Anti Virus programs

[Dudley]

My recently purchased laptop has a three months McAfee free trial which is due to expire at the end of the month. Previously helpful AB techies have recommended AVG free which worked great on my last laptop although I purchased the Firewall add-on. Is this still the best bet? Also a friend told me that as I have a NetGear wireless router, I don't need a firewall as this has a firewall built in. Any opinions welcome please.

[Ethel]

You should use a firewall.

As you are used to AVG carry on using that

http://www.filehippo.com/download_avg_antiviru s/

- it works very well with ZoneAlarm firewall, which is also free

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,7228 -order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.htm l

Consider Adaware:
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ad-aware/

and A2 (the third one down is the free version)
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/

All of these are free and work very well together

[ACtheTROLL]

new laptop ... assume Vista
vista has a surprisingly good firewall (but you need to configure it)
Your router will also have some sort of firewall

eth is right ... a software firewall is a good idea (but not vital ... unless you run a bank or work for MI5

personally I'd get me an internet security package ... not free but needn't cost lots

Kaspersky is top dog in the mags at the moment ... and the latest norton is getting some incredibly good writeups
(despite what some others will tell you)
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/224613/symantec-un veils-lightweight-norton-suite.html

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/products.aspx? cat=0&subcat=161&brand=221

[ACtheTROLL]

then again
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Technology/Comp uters/Question674778.html

(but the all in one is still far easier to config correctly)