Hi,

I have recently bought a new laptop and therefore want to protect it.

It came with a 1 year subscription to McAfee Total Protection 2009.

Im wondering if that will be enough to protect my computer from harmful downloads etc.

I download a lot and open attachments from friends.

I have been reading this site and it seems that AVG and Comodo are popular. McAfee doesn't seem to be recommended often.

Also, i have read that you should only use one anti-virus and firewall so am wondering if i should not use the McAfee but instead download something else.

Any info appreciated.

Thanks. (this seems like a great site)

Hello kaspa and welcome to PCHF.

To some extent your question involves personal preference and you'll get different opinions from different people.

As far as I'm concerned when I get my hands on a factory built laptop (like the Dell my son purchased) the first thing I do is remove all traces of McAfee.

To me it is bloatware and I have about as much love for it as I do a virus.

I have had great success with the free for personal use AntiVir PE from Avira which I use in conjunction with CCleaner which I run regularly and I have my network behind a hardware firewall in that I use a router but my built in XP firewall is also activated.

Combined with relatively safe practices using email and surfing the web I have had no issues and wouldn't change a thing.

I do know a number of people who use Comodo and are happy with it as they feel safer knowing they have it installed.

I'm sure you'll have some other people chime in with their thoughts.

I agree with LoneWolf it is a personal prefrence.

I use AVG8.

I dislike Macafee and agree with LW opinion.

When excepting files from family over the internet you should set your security software to scan these files before opening them.It is safer surfing.Adher to all warnings.

JB.

so if i get AVG 8 then thats all i need?

thanks for the replies, very useful.

Avg 8 should do you fine,just make sure it is updated regular.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com