Complain about a product or service

Free Antibiotics For Your Computer

You Might Be Able to Buy Better, But Why Should You?

By David Wood
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 30, 2007 

Just ask Michael Whitford of Elmwood Park, New Jersey.

“I paid $70.00 for Norton Security to protect my computer. In the blink of an eye a virus came in and wiped out everything I had. I called Norton and the first agent sent me to another who told me I’d need to pay an additional $70.00. I’m not paying more money when the first $70.00 didn’t protect me.”

While Mike was dealing with the fallout from the virus infection, he also had the unenviable task of calling customer service.

“It was hard to be patient when I’m stuck on hold and then when I’m finally able to speak with a rep, I can barely understand them because they're based overseas. With all due respect, am I supposed to learn another language just to get help with my product?”

Mike isn’t the only one who recently had malicious software issues. My computer was infected while I was doing research on spyware programs. I went to a website, was redirected to another, and the rest is history.

One minute my screen was filled with popups and the next minute my computer would freeze to the point of the keyboard being useless. Most of the popups advertised a program that would remove the threat from my computer. However, I knew that the advertised “system cleaner” would do nothing but install more spyware.

Although I considered calling in a priest to perform an exorcism and remove the evil entity from my presence, I finally had no choice but to re-format the hard drive. Not a pretty sight.

While having protection doesn’t guarantee that you won’t experience trouble, not protecting your computer is similar to leaving the house doors open while away on vacation.

You can always pay for quality software to immunize your computer, but there are also free tools available that do a nice job. However, before you start downloading every tool you see, take note of the following recommendation.

Most experts recommend that when it comes to anti-virus and firewall protection, you’re better off running only one of each. However, you can typically run numerous anti-spy ware programs without causing a serious conflict. You should verify this with each company.

Firewall Protection

• ZoneAlarm Firewall (Windows 2000 and XP) -- The Windows operating system comes with a built-in firewall to help protect you from hackers. However, some experts believe that the free ZoneAlarm firewall is a better product.

Anti-Virus

• AVG Anti-Virus -- While it’s one of the better free anti-virus providers, AVG also offers free anti-spyware and anti-rootkit tools for non-commercial use.

• Avira AntiVirus -- An excellent free anti-virus tool that helps protect against worms, viruses, trojans, etc.

Anti-Spyware/Adware

• Windows Defender -- A free spyware tool from Microsoft that offers real-time protection against many threats.

• Spybot Search and Destroy -- Possibly the most well known of the free spyware removal tools. No Windows user should skip this one.

• SpywareBlaster -- SpywareBlaster is another great program that helps to protect you from numerous kinds of malicious software. Make sure you keep it updated.

• Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition -- The free version doesn’t offer real-time protection, but Ad-Aware is a great tool to find spyware that is already installed on your computer.

A Note About Sun Java

This is what may have been the root of my own problem. If you’re using an old version of Java, remove it from your computer and update to the latest version. Older versions of Java can possibly open the door to unwanted visitors.

Update your version at Sun Java.

Or, if you're tired of dealing with software that's a notorious virus magnet, you could check out Ubuntu, a new version of the tried-and-true Linux operating system that is taking the geek world by storm. It's free, comes with just about every program the average user will ever need and it will run on just about any computer. See our review for more info.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.