Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 5/24/2010

Question
Hi Carolyn,
Can you recommend the lightest anti-virus & anti-spyware freeware that is very easy on my computers processing resources?

I have a laptop with windows XP, and 1.5 GHz processor, 32 bit (I think). I use my laptop for internet banking and buying/selling various things from my laptop. I have purchased a copy of Mcafee Internet Security but it slowed my computer down quite considerably, so I have removed it. Hope you can help.

Answer
Oh, no! You may already be in big trouble by operating your computer without an Internet security suite installed. An Internet security suite includes antivirus, anti-spyware, and a firewall. Without all of these, you are in danger of someone stealing your financial data.

My biggest concern here is that your computer is powerful enough that it should have been able to run McAfee's Internet security suite without it slowing your computer down significantly. I worry that before you installed this software, you might have been accessing the Internet without protection. It only takes a few minutes to get your computer infected with malware designed to steal from you. Also, most of these thieves nowadays are large, sophisticated organizations which hire top programmers to design their attack programs. Because of this, some of these programs are designed to interfere with the proper operation of McAfee and other popular antivirus programs. So if one of these cybercrime programs infected your computer before you installed McAfee, then this might account for the slowing of your computer.

Even if you have not yet been alerted to any thefts from your bank etc., this doesn't mean you got away safely from not having an Internet security suite installed. These cybercrime organizations sell passwords etc. to other organizations that specialize in the actual acts of theft. It can take months before stolen passwords etc. are exploited.

Here's how you can protect yourself. First, use the phone or a visit in person to change your banking password(s). Make certain that nothing unauthorized has occurred. If you have passwords that can only be changed over the Internet, then you need to quickly clean your computer of any dangerous programs that might have infected it before changing your passwords.

If you take your computer to a computer repair shop, they almost certainly will "nuke" it. This consists of wiping out everything on it and reinstalling your operating system. This always removes all dangerous infections, but then you have to make certain that you have backed up all your data and you still have the task of reinstalling all your programs without accidentally reinfecting it with malware hidden inside your backup data or programs you downloaded and saved in your backups.

As an alternative to "nuking," here is what almost certainly will work (but not guaranteed):

1) Download either Kapersky Internet Security, which offers a free 30 day trial at http://kapersky.com or F-Secure's Complete Internet security suite, which offers a free thirty day trial: https://store.f-secure.com/cgi-bin/dlreg/ml=EN?ID=FSISTB&desid=TRIAL

2) Disconnect from the Internet.

3) Install one of these Internet Security product. Only install one of them as antivirus programs fight each other can can crash your computer if you run two or more of them. Scan your system and follow any instructions it might give you.

4) Connect to the Internet and download any updates available.

5) Run another complete scan of your computer. Follow any instructions it might give you.

6) Reboot.

After this you can uninstall your trial version of F-Secure or Kapersky and reinstall your McAfee product. If you didn't buy their "Total Protection" product, I advise you to upgrade your purchase. I don't know why some of these companies bother to sell inadequate protection products, but that's life in the corporate suite. Or -- if Kapersky or F-secure worked well for you, you could buy that product when the free trial runs out. Both Kapersky and F-Secure are highly rated.