Anti-virus

[egreig]

I am new to computers. Have notebook lapttop/windowsXP/McAfee protect.
new to internet and broadband. I did get a virus and first new this when warned by McAfee to remove or yhey would close my account.
Freinds non-experts suggested I get new browser. get Firefox/Thunderbird
from Mozilla. Get WinPatrol. Get AVG.
Question: Can I safely download all of these without causing conflict.??
Can any one advise me of best course to steer.??
Have I explained my problem correctly.?.
egreig

[smurfy]

Hi and welcome to CTH. Sorry for the delay in responding but you originally posted this question in our downloads and review section which is not where we expect questions of this nature.
Have I explained my problem correctly? Yes
Question: Can I safely download all of these without causing conflict? Yes... but see below
Can any one advise me of best course to steer?

You can have as many different browsers installed as you like - Internet Explorer is the most commonly exploited by malicious software because it it the most common browser. My favourite is Opera. Firefox is another good one.
You can also install as many different Anti-virus software packages as you want BUT the key here is to only run one at a time - do not allow two competing antivrus/firewall programs to run in the background at teh same time, not only will this cause problems with potential conflicts but it will slow down your PC as badly as many malware programs.

[egreig]

Thanks for responce,I will probably stick with McAfee until contract expires in Feb 2007. I will however install Firefox and Thunderbird in next few days. I will inform Forum of any advantages or minuses in due course.
I will no doubt be asking other questions as I continue to gain more knowledge if this is allowed.?
egreig.

[Miz]

Answering questions...or trying to...is what we do, egrieg. :)

So that your question has the best chance of being seen by the people who have an answer, make sure you post it in the appropriate forum. XP questions in the XP forum, hardware questions in the Hardware forum, etc.

Welcome to CTH!