In the end one's browser settings will play more into the effectiveness then the actual browser, unless one is running IE 6.0 which has it's issues if it does not have the latest patches.
Update your OS with the latest patches (and often) along with your local software.
Most viruses come from the opening of attachments within emails that look to be legitimate.
Thanks Guys, I've been doing a little research on the subject ever since I learned that search engines such as google will gather your information and hold it for a period of time and it could be turned over to the Feds, I am not doing anything wrong, but its just my business not Obama's. I have a malware software called ad-aware and its ok, but not great. I also would agree download.com is a great place for any new software. Plus I have firefox on my computer, is it really safer than windows?
IMO, these are malware. I use AVG free version and have never had a problem. My father had a problem a while back and after messing around for hours, I finally took the computer to a local shop and paid $65 to have it cleaned.
depends how bad it is....if really bad with pop ups and running really slow...you have to reboot from scratch....I have 14 yr old twins and an 18 yr old with their own computer.....have wiped their drive numerous times....they are not even allowed to get on mine as well as even look at it....they already know not to ask....do not even let them touch the monitor....
Originally Posted by padthaiforlunch
This. It's the best free for cleaning a system.
If you want a software program to protect you from future problems, try Kaspersky.
Kaspersky is one of the better programs. I have used it for several years and never have a problem.
Most of the issues are not passive if you have an active firewall, something other than what comes with Windows. Of course if you do something stupid, like downloading programs or opening emails from people you don't know and clicking on links it does matter what your OS is or what kind of browser.
A Mac won't help if you are running Windows. Your "protection" only works if you are using the Mac OS.
Firefox is good, Chrome is more secure than any other browser.
IE 8 and Windows 7 is a good combo . . . at least for now.
I have never ran any type of malware/virus protection... One day a while back I got a phone call from someone from one of the virus software companies. Norton I believe. He called to let me know that there was an update I should download on their site because a week later a "new virus" was scheduled to come out.
I figure if the company stopping the viruses is working directly with the company creating them that if I just avoid both I should be ok. I never have trouble on my computers like others do.
Use a Mac. There have been some ineffective malware out there for the Mac, but I don't know of anyone who has anti-malware software on their Mac or anyone who has ever been compromised.
Everyone says it's because the Mac is not a large enough "target" to go after. There is some truth to that, but the REAL truth is that infecting a Mac without some form of user-assistance (i.e. installing some software product) it is simply damn hard to write a virus or worm that can penetrate FreeBSD (a variant of Unix) which is the foundation of Mac's OS X.
Windows uses an architecture that is easy to penetrate... witness the tens of thousands of malware out there for it. I could teach any of you how to write a program that could cripple a Windows system in a matter of hours.
I know a number of people who monitor security issues and the hacker message boards. The holy grail of hacker-dom and imortality is waiting for the guy or gal who writes a program that takes down tens of thousands of Macs and Linux machines. There are many hundreds (probably thousands) of malcontents who go to bed each night dreaming the dream of being "the dude" who creates the "Mac killer" program, as their name will live forever in the annals of computer folklore.
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