Free Anti-Virus

Boggles

Meltdown wrote:

Are there any effective FREE anti-virus programs out there, or am i playing with fire looking for that?

Anyone using a freebie for a while with no problems

Thanks

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Meltdown

Are there any effective FREE anti-virus programs out there, or am i playing with fire looking for that?

Anyone using a freebie for a while with no problems

Thanks

PowerHouseDan

avg antivirus

BaldiePablo

PowerHouseDan wrote:

avg antivirus

I'm using AVG too for about a year now and so far so good ... regular automatic updates etc. Thumbs up here!

Ardent

AVG here too, been using it for years.

Mad Dog

Yeah AVG here too and no problems either

Meltdown

Thanks for all the replies, looks like I'll give AVG a whirl.

SeanW

AVG is pretty good, got a bunch of viruses last year, AVG found and killed most of them, missed a couple though.

conzy

You dont really need Anti Virus, if you have a good firewall and safe computing practises;)

They slow down a PC, and you should just download the Nod32 trial and run it monthly to make sure that you are clean.

I you want anti virus AVG gets my vote:

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Also peerguardian2 is a briliannt IP blocker, it blocks Spyware, ads, unauthorised acces to your PC, and has a very small memory footprint:

http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

Its the second file;)

Boggles

conzymaher wrote:

You dont really need Anti Virus

If you have an internet connection you need anti virus no matter how safe your computer practices are.

zilog_jones

Well only if you're using stinky Windows ^_^
I'd also recommend AVG Free - been using it for well over 2 years

prospect

Cat among the pigeons!

I use Avast, and to date have had no issues. Installed on over 15 home machines, (family & friends).

Usually when someone I know gets a Dell machine, I whip off the 3 month Norton straight away and stick on Avast.

kippy

Been using AVG now for years and have put it on many a PC.
Same as the previous poster, would take of Norton that comes with the Dell machines and stick on AVG.
As someone else mentioned though, safe practices go a long way to ensuring you have no issues with virus'.
Keep windows up to date using windows update-use a decent firewall and use something like Windows defender as well.
Working together and with a bit of common sense you should have no trouble.

The one thing I will say however-I find the AVG updates can be pretty big over a dial up connection (that is the major updates) which they seem to push out once every few months. No bigger than any other I assume but its a minor gripe I have about it-I dont think you have the option to download just the update definitions and not the programme update when you are using the free version.
Kippy

rogue-entity

I have tried AVG and never found it to be any good. It was used on my old schools computers but it was just awful. So when they got AntiVir for there mail server, they also got it for the PC's. And it is the business. I currently use AntiVir Personal Premium and it catches everything, and I mean everything. It even detects Linux viruses on Windows machines. It runs quietly and silently in the background using little resources and I have never had a problem with it. I would recommend it to anyone. The premium version is 20Eur/year and well worth it. The Classic version is free but it lacks the anti-spyware scanning.

Boggles

zilog_jones wrote:

Well only if you're using stinky Windows ^_^
I'd also recommend AVG Free - been using it for well over 2 years

Well thats only 90% of the computer using population then.

B00MSTICK

Avast is decent I find

DonalN

i have avg running, but I also have virsusscan on my pc also..
does it matter if I have both running at the same time??...conflicts etc???

Ruu_Old

I recently moved from AVG to AntiVir, having used AVG for a few yaers and works just as good imo

DemonOfTheFall

DonalN wrote:

i have avg running, but I also have virsusscan on my pc also..
does it matter if I have both running at the same time??...conflicts etc???

Yes, they will conflict and cause a mess. Best to delete whichever one you dont want.

Slippin Jimmy

I have been using AVG for a while and it is good. Got rid of a load of viruses. I would recommend giving that a go.

**Timbuk2**

Yeah, AVG is good, e-mail scanner as well. tbh I think that AVG is better than Norton. Norton is a nuisance... I mean yeah sure, it will keep viruses off, but it is a resource hog and just a nuisance, espcially if you want to remove it.

zilog_jones

And let's not forget that Norton forces you to keep buying new ones or renew subscriptions. I see with new Compaq/HP machines they've knocked down the Norton trial to 60 days - it used to be a year once upon a time... what a waste of space. Make great coasters though - there's one under my cup of tea now!

8T8

Avast would be my first choice good scanner light on resources, very customizable as well.

peepsbates

avg is the way to go i rekon, also spybot search and destroy and ad-aware se personal, all free and work a treat

nl

Ruu wrote:

I recently moved from AVG to AntiVir, having used AVG for a few yaers and works just as good imo

Yep I use AntiVir aswell. Its a great programme. Except for sometimes it takes a while for the update to contact the AntiVir server.

Gilgamesh

use the Corporate version of Symantec's AV, it isn't free but at least I have someone to scream at if something happens

has smaller footprint than the consumer version too

**Timbuk2**

I will be moving to AVG soon now, because when I bought my new computer, eTrust AntiVirus was on it

eTrust is good enough. But I am not that interested in renewing it after my 60 day trial that I came with the computer, so I will probably move to AVG Free