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Ach! Technical support be here?

Lord RefaLord Refa Creepy, but in a good way
in Zocalo v2.0
First of all.. I think it's time to get rid of the Norton systems they put on my laptop as default, and get real protection. It's like using squirrel skins as condoms.

I need good firewall and virus protection.. Is AVG free still good? Or better ones?

And another thing... I just found out that I have a folder called "System volume information" on my hd. Inside it there's a folder called _Restore... and in it there's lots of folders with RP19, RP20 etc.. In those there seems to be mainly old icons for programs I have already deleted months ago. As well as .rbf files.

Just wondering if it's safe to delete something like that or just burn them on dvd and save that way.

I mean, I am all for saving important files and all, but that folder is 7 gb in size and there doesn't seem to be any day to day importance to any of it.. Especially when there's some icons for games I uninstalled last march.

Comments

  • EclecticonautEclecticonaut Elite Ranger
    AVG's still good, but use Comodo as firewall. Run CCleaner, it's safe.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    we use AVG Free at Work, and never had a problem with it.


    Windows. now that i've been having problems with...

    i'm about 5 minutes away from ditching our windows machines and buying Macs.
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Our uni uses Sophos, a UK based company. Their app is bloated and eats up system resources. As additional protection we have AVG Free and SpyBot.

    Doesn't bother me though since I'm the only mac person in the department.
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    [QUOTE=Entil'Zha;160675]i'm about 5 minutes away from ditching our windows machines and buying Macs.[/QUOTE]

    [URL="http://www.macfixitforums.com/ubbthreads.php?Cat=&C=4"]http://www.macfixitforums.com/ubbthreads.php?Cat=&C=4[/URL]

    You may need it, you just don't know it yet. ;)
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    While I see nothing better at the moment, AVG Free does have its weaknesses. I have repeatedly found a certain type of virus manifesting itself in my system, quietly stealing up resources in the background and attempting to do something I will never be clear on (probably key logging or other data mining).
  • Data CrystalData Crystal Pencil Artist
    I prefer a combination of ZoneAlarm Basic and Avast! or AntiVir as a virus scanner.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I use, and am very happy with, Kaspersky Internet Security. It's small, fast and seems quite robust. I haven't had any virii yet, and it's certainly caught more than a few in incoming spam emails.

    [QUOTE=Lord Refa;160673]And another thing... I just found out that I have a folder called "System volume information" on my hd. Inside it there's a folder called _Restore... and in it there's lots of folders with RP19, RP20 etc.. In those there seems to be mainly old icons for programs I have already deleted months ago. As well as .rbf files.

    Just wondering if it's safe to delete something like that or just burn them on dvd and save that way.

    I mean, I am all for saving important files and all, but that folder is 7 gb in size and there doesn't seem to be any day to day importance to any of it.. Especially when there's some icons for games I uninstalled last march.[/QUOTE]

    This folder is part of the Windows system restore point function. You're seeing it because you have "hide protected operating system files" turned off in the explorer options, which is dangerous even for people who know what they're doing. If you want to save the space that it's using up, go to the system restore settings and clear out a few restore points.
  • wiseguywiseguy Playa
    used norton in the past: made your systems ram disappear into thin air (apparently the new versions are rumoured to be better but..)

    used zonealarm until recently: only the old version 6.1 is largely stable, anything past version 6.5 causes so many problems with so many things (games, pda sync, random crashes, etc)

    using kaspersky now (after biggles mentioned it to me) and all my problems of the last few months are gone. it's running quite smooth *knock on wood*
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    The Gathering of FirstOnes 2!

    Ok, so it's not really a sequel as the first one was just me and PSI-KILLER, but we're in the planning stages now. Details are currently vague and will be expanded upon in the summer, but things are to be straightforward and happy.

    Plot: To get a bunch of us together in a single location and just have a bit of fun doing something interesting.

    Where: Maine

    When: Most likely August 2007, perhaps late July.

    Currently Attending: Me, SataiCallista, Dax (maybe), Entil'Zha (probably)

    This thread will be updated as more details come, but SataiCallista needs to phone a certain family member to get some dates inline :p
  • Random ChaosRandom Chaos Actually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
    Being in IT, I tend to pay attention to antivirus stats. AVG is fairly decent as long as you don't need it catching polymorphic viruses or very recent viruses. They don't have a good heuristics engine, tend to not focus on trojans, and are usually a little behind other vendors in releasing definitions for new viruses. Note that AVG 7.1 was significantly worse than AVG 7.5 in detecting viruses.

    However, it is still a good product, and I have no issues with it. It really isn't much behind McAfee or Norton.

    If you want extremely good protection, go with Kaspersky as Biggles mentioned. It consitantly ranks in the top 2 or 3 suites for polymorphics and detection of new viruses, and tends not to be overzealous the way Norton and McAfee are, and yet better at detecting viruses. But you pay for that: it isn't free, and is in fact fairly pricy. The question is: is your system worth it?

    If you take good security precautions, act intelligently, keep your system patched, have a decent firewall (preferably NOT a software firewall on the same system), you probably don't need a top notch suite. Just don't get the bottom tier (such as Microsoft's OneCare which only detected 82% of viruses in the wild).

    You can compare the products for yourself in terms of detection:
    [URL]http://www.av-comparatives.org/[/URL]

    A couple notes on that site: Proactive is recent (new) viruses, whereas On Demand is of all wild viruses. Also, AVG 7.1 wasn't as good a scanning engine as 7.5, and AVG being free isn't quite as fast at coming out with new definitions.

    --RC
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