I saw the good software to have thread, but I am curious what software is really needed for protection. I am setting up a Dell for my parents and I was going to download "AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition" for them from download.com. Is there a better program that is also freeware? I have a "norton confidential" box that I got free from OM a couple of years ago. Is that worth installing? What do you guys think? The computer is on an encrypted home network and will mostly be used for internet browsing and word processing. There are no children using the computer, so I do notwant to filter out content unless it is spyware, viruses, etc. Any info on recommended downloads would be apreciated.

IMO, not antivirus/antispyware product works 100% all the time, but it's certainly something that's necessary. I think whatever you use will be fine.

AVG seems to work well and nicely auto-updates and is lightweight. That's what I've got on all my (and extended family) computers.

Norton tried to get to you pay after a year to let it keep working, plus it's much more of a system hog. Ditto for McAfee.

Thanks guys! Do you think I also need some sort of spyware catcher too or is this enough?

You can have them run spybot or adaware every now and then.

iirc, a few people have recommended spywareblaster to prevent "some" types of spyware from ever getting installed. I've never actually used this, but it could be useful for people who aren't quite as computer savvy.

Edit: Also forgot to mention Windows Defender. It came installed and running on my vista system by default. I never even notice it's running, but i guess that's also some sort of spyware protection as well. Since it hasn't seemed to cause any issues with my system, i just let it do it's thing.

Thanks for the tips!

I actually have been disappointed with AVG. When it finds a virus and it can't repair it, it is not intuitive on how to delete the virus. It's actually annoying to do.

Same here, and I've had issues with Norton & McAffe as well. It will catch a trojan after it's been installed and can't disable the process & delete the file(s). The end user gets endless notifications telling them there's a virus, but no instruction on what to do next.

I thought kaspersky ran pretty well. (At least the version i used through that aol promo.)

I've also used AVG for many years now without issue.

I can't remember the last time i caught a virus with either, so i can't really comment on that part. (Hopefully they're working)

Believe it or not, I'm pretty happy with Windows Live OneCare, which combines Virus Scan, Spyware, Computer upkeep (defrag, disk space cleaner, etc), Backup, and Windows Update checker. Got it free after rebate from Amazon. I use it on my own machine as well as my parent's computer.

Whatever you do, don't get the ZoneAlarm AV, it's a POS. In fact, the entire ZA suite is a bloated POS. Can't believe companies get greedy and destroy what was once a good product.

I use AVAST for the Anti-Virus. It is FREE and we have used it for 2 1/2 yrs and we like it a ton better then AVG. We also use both Spybot and SpywareBlaster. SpywareBlaster does make a difference for us.

I feel the same way. I used to love ZoneAlarm.

On new machines, I usually install AVG Free AV, Lavasoft Adaware, Spybot & Spyware Blaster.

I used to use AVG, but I now just have the Kaspersky suite. I wouldn't pay retail for it, but then, why would you ever pay retail for antivirus software when there's always a rebate?

I've been hearing good things about comodo.....anyone use that?