so one of those geek squad guys at best buy told me that if i want the best anti-virus program, i have to get one from a company known for anti-virus programs and the best anti-spyware would be a different company who specialize just in that. basically, there’s no one brand i could buy, that could do both and match the two separate programs in quality. is this true? or was this guy just trying to sell me an extra program when one could do both and be is just as good? i don’t know if it matters but he recommended web root (spyware) and trend (anti-virus).
Essentially this is true. I will agree on the Webroot being the best anti-spyware but I don’t recommend purchase of anti-spyware when there are so many good free ones.
No single anti-spyware application is perfect so I recommend using at least 2 different programs. SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes are two of the best. Other free anti-spyware programs would be Spybot Search & Destroy, Adaware, AVG Anti-spyware (formally Ewido), A-squared, Spyware Terminator and SpywareBlaster.
Kaspersky and NOD32 are the best anti-virus programs available. I use NOD32 because it’s lighter on my system than Kaspersky. Either of these programs are highly recommended. Recent tests prove Kaspersky and NOD32 are better than the best sellers Norton and McAfee.
Norton is rubbish, it’s notoriously bloated and likes to take over your system. Trend Micro Antivirus is a viable alternative if you’re having a lot of trouble with software conflicts. Trend Micro rounds out the top three. BitDefender is very good as well, but gives a high number of false alarms.
The most popular free anti-virus programs (AVG and Avast) have poor detection rates (82.82%, 87.46% respectively). If you want a free anti-virus Avira has higher detection rates than AVG or Avast! (94.26%).
I strongly recommend using FireFox, it’s a far better and safer alternative to Internet Explorer. If you add-on McAfee SiteAdvisor, it will warn you of potentially harmful sites. I also recommend CCleaner which is a free system optimization and privacy tool.
I use one program for both and it works fine for me. I can’t speak for others but I use the top program at http://www.spyware-fix.net and am able to fight both spyware and viruses alike.