Anti-virus soft-ware!..?

Hey guys, here's my Question. I just recently deleted my "Norton anti-virus software" upon the recomendadion of a friend who knows alot more about computers than I do. He said Norton is horrible and it slows down your computer alot.

So, now computer has slowed down alot again as I recieved a message from my laptop saying that it has been infested with spyware and adaware.

Can anyone please recommend me a good anti-virus software program that is eficient but WON'T slow down my Laptop..prefereibly free downloads.

Also, if it is'nt too much trouble, can anyone help teach me how to "speed up" my laptop, I know I need more ram, I only have 248 of it but besides that, what can I do? I have cable connection so it should be fast and my laptop is a "compaq presario" with a celeron cpu i gues you would call it.

Thats all, thanx soo much guys.... :)

Anti-virus soft-ware!..?ducati

Wow, you do need a lot of help... ok, I recommend AVG Antivirus (free) (formerly Ewido).

Your friend certainly didn't mean going without an anti-virus... I hope! Yes, Norton used to be a hog, but I hear the 2007 version has had great improvements and reviews.

As far as speeding up your computer, read a lot! You will hear a lot of the same, uninstall unneeded programs, run regulalry: a virus scan/disk cleaner (CCleaner is good for free, but I also run windows disk cleaner)/defragment (I like IObit Smart Defrag - can run in background [good], but can be turned off [real good])/clear virtual memory (pagefile) on shutdown (for security and quicker start-up). Buy more ram, etc...