My wife and I just bought a new computer and I don't know much about computers. I was browsing thru the computer section here and seen that Mcafee was at the top of the list of Don't Use. That's the one we're using. Anyway, I'm protective of this new computer and I'm not sure what to do. Do I download and install a new anti-virus program while Mcafee is still running or would they conflict? I'm just worried about being unprotected. Thanks!
Also, do I need to get a firewall or does that come along with anti-virus?

 

If you are wanting to upgrade, you would be perfectly fine to download the new AV program while the one you have now is running. Just make sure that you uninstall Mcafee before installing the new one. That's where most conflicts come about.

If you're just overly worried you could disconnect from the internet during the uninstall and install process, but it's really not that big of a deal I don't think.

I'm wondering, what AV are you planning on using?

 

I was thinking of Avast free for now until I can afford to buy one. You got any suggestions? Thanks Laramie.

 

Well, I tend to like Kaspersky more than any other out there. For one computer I think you'll pay around $30.00 and about $70.00 for three computers. The nice thing about them is that you can use a 30 day trial key and once you pay for the keys, you just add them in with out having to go through and install/uninstall all over again.

Obviously, this only works if you think you can come up with the bones in 30 days or not.

 

The $30 is a one time charge? Also, does it have a firewall? The reason I ask is I have a teenage son and and I dont want him surfing **** and getting into a mess. LOL Can a firewall block adult sites?

 

The $30.00 is a one time a year charge. That does not include a firewall, but Windows has one built in.

As for keeping the son off sites, then you should be looking into like a proxy since I think a firewall that will do what you want is not going to be cheap. Proxys will allow you to approve or deny where and at what time your son can go certain places on the internet.

Say you want to limit your son's access to youtube where say he can't access it from 2AM until 4AM then you can do that.

Not to get too personal, but I believe that you would be better served "trusting" your child on the internet and simply keeping a log on where and what they do. That is just my thoughts on the topic though.

 

How would I go about keeping a log? Are you talking about checking the temporary internet files? You're probably right about "trusting" him, I just don't want something popping up when my little girl uses the computer and her seeing something she doesn't need to see. By the way, thanks for taking the time to educate me a little about computers.

 

I can certainly understand that.

I know of a lot of people that want to just track where their child goes on the internet and I usually tell them to use Net Nanny. It can be used to just see where the user goes and at what time, or it can be set that only certain websites are allowed to be used at a certain time. I believe it also has key logging abilities that allow you to see what the user typed in anywhere. This includes where we are right now and things like email, Facebook, and IMs.

www.netnanny.com

It should run you about $39.00 for that program.

 

Windows 7, which is what should have come with your new PC, also has some built-in parental controls that are pretty handy. Go ahead and play with them, just remember your master password (don't lock yourself out!).

EDIT: Freebie antivirus programs are fine if you don't mind reformatting your machine every now and then, which means wiping out all your data. Make sure you keep a back-up up to date if you do that. The free AV programs just aren't as effective as the paid stuff.

Also, what did you get for your new machine? (Just curious.)

 

I'm going to go with Kapersky for $30 a year, That's not bad, I was thinking it was going to be more expensive than that. Jason, it does have windows 7, I need to explore it better and find out everything it has. I haven't seen the parental controls yet.
By the way, the computer is a Gateway DX4831 Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 6GB RAM (5.87GB usable) 1000GB hard drive. I have no idea what most of that means, but when we bought it, I told the guy I wanted something pretty fast. Compared to the last one, the difference in speed and everything else is night and day. Only things I didn't like were the internal speakers in the monitor and the cheap keyboard, so I bought external speakers and a wireless keyboard.

Edit: I've been looking online at Kaspersky and I can't seem to find a download for 1-user, I only see 3 or more users. Looking in the wrong place? I was at their website.