A number of experts agree that the *retail* AV version of McAfee, Norton
and Trend Micro has become cumbersome and bloated for the average user.
Haven't got any experience concerning f-secure.
You may wish to try to create your own suite, most apps are free, are
highly regarded and have a proven track record:
Real-time AV applications (choose one (1) only).
Do not utilize more than one (1) real-time anti-virus scanning engine!
Disable the e-mail scanning function during installation (Custom
Installation on some AV apps.) as it provides no additional protection. In
fact, most of experts (incl. Norton) believe that scanning incoming and
outgoing mail causes e-mail file corruption.
Avira AntiVir® PersonalEdition Classic - Free
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html
Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
(Choose Custom Installation and under Resident
Protection, uncheck: Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange.)
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
http://free.grisoft.com/
ESET NOD32 Antivirus - Not Free
http://www.eset.com/
Have you seen these "extra settings for NOD32"?
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=37509
On-demand AV application (add it to your arsenal and use it as a "second
opinion" av scanner).
BitDefender10 Free Edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html
A-S applications (grab'em all).
The effectiveness of an individual AV A-S scanners can be wide-ranging and
oftentimes a collection of scanners is best. There isn't one software that
cleans and immunizes you against everything. That's why you need multiple
products to do the job i.e. overlap their coverage - one may catch what
another may miss.
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
Ad-Aware - Free
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html
Spybot Search & Destroy - Free
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
(I don't use the Immunisation function and TeaTimer application)
Windows Defender - Free (build-in in Vista)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Interesting reading:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136195/article.html
"...Windows Defender did excel in behavior-based protection, which detects
changes to key areas of the system without having to know anything about
the actual threat."
Some more useful applications:
Spyware Blaster - Free
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Rootkit Revealer - Free
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.mspx
Crap Cleaner _ Free
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender"
CW Shredder - Free
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Popup-Ad-Spyware-Blockers/CWShredder.shtml
You are not going to find anything better than the Vista FireWall and
Vista
in itself due to the advanced features the FW and Vista are using.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0905.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/network/WFP.mspx
Jesper's Blog
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/archive/2007/07/19/at-least-this-snake-oil-is-free.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/jesper_johansson/archive/2006/05/01/426921.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/VistaFirewall/default.aspx
"If you try to block outbound connections from a computer that's already
compromised, how can you be sure that the computer is really doing what
you
ask? The answer: you can't. Outbound protection is security theater-it's a
gimmick that only gives the impression of improving your security without
doing anything that actually does improve your security. This is why
outbound protection didn't exist in the Windows XP firewall and why it
doesn't exist in the Windows VistaT firewall."
Vista Firewall Control
http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/
Ensure that you OS is current/updated/patched.
http://www.update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us
Ensure that *all* software on your pc is current/updated.
Practice Safe-Hex
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
Good luck and stay safe