Make PC 100% safe???

Disconnect from the internet, throw the computer into a safe. Never touch it again...
Now it is 100% safe and all that.

Easiest way is not to go on the internet. Next possible solution is to only browse in Sandboxie. Other than that, a good AV program gives you fair protection, but not 100%.

What logicearth said is, unfortunately true.

Anti-Viruses depend on signatures and behaviors to kill an virus. It is physically impossible to have a AV that catches every singe virus/malware out there.

The reason: When a new virus is released into the wild, it has to be identified.

After identification, samples of it must be submitted to the AV companies to develop a cure. This can take anywhere from several hours to days depending on the complexity of it.

Once the cure is developed, it has to be deployed. The new AV defs will be updated according to user settings. If they get regular updates, they'll get them faster then if they decide they will update their AV defs every week or month.

And staying off the net won't help either depending on how many people have access to a computer. Flash drives can host some nasty viruses.

The best you can do is keep your AV defs up to date, avoid going to sites that have the potential for viruses/malware (sites that have illegal software, cracks, porn, etc.).

Make sure you keep all your programs up to date with the latest patches. Doing this will cut down on the chances of you getting a bug, but not eliminate the possibility.

cemcilfa said:

Which is the best antivirus and virus scanner software in your eyes? Both paid and free??
Many thanks :)

You can check out a list of AV's here:

What's the Best Anti-virus?

Many people in this forum run MSE, which is free.

What you decide to run is up to you. You can look at 10 test results and get 10 different answers.

The best AV is the one you feel comfortable with and keep updated regularly. Remember, your AV does no good if the definitions are out of date by 2 or 3 months.

Please read the following information that I have provided, which will help

you prevent malicious software in the future. Please keep in mind, malware is

a continuous danger on the Internet. It is highly important to stay safe

while browsing, to prevent re-infection.

Software recommendations

Free Antivirus

*Microsoft Security

Essentials: this is Microsoft's free antivirus/antispyware program. It

equips you with protection against viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, and

worms. It is also light on the computer's performance. Note: when installing

this, you have both an antivirus and antispyware. Make sure you also get a

firewall.
*AVG Free: this is one of the most

powerful, and easiest to use security software. The free version equips you

with protection against viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, worms, and

rogue software. Note: when installing this, you have both an antivirus and

antispyware. Make sure you also get a firewall.
* Avast!: This is an advanced malware

removal antivirus program. The free version equips you with protection

against viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, worms, and rogue software.
*Avira Antivir: this is an advanced

malware removal antivirus program. The free version equips you with

protection against viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, worms, and rogue

software.
*Rising Antivirus: this is a

lightweight, and great virus destroyer. It removes tough viruses, and even

rootkits and trojans get destroyed.



AntiSpyware

• 
  
  SpywareBlaster
  SpywareBlaster is a program that prevents spyware from installing on your
  
  computer. A tutorial on using SpywareBlaster may be found
  
  here.
• 
  
  Spybot - Search & Destroy.
  Spybot - Search & Destroy is a spyware and adware removal program. It also
  
  has realtime protection, TeaTimer to help safeguard your computer against
  
  spyware. (The link for Spybot - Search & Destroy contains a tutorial that will
  
  help you download, install, and begin using Spybot).

Anti Malware

*Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

* is a great malware removal program. It is recommended for anyone's

arsenal. There is a paid version, which is highly recommended, but the

program will work fully for free.

Firewall


*

Tallemu Online Armor: The free version is just as good as the

premium. I have linked you to the free version.
* Comodo Firewall:

the free version is just as good as the premium. I have linked you to the free

version. The optional security suite enhances the firewall by 40% increase. If

you would like to install the suite that includes antivirus, then remove your

old antivirus first.
* PC Tools Firewall Plus: Free

and excellent firewall.

NOTE: Please keep ALL of these programs up-to-date and run

them whenever you suspect a problem to prevent malware problems.

Resident Protection help
A number of programs have resident protection and it is a good idea to run

the resident protection of one of each type of program to maintain

protection. However, it is important to run only one resident program

of each type since they can conflict and become less effective. That means

only one antivirus, firewall, and scanning anti-spyware program at a

time. Passive protectors such as SpywareBlaster can be run with any of

them.

Rogue programs help
There are a lot of rogue programs out there that want to scare you into giving

them your money and some malware actually claims to be security

programs. If you get a popup for a security program that you did not install

yourself, do NOT click on it and ask for help immediately. It is very important

to run an antivirus and firewall, but you can't always rely on reviews and ads

for information. Ask in a security forum that you trust if you are not sure. If

you are unsure and looking for anti-spyware programs, you can find out if it

is a rogue here:
Spyware Warrior: Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites

Securing your computer

• Windows Updates - It is
  
  very important to make sure that both Internet Explorer and Windows
  
  are kept current with the latest critical security patches from
  
  Microsoft. To do this just start Internet Explorer and select Tools >
  
  Windows Update, and follow the online instructions from there.
• ******* file replaces your current
  
  HOSTS file with one containing well known ad sites and other bad sites. This
  
  prevents your computer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them
  
  to 127.0.0.1, which is your local computer's loopback address, meaning it
  
  will be difficult to infect your computer in the future.

Please consider using an alternate browser
Mozilla's Firefox browser is a very good alternative. In addition to being

generally more secure than Internet Explorer, it has a very good built-in

popup blocker and add-ons, like NoScript, can make it even more secure.

Opera is another good option.

If you are interested:

• Firefox may be downloaded from here: Mozilla | Firefox web browser & Thunderbird email client
• Opera is available here: Opera Web Browser | Faster & safer | Download the new Internet browsers free
• Google Chrome is available here:
  
  Google Chrome
• SRWare Iron is available here:
  
  
  
  SRWare Iron

Virtualization
Please consider using virtualization software to prevent permanent changes

to other programs and data in your computer. Some examples are below:

Application level virtualization (For regular users)

*Sandboxie-Sandboxie runs

your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making

permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

[img]

http://www.sandboxie.com/img/FrontPage/FrontPageAnimation.gif[/img]

Benefits of the Isolated Sandbox
* Secure Web Browsing: Running your Web browser under the protection

of Sandboxie means that all malicious software downloaded by the browser

is trapped in the sandbox and can be discarded trivially.

* Enhanced Privacy: Browsing history, cookies, and cached temporary

files collected while Web browsing stay in the sandbox and don't leak into

Windows.

* Secure E-mail: Viruses and other malicious software that might be hiding

in your email can't break out of the sandbox and can't infect your real

system.

* Windows Stays Lean: Prevent wear-and-tear in Windows by installing

software into an isolated sandbox.

System level virtualization (For advanced users)

*VirtualBox- VirtualBox is a powerful

x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home

use. VirtualBox is an extremely feature rich and high performance product .

*

Wondershare Time Freeze-Virtual system safeguards real system
# Easy switch between virtual system and real system: To enter virtual

system, you don't need to reboot computer; to return to real system, just

exit System Protection, and you can save or discard virtual system data

freely.
# Effective virtual system tool: Time Freeze creates a virtual environment as a

twin (copy) of the real system, on which you evaluate applications, watch

movies, and perform online activities. While the real system is under

protection, you no longer have to worry about viruses, spyware, malware

and other threats.
# MBR protection: Time Freeze 2.0.3 enhanced protection to the boot sector

of hard disk so as to guarantee the normal startup of system.




Happy surfing and stay clean!