Best Free Antivirus?

[Burgundy Burner]

MSE is good to have and I recommend CC Cleaner as well. I would still keep malwarebytes and run the free version about once a month or so. It seems to find the occasional spyware items that others can't find.

Run CC about once a month too. And like Lanky said, defrag periodically - depending on usage. I set mine to do so about once every two weeks and let it run overnight.

 

[Ax]

I'd be curious to know what's on the start-up list too.

 

[tshile]

T, I have removed Spyhunter and Malwarebytes and McAfee, and installed MSE.

The laptop is a Toshiba, 2GB RAM, AMD Sempron SI-42 2.10GHx.

Does that help?

Absolutely.

Are you running windows XP or windows 7? The reason I ask is because of your memory. With windows XP 2 GB is a good amount of memory for running the operating system (windows XP) as well as antivirus software; but once you start adding to that it gets bogged down (obviously browsing the internet and using microsoft office don't really force this. playing games, using graphic/programming software, etc does)

If you're running windows 7 then I believe we've found your problem. 2 GB of memory is really really low for windows 7 - sure, it'll run, but it's going to be frustrating to use at times. If your laptop is only two years old I'm willing to be it's a good chance you're running windows 7 with 2 GB of memory. If that's the case then this is good news, because the fix is cheap and easy. Just bump yourself to 4 GB and you should be fine (I'm currently running 8 but i do some pretty intense programming on my system )

To check your version (if you're not sure) click on the start button, and in the right column of the start menu you should see "My Computer" or "Computer". Right click on that and choose "Properties". In the menu that pops up you should see a section called "Operating System" and it should tell you what you're running.

There's a slight chance you're running Vista which could be a problem as well. I liked Vista but it ran like ass

 

[Lanky Livingston]

T, wasn't that the major problem with Windows Vista? They tried to force it through on machines that weren't ready for it, and hence it got all bogged down and crappy.

 

[Goaldeje]

Yep, Windows 7 Home Premium. So do I need to add more RAM?

Ax, I am checking msconfig now, it does look like there are a LOT of startup programs.

 

[Ax]

Make sure you know what they are before un-checking any. You can Google up a number of sites with descriptions of them.

 

[Goaldeje]

Yep. Most of them look like manufacturers crap according to google. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[tshile]

T, wasn't that the major problem with Windows Vista? They tried to force it through on machines that weren't ready for it, and hence it got all bogged down and crappy.

There were two major problems with windows vista:
1 - Microsoft pushed it out before it was ready. This is a problem across all software from OS's to video games. It's a mentality society has adopted and the manufacturers are following it to keep the money coming in.

The second problem was equally important and may have been the bigger reason for Vista's failure, though it's hard to know for certain:

2 - Hardware manufacturers (read: HP, Dell, Sony, Acer, Asus, MSI, et al) basically bullied Microsoft (the irony) into lowering the specs for Vista. This allowed them to take a bunch of machines that were XP-ready, throw Vista on them, and sell them as 'Vista Compatible' computers. This just destroyed the OS in terms of being stable and reliable. It also exacerbated the problem mentioned in #1.

They tried to do it again with windows 7 and microsoft told them to go **** themselves and was very very hard on hardware manufacturers. That combined with addressing #1 led to a very stable, amazing OS in windows 7.

Yep, Windows 7 Home Premium. So do I need to add more RAM?

Ax, I am checking msconfig now, it does look like there are a LOT of startup programs.

Awesome! thats a really really easy fix. You definitely need more memory, 2 GB is extremely low.

http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements/

If you're running 64 bit you're at the bare minimum requirements.

The good news is RAM is cheap. The bad news is you can get ripped off if you buy it at best buy

How comfortable are you with buying and installing your own memory?

Also, what is the model of the toshiba? I'll get you some links to what memory to buy and see if i can find some installation instructions on line.

edit: You'll also benefit from cleaning out the startup stuff.

 

[Goaldeje]

Tell ya what, I'll pm you the details so we don't bog down the thread. Thanks for the help, everyone!

 

[Neophyte]

Goal, just remember that if you are running the 32-bit version of the OS, you cannot use more than 3GB of RAM on that hardware no matter how much RAM you put in it. It is a limitation of the OS and the AMD processor you are running.

And I think checking both the Start Up group and the Run key (both for the machine and the user) would be a good idea. If the machine ran faster when you got it then it does now, it is very possible you have extra programs starting that take resources that you don't know about or need.

 

[Goaldeje]

I did the Start Up Group, what's the run key?

 

[Neophyte]

It's in the Registry. If that sounds daunting to you, I will stop right there.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Thanks for all the responses, people!

 

[Elephant]

MacPro! "Nuff said!

 

[Ax]

MacPro! "Nuff said!

Pffft!

Mac & Cheese maybe.

 

[Goaldeje]

MacPro! "Nuff said!

Yup, had one for years and loved it. But some asshat at work spilled water all over it, and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the replacement prices. It's actually cheaper to buy a windows machine every two years than have a Mac for 5 years (how long mine lasted).

 

[tshile]

I love how people swear MACs are virus proof!
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you should see how many think their iphone/android devices are virus proof.

people do banking on their phones and it freaks me out.

 

[Nobody]

I love how people swear MACs are virus proof!
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My brother, who works for Apple, quit spewing this BS when I forwarded him some interesting news stories contradicting this constant claim of the fan boys

 

[Nobody]

Thats a scary thought. I can't imagine what little possible benefit there is to using something like this is worth the risk of it inadvertently removing something it shouldn't have...

You can't inadvertently remove anything with it. It only removes files you have already previously deleted and cleared out of the recycling bin. It's error proof.

A good example....I used to have lots of music, movies, pics, etc. stored on my system. When I got an external HD to put them on, I no longer needed them eating up the space on my system, so disk redactor did what simply deleting them wouldn't, and cleared up over 2GB of space. I still defrag once a week, but disk redactor removes what simple deleting and defragging doesn't.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Ex I could be wrong, but to your computer its the same if they are marked to be over written or permanently deleted. Maybe it can write to empty space slightly faster, but I doubt its noticeable. Most of those permanent deletion things are for security purposes. Even then, a good forensics guy can probably still get most of it off.
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