computer qustion

[chefkate]

i bought a new laptop last week at best buy. (sony vaio)
they want to charge me $40 to "optomize" it. meaning....clean up microsoft bugs and change settings.
i am NOT a techie and i dont know if this is necessary.
any opinions?

ETA - I spelled question wrong!!! I hate that!!!

 

[chefkate]

one more related question....

what is/are the best thing(s) to put on my laptop for spyware/virus protection?

thank you so much!!

 

[materialsgirl]

Kate, I would save my $40 for something worthwhile if I were you. Unless you're going to be doing heavy-duty graphics or video processing, or hardcore gaming (and you really don't strike me as a hardcore gamer ), there's really no need to pay someone to "optimize" your computer... and even if you were a power user, your money would be better spent elsewhere. A brand new computer should be pretty much already optimized for the average user, so I can't imagine what Best Buy is going to do for you that's worth $40. Ahhhh, Best Buy, always trying to make a buck...

And regarding anti-virus/spyware protection... well, the best defense I've found is using a Mac instead of a PC. But that doesn't really help you. I don't really know much about anti-virus software these days... but at work, they have Symantec anti-virus on all of our PC's. *shrug*

 

[chefkate]

thank you emily! i had a feeling it would be wasting $.
now, i havent opened my laptop box yet so i suppose i can return it.....
why is a mac better?

 

[melimcn]

Hi Kate,
ITA, unless they are going to wipe your hard drive of all of the "trial" versions of software, I would pass on it. You can set Microsoft to do automatic updating on it's own.

As for Software, Symantec AV is the most common, but it can take up a LOT of space on your hard drive and slow things down.
Any antivirus program will ultimately do the trick as long as you make sure that it stays updated and runs scans on a fairly regular basis.

 

[chefkate]

melimcn, oh! that was one thing he mentioned they would do - get rid of the trial offers. so, shoot! i guess i should go havethat done!

 

[ImFiddY]

System Mechanic is a decent program to help remove programs that get in your startup and slow down your system. It also will help fine tune it.

I personally do not like Norton or Macafee virus software. Avast has a free version that I've been trying out. I purchased CA anitvirus with a rebate last year and it worked fine for me.

 

[materialsgirl]

why is a mac better?

Most viruses and spyware specifically target the Windows OS, since the vast majority of computers are PC's running Windows. Thus, Macs are (for now), almost completely immune to viruses and spyware (the same is true for Linux OS as well, if I'm not mistaken). I don't even need to run an anti-virus program on my Mac. Now, this could change as Mac continues to gain popularity, but I don't think it will be a real concern for Mac users any time soon.

Also, you can delete those trial offers yourself. Sooooo not worth $40. All you have to do is uninstall those trial programs. It will take you 5 minutes, tops. Do you really want to pay someone $40 for 5 minutes of work???

 

[NinjaMom]

Kate- My DS works at Best Buy and I'm gonna give him hell for this Just kidding! I agree with Emily. Keep your $40...you can do this yourself.

For anti-virus, I recommend AVG Anti Virus free edition software. See link below to download from CNET

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Vi...contentBody;mostPopTwoColWrap&cdlPid=11006019

For spyware, I use Ad Aware which is also free and can be downloaded from CNET

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-An...contentBody;mostPopTwoColWrap&cdlPid=10998841

You can go to Microsoft's website and have your computer scanned for missing updates and download whatever is missing. Also, you can set up your computer to automatically update and install updates when available. (I prefer to be notified of updates and install them myself so I can control what gets installed on my computer) It is easy to remove the free trials put on your computer using add/remove programs option.

HTH

 

[melimcn]

melimcn, oh! that was one thing he mentioned they would do - get rid of the trial offers. so, shoot! i guess i should go havethat done!

You can do this yourself, if you want. It's really easy. I would take a look at the "trial" icons on your desktop when you boot up. Then go into "Set Program Access and Defaults" under your start menu.
When you open that up, you'll have an option on the left hand side of the window that comes up to "Change or Remove Programs". Scroll through the list for the softwares you want to get rid of, and you can delete them out yourself.

Save the $40! It's a process that takes about 10 minutes, depending on how much you want to remove.

 

[chefkate]

you gals are so helpful!!
this is wonderful! thank you!!!