I have avg free anti virus and CAN NOT afford anything that costs. I previously had mcafee antivirus. ?

[lolita i]

My computer has slowed down quite a bit and won't let me do some things like update facebook or check my gmail account-it stalls and then I have to push a button for a slower connection. I did a full computer scan that cam back clean of viruses. What is wrong with my computer? Mozilla seems to be acting up quite a bit.

[mermeliz]

Chances are the virus that you have might have managed to disable your AVG. I replaced my AVG with another freeware anti-virus program a few months ago and like it better than AVG it's called Avast:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

I also use a secondary program to help get stuff that Avast may miss called 'Spybot - Search & Destroy':
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-am...d=10861988

[Soccer Dave]

How to remove Fake Software, Spyware, Trojans and Viruses:

Download, install, update and scan your computer with both SuperantiSpyware and Malwarebytes, delete what ever they find, if this fails to completely remove the virus/spyware download then update Avast and run a boot scan (click schedule boot-time scan and restart your PC), all the software below is free and safe to use.

SuperantiSpyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/

Malwarebytes: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Avast Anti-Virus: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

To protect your PC in the future you need to use anti-virus software and a firewall, id recommend using Avast and Comodo Pro firewall both are very effective and completely free, you should also switch to Firefox 3 if you are browsing with IE as its much safer. (links on my profile)

[arouge1786]

There are a few choices when it comes to security, mainly in the AntiVirus department. Some very good, free anti-viruses available to download are:

1) AVG 8 AntiVirus. Easiest interface to use, very fast scanning and doesn't lag your computer at all. Only has a 76% detection rate, but catches the most harmful of viruses. If you're a normal home user, you're not in too much danger of higher level viruses and this is the AV for you:
http://www.free.grisoft.com

2) Avast! 4 AntiVirus. Smaller, sleeker skin, average scanning speed, but reports alot of safe files as viruses, so you might need to watch out for that. 78% detection rate, but alot more complicated than most other free AVs. Use this if you are handy with a computer and you know what needs to be scanned:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

3) Avira AntiVirus. Simple layout, which even the most basic of users can navigate. Incredibly fast scanning, with a 90% detection rate. Not as easy on the eyes as other AVs, and you need to know what you're doing to get the more advanced features, but it is definite a candidate:
http://www.free-av.com/en/download/index.html
Personally I use AVG, but only because I go for the easier interface. If you are paranoid about viruses then the only real option is Avira. But if you just want normal protection, then any of the three will do it for you.

For any spyware problems, get SpyBot - Search and Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
And for protecting your computer for malware or tracking cookies, use Ad-Aware 2008 Free Edition:
http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

All of them are free, as powerful as paid programs, like McAfee and Norton (which only has an 18% detection rate!), and don't use up as many resources.
Just boot into Safe Mode (Press F8 when turning on the computer) and run full scans.

Hope that helps.