So my mother has a Dell laptop with XP. She is doing a lot of school work on it and a lot of researching online for her masters degree. She is starting to learn her way around with understanding what spyware, viruses, and stuff like that is after having to sit down and explain why her rig is acting up.

Well she has some sort of issues, most likely a trojan. I didn't have enough time to sort it out last night as I am leaving town here in a couple of days. I have had AVG free edition on her machine to keep the bad stuff out. It has caught a few bugs that have tried to get on there. She also run Ad Aware religiously to try and keep spyware out. But I have lost faith in that program long ago.

I need to purchase her an all-in-one kit for her to stay safe with. I have pretty much left the pc repair business as it was wasting my time. I myself can keep myself safe on an XP machine but that is due to YEARS of experience. Plus reformats every 3 months due to XP being sluggish. Anyways, I have been looking at this Eset all in one software from Newegg. Thoughts?

I use Eset for almost all of my rigs as I have had the best success with it. Now so help me if you suggest Norton you are NOT that smart with PCs. Yes, I even hate their corporate software.

 

I've used Eset Nod32 for years and recommend it to anyone that asks. I haven't tried the all in one package but if it's from Eset I would pick that over any other one if I was going to purchase one. I might even try it myself once my Nod32 subscription runs out.

 

I just now looked at the Smart Security package. I would pass on that for myself and just get the newest Nod32 AV. The only things extra in the other package are a firewall and anti-spam thing. I don't care for any more firewalls.

I would think Nod32 AV and SpyBot S&D (free) would suffice and maybe throw in a weekly or monthly free online scan of Xblock.

I would also make sure she knows how to request Remote Assistance so you can help her out if she really gets in a bind and you can't make it over.

 

Been using Eset for a while now. Before that it was F-secure. It works well, but caused a bit of a slowdown. Another one I have seen listed as good is Avira.

For a comparison of AV products (does not include the firewall parts) take a look at http://www.av-comparatives.org/.

 

I use Kaspersky anti virus but they do make a suite as well. I have found it to work great, they are one of the few comapnies that are especially fast in responding to a new virus outbreak, they do updates very frequently, this would be my suggestion.

 

www.malwarebytes.org has an excellent free malware remover.

 

Using Norton makes one "Not that smart with PC's" is a pretty big statement...I personally hate Norton for the resource drain and there are faster lighter programs but it does a fair job and is no better or worse than some you mentioned that are free.

Something you said makes me wonder...Do you actually reformat every 3 months?

Anyway the bottom line with any spyware is that it is set to frequently up-date on a regular basis....I did notice you never mentioned upgrading software in your post.

Also anti-virus/spyware is only as good as the way you use the internet and heed the warnings when you are about to have problems.
Updates are just as or more important than what you use.

 

I have since moved to OSx and have ZERO issues with it. Although I still take care of family.

Yes I used to reformat about every three months. Constantly downloading of software, games, etc. takes its toll on the registry and Temp file installations. Windows has always self destructed for me. So just popping in my cloned installation when things turn south.

I updated my mother AVG, Ad Aware, and Zonealarm installations with no reprieve to the problems. Her windows install is on 2 years and she is due for a reformat to get things back to normal.

As for the Norton comment, I still stand by that. I do not know of any free packages of software that kill a system so fast as Symantec.

 

I dont disagree that Norton has it's issues for high power users but for the average and less knowledgeable user their freeware software kept updated is fair as far as freeware goes.

I understand the reformat if you are a heavy downloader but this program has helped me out of most jams in windows xp. It is not for the beginner.

It's called Autoruns 9.35. Made by a company called systernals.

http://www.download.com/1770-20_4-0....type=downloads

Ever heard of or use it?

 

A better link with more info...

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb963902.aspx

 

It used to be Sysinternals, until MS bought them up. You will now find all their stuff on the MS site.

Not sure that is a good thing.

 

Not sure either since I noticed the change in websites.

I use an older version to avoid and remove hidden auto run programs running in xp. It's been a while since I looked it up or used it.
I have a list of do's and don'ts to avoid predictable problems.

It was a step I used before the last resort reformat/reinstall routine.

 

I use a little tiny free program called regprotect to keep things from inserting themselves in my Run key that I don't want. Only uses 164k running in the background. I also use an old version of StartCop to manage the things that are already in the Run key.

 

I utilize Acronis for my backups.

I used to do a LOT of tinkering, tweaking, investigating when I was a PC user. I learned that way and broke a lot of stuff along the way too. It is a shame that you have to utilize so many tricks, tips, and third party software tools to keep your machine safe/quick/secure.

On a side note, I swung by Circuit City for the Kaspersky 3-user Security Suite which was $80 bucks with a $80 MIR. I just hope that I can get the rebate before the bankruptcy kicks in.

Food for thought: Ever tried Tuneup Utilities? That is my kind of stuff right there.

 

I like Acronis and make a new image every few weeks.