install programs a lot of them say - Would you like to have a desktop icon, quick launch icon, system tray icon? No to all of these keeps loading times short and the desktop clutter free! Personally I have one icon on my desktop, the recycle bin!

Defrag it regularly, keep checking "Add/Remove Programs" for things you no longer want. Another useful thing is to create system restore points frequently, so that if anything does go wrong you are able to restore back to a previous time and not go back more than a week or so! If you have digital pictures, movies etc, why not move them to DVD's - free up loads of space!
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom