i just had to remove a malicous virus from my pc. it was called etlrlws and is really nasty get those firewalls up girls xx

The internet is nasty if you haven't got your PC protected!

AVG free edition & Zone alarm I recommend & Ccleaner for spring cleaning on a weekly basis at least

DH and I both use AVG (for years) and had absolutely no problems with it. DH works in the computer industry and seems to think it's a decent product (one of the better free anti-virus programs that you can get)

Never heard anyone say AVG is crap! If you ran it beside other virus runners then no surprise also a big mistake people make is Norton now that DOES f up your PC and most PCs have them on by default (need to uninstall the default program from add/remove). Failing a conflict in programs I'd say it was nothing to with anything other than your activity & knowledge of computers.

AVG has removed viruses from my PCs over time no other would do without a BIG expense yet the expsense would have been on a maybe.

Everyones told Norton is its the worst out imo (& many others) - But I listen & take note of those who are in the know and have high experience and knowledge of PCs.

I work in IT and recommend AVG to everyone I know.

We've got it on our home pc, so that must mean something.

And I agree with Wobbles about Norton. It came pre-installed on our pc, I uninstalled it immediately, and there are no references to it anywhere. But whenever I open Word or Excel, I get a box pop up to register Norton! It's got itself hidden in the registry somewhere, I just can't find it!

Grab and try this if you havent already

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/englis...moval_Tool.exe

I plan on doing a overall help post when i get the chance for AV & anti-spyware protection.

Regards
Nath

I was thinking of asking Stu or you about that haha

Are you lurking

I used to have a Mac and Norton is the only thing i've ever known to feck it up!! stay away from Norton, because it's crap. AVG is excellent, I use that and CCleaner and would recommend both. If AVG made your machine slow, id guess it was your laptop rather than AVG.. sometimes my computer is a little slower whilst scanning but not too noticable.
I think I just use the standard firewall, and it hasn't let me down so far - touch wood.

@Wobbles - v cute avatar!! made me laugh, shes like "oh god mum.. more photos"

I have experience and some input I could add to the discussion.

Norton Antivirus isn't about being effective nowadays. It's detection rate is average and completely bogs your system down; it requires too many system resources to run. Don't use it !

I never have used AVG as for I have ways of obtaining software otherwise, so I never went for the free virus protection.

I'd recommend using Kaspersky Antivirus or NOD32 as they've been rated the two best scanners as of 2007. For adware and spyware, I'd recommend using Ad-aware for easy yet effective removal.

Just my two cents. You don't have to agree or go along with it, out of my experience and research, they have convinced and been proven the best.

- Richard