Viruses, Trojans how do you protect yourself ?

The new pc I bought with Norton installed, I uninstalled cause it is ridiculously slow.

Just built in window firewall, no AV.

if you have any sign of infection, reboot safemode, clear out all the autorun entries in HKEY\Current User\ HKEY\LOCALMACHINE\ hives. Most of malware use this as the autostart.

Of course there are serious rootkit, but as long as you don't download craps and be cautious of where you go on the net, you will be safe.

PS. Use hijackthis as an assisting tool when you trouble shoot.

Most importantly is to just not have to rely on an AV. Av's and firewalls can be bypassed relatively easy. I use firefox + no-script addon. Also uninstall java and be very carefull with flash. Most infections are made through java and flash. Adobe is really bad when it comes to safe coding.
Also I use virtualbox. If you download warez you'll have great risk to be infected sooner or later since most av's are a total waste of money. Personally I don't install anything from non-trusted sources, recommend everybody that does biz online to use a different pc for fooling around. KIS is one of the better options btw for security.
Also, use a keyscrambler so that keyloggers can't log you even when you are infected.
It might sound paranoid but webmasters/marketeers are high value targets.

imho panda cloud antivirus is the best, it has the most updated database of viruses.

I use Avast, have for years. The free version. (I love all the posts about Mcafee and Norton being the best. Those are cute.)

BTW, Mac users... I know that using a Mac helps prevent viruses (because no virus maker can be bothered to target the gigantic niche of what, 2% of users.. burn) but what do you do to protect the built in Mac feature of turning your PC hardware into a useless pile of garbage? (oooo, 2X burn.)

Just fuckin with you, I love Mac. (just fucking with you, no I don't.)

You need a layered defense. this is how I do it.

First of all, I have ALL my internet marketing stuff on an external hard drive so I can unplug it when I clean the computer.

Download Cleanup! (WITH an exclamation mark) and install it and run it.
(cleans out the junk and recovers wasted disk space)

Download MalwareByes Antimalware free edition, load it and and update it, and run it.

Down load Spybot search and destroy, there are fakes, so get it from safernetworking , org. Install it and update it, and run it.

These two tools will keep the adware and spyware at bay. Make sure you do not scan your IM drive with these tools. In the event you do both of these programs allow you to select the items to remove, so always check the list to see if a tool has been identified. If it is coming from your IM drive or directory, just tell the programs to leave it alone.

For anti-virus protection, I use avast free and just put up with the nag screen that pops up every so often trying to get me to buy it.

The best way to use anti-virus software in "Our" case is to leave it turned off, and only turn it on to scan for problems. Left to its own devices antivirus software will scan every file you touch for viruses, and prevent the their execution, quarantine them, or outright delete them automatically.

This means everything you download and upload, which will kill half the tools you use on a regular basis.

What you should do is turn the antivirus off and leave it off. Turn it in to scan your new downloads, then turn it back off.

Then what I do is this.

I create two folders, one called "downloads" and one called "DT Downloads". DT stands for "Drug Test"

Anything I download from a reputable source, or a commercial product Goes into the "Downloads" folder. I am not worried about those being infected.

Anything I download from any ...Ahem... "questionable" site goes into the "DT Downloads" folder. At the end of any download session, I right click on the DT Downloads folder and scan it with the three tools I have mentioned. Should I want to use a download immediately, I just right click and scan the item first.

You should also download a little tool called "RKILL" from systernals and save it to your desktop. This little gem will kill any and all Rouge processes running on your machine immediately upon execution. Trust me when I say this, you run this program and ALL the bad stuff will immediately die. Very handy to have on the desktop for those times when something pops and tries to take over your machine. Run rkill,l and get the hell out of there.

Remember that any malware can reside on your computer without infecting your computer. The program can sit on your computer's disk drive without harm, and only infect the computer's operating system when executed. This is why your "tools" will set off your anti-virus. The tool behaves in a way that a normal program does not, an the antivirus program naturally decides that you are up to something. Which of course you are.

If your computer is already infected I have a cheesy computer repair adsense site that has a cleanout procedure here to teach you how to clean out your computer with free tools.

I cannot post links so if you are interested in this procedure, IM me and I will send you the link.

Use this procedure to clean out your computer, but do not use the e-scan program. It automatically deletes everything it finds, and it finds a lot. It is great for home users to use, but people like us need to avoid it. Use the avast antivirus or AVG instead.

No offense intended by the "People like us" remark.