My current line of defense against computer threats

Depending on which of the 3 computers I am currently working on, on any given day I have several different programs running to protect my computers.

One of my computers at work has the antivirus software McAfee. http://www.mcafee.com/us/
This same computer also runs Ad-Aware and has a firewall and has the Internet Explorer security zones set to a very high level.

My other computer at work has the antivirus software Vipre. http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/home-home-office/vipre/
This computer also runs Ad-Aware and has the same firewall and Internet Explorer security zones.

My personal computer at home has the antivirus software NOD32. http://www.eset.com/
This computer also runs Ad-Aware. For the last few months we have been visiting housecall http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ since my teenage son downloaded a little virus.

With the three different antivirus I use on a daily basis at this time I prefer Vipre. Vipre has not locked up my computer while updating its definitions which is something that happens consistantly with McAfee.

I feel I am pretty secure with all the security that we have implemented on our computers. But with the virus a few months ago I know the only true security is knowledge.

Installing and Running my first scan on Ad-Aware

Ad-Aware is very simple to install. Once you have downloaded Ad-Aware you will be walked through a very simple installation process.

After installation Ad-Aware will update to its most current rev. with the Update Manager. For me this was the longest part of the whole installation. (I sat for about 15 min thinking maybe I should just go to lunch and it would be done when I got back but before I even get my coat on it was complete. )

The Ad-Aware Icon will now be on your desktop its just that easy.

Open up the Ad-Aware program by double clicking on the icon and the following screen will be displayed:

Click on the green circle in the middle of the screen to get to the scan window.

The following will be displayed here you can choose what type of scan you want done.

--A smart scan will do a quick scan of all the critical areas. While a Full scan will do a more detailed scan of your whole computer.

When the scan is complete you will get a window like this. My whole scan took a little over 7 min.

You can see a more detailed list of the object Ad-Aware has found and what their recommended action is by clicking on the double arrow down button.

If you agree with the recommended action. Then all you need now to do is click the green button. To change any of the recommended actions simple click on the arrow down button next to the action for a list of alternatives.

Once the action is complete you will get a screen telling you that you were successful.

For the basic computer user that is all you really need to know to get your computer protected.

For the more advance user, Ad-Aware offers a whole bunch of options to set up Ad-Aware to your liking.

Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition 8.0 Review

Today for this class I am installed the Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition 8.0 on my work computer. On my personal computer I have been running Ad-Aware for the last 4 or 5 years. I have always enjoyed the ease of use of Ad-Aware and hope this anniversary edition is just as easy to use.