Posted on 04/01/2011 6:06:54 PM PDT by PinkChampagneonIce
I am seriously in need of some FReeper help in the computer department. For several years I have used the free Avast! virus protection program on my home computer. A few days ago I began receiving pop-up notices that my subscription was about to expire. I tried to download the newest free version, but I am on dial-up, and the download time is over eight hours. I lost my connection at six hours and gave up. Then I tried to contact Avast! However, in order to put in a "ticket" I have to be registered. I input my info and was informed I would receive an e-mail instructing me on how to complete registration so I could submit a question, but no e-mail ever came. Did it again, nothing. I have no trouble receiving other e-mails. The Avast! website gives a telephone number for customer service, but it doesn't seem to be in this country.
What to do? I like Avast! and have been happy with their program. I would like to keep my current version. But I can't communicate with them and that makes me nervous.
Am looking forward to some good advice on what to do now to protect my computer from viruses/malware.
As a member of the Avast forums, reply is on private e-mail.
Do you have a friend, relative or acquaintance that has a high-speed connection that can down load a copy, put it on CD and mail it to you?
Most commercial products have a 30 or 60 day trial and you might as well make lemonade out of lemons and try some other vendors, comparing:
-features / interface
-speed, accuracy, ability to deal with threats
-resource conservation (i.e. not a memory/cpu hog)
-e-mail, live chat and/or phone support
If you don’t like a particular product, move on with no regrets.
The industry ‘leaders’ like Norton have fouled the nest with their resource hog bloatware.
I have used ESET (http://eset.com) for several years and it is fast, solid and trouble-free.
Buy the DVD or CD..
LOl, that’s pretty much it.
Switch AV applications. Eset Smart Security is the best money can buy IMO, and you can also get the AV component separately under the name NOD32. Free options include Microsoft Security Essentials (which is actually very good despite being a Microsoft product), Avira AntiVir, and AVG.
What is this “dial up” of which you speak?
So you're the one. Dump it or pony up the dough to buy a damn disc.
Using dial up to do today's online work is akin to pulling up a Pentium 133Mhz with 50 MB of RAM and trying to install Windows 7 on it. In other words - LMFAO!
IMHO...
Have a unix techie help you download and install CentOS.
Close all ports.
OpenOffice replaces the basic m$oft cr@pware.
Evolution email, Mozilla Firefox browser.
Cost = $0.00, you’ll have no viruses and never look back :>!)
Mayhap dial up is all he has access to or can afford? There are many areas in the country were HS Internet is not available.
Oh, instead of Dialup, use Verizon Wireless.
Works anywhere a Verizon cell phone does. They have the largest, best “footprint”, i.e., cover the country the best.
Fast enough for nice browsing. Can download reasonably well (far better than dialup).
They do have a monthly cap on data tranfer, used to be 2G for $40 (ok unless you’re crazy surfing / watching a lot of video) or 5G for maybe twice that (ok unless your watching a lot of video).
They stopped selling unlimited access.
If you never ever leave the house and can get cable-based internet, it’s alot faster and you should be fine downloading anything and watching video, for about the same price.
HS Internet is available everywhere. If you don’t have DSL or cable Internet, you can get dish/satellite service. And if your time is worth anything, you are wasting money trying to do anything on dial-up. I pointed out to one fellow I knew on dialup that for an extra 28 cents a day he could be on HS internet.
LOL to all you people fortunate enough to have options other than dial-up! As a previous poster stated, that is ALL I have available to me at my home. The closest cell-phone reception in my area is eight miles away. There IS satellite, but it is also very unreliable and more expensive than I’m willing to pay for something that doesn’t work when the weather is bad. It’s the price one pays for living wwwaaaayyyy out in the country!
The good news is that I am probably going to be opening an office soon in the nearest town (20 miles away), and will then have access to high-speed internet. Can hardly wait!
Thanks, everyone, for the input about my computer problem. Keep it coming.
If you happen to live in area were your only option is satellite, the initial outlay for equipment can be prohibitive. Oh, by the way, if you opt out of satellite for Internet connection, there are many areas in the country that offer only dial-up. I have many friends and relatives that live in such areas. No cable, no DSL no anything but dial-up or satellite.
What I said is true. There is no area in the US where you can’t get HS Internet if you want it. By the way, my sister uses satellite internet service and it cost her nothing up front for the hardware. Her monthly fee is nearly the same as my DSL fee. I find that most people on dial-up actually have access to one or more HS Internet services, but they aren’t smart enough to do the math.
I recently inquired about satellite internet and was quoted a price of over $300 for a satellite modem ... your sister must live in a privileged area or something.
Now, Kirkwood, that just wasn’t very nice. I can assure you that I am as intelligent as the next person. In addition to not having high-speed internet access, I don’t even have cell phone access. Would love to have both. Constantly monitor the situation. But it just isn’t happening anytime soon that I can see. There is cell phone reception on the other side of the hill, but the hill interferes with the signal from that tower and they aren’t interested in building one any closer for the 6 of us that would like to use it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.