Free or inexpensive anti-virus software?

[Jason]

Can anyone recommend any good free or inexpensive anti-virus software?

[The Unknown Gomer]

AVG Free Edition. I've been using that since my Norton subscription expired back in March. It's been working just fine. I tried it after PC World recommended it and actually said that it was BETTER than Norton. :)

[Jason]

AVG Free Edition. I've been using that since my Norton subscription expired back in March. It's been working just fine. I tried it after PC World recommended it and actually said that it was BETTER than Norton. :)

Cool. Thanks.

[Sharon]

I have Avast and SpyBot

Avast is really good and they constantly update it

[HotWireD]

AVG Free Edition. I've been using that since my Norton subscription expired back in March. It's been working just fine. I tried it after PC World recommended it and actually said that it was BETTER than Norton. :)

I have used AVG free edition for years and it has always kept me safe and secure.

Just need to set to auto-update or check for updates frequently (every couple of days at least) - Grisoft (the AVG people) make lots of updates for new virus definitions(sometimes daily).

[Jason]

I have used AVG free edition for years and it has always kept me safe and secure.

Just need to set to auto-update or check for updates frequently (every couple of days at least) - Grisoft (the AVG people) make lots of updates for new virus definitions(sometimes daily).

I just downloaded it. :)

[draw627]

I'm using the antivirus that comes w/AOL. I guess it's good, not too knowledgable in that area :rolleyes: Anyone know how good it is?

[HotWireD]

I'm using the antivirus that comes w/AOL. I guess it's good, not too knowledgable in that area :rolleyes: Anyone know how good it is?


I do not know which virus package comes with AOL.

I would assume that is is adequate, AOL are a legitimate coimpany with years oif experience.

AOL help mentions the following as 'recommended...

http://info.aol.co.uk/help/safety/antivirus/antivirus_recommended.htm l
What anti-virus software is recommended?McAfee VirusScan® Online
McAfee VirusScan® Online is an effective and reliable anti-virus software package which, for a small monthly subscription fee, provides comrehensive anti-virus protection for your entire PC.

-- For more information about McAfee VirusScan® Online please visit McAfee Internet Security Suite.

AVG AntiVirus
AVG AntiVirus is a popular free alternative anti-virus package that is easy-to-use, reliable and compatible with AOL Broadband.

-- More information about AVG AntiVirus

[larryl]

you can get a full version of norton, with one year of updates, from google.

[middletree]

Jason:
I hang out on a newstgroup of some people who are very, very paranoid when it comes to securing their computers, and I have learned a lot there. I first learned about AVG there, and that's what I currently use. But now many people there have been touting Avast, already mentioned in this thread. If you're still experimenting, you might want to give it a try.
http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10533644.html?tag=lst-0-2

Having said that, please note that while it's good to have multiple anti-spyware/adware programs on a system, you don't want to have more than one AV installed at any one time. They can really conflict with each other, to the point of seeing each other as something that needs to be eradicated.

[middletree]

you can get a full version of norton, with one year of updates, from google.
Yeah, but Norton bites.

[larryl]

Yeah, but Norton bites.


been happily using it for 3 years now, with no issues. that's good enough for me. there may be something better, but i am not sure how it would be better.

i used AVG for a long time, but like norton better.

for the record, i did pick up some stuff while using AVG.......that was a few years ago, though.

[middletree]

I should have put a smiley in there, sorry. I was trying to sound like some of the religious wars we have on the Word forum. Ah well. The moment's gone.

[larryl]

I should have put a smiley in there, sorry. I was trying to sound like some of the religious wars we have on the Word forum. Ah well. The moment's gone.


it's all good. i don't take antivirus s/w preferences personally:D

[middletree]

it's all good. i don't take antivirus s/w preferences personally:D
I have seen some technical arguments that have gotten every bit as religious and contentious as anything we've seen on the Word forum. Usually, it's Microsoft vs. everyone, Windows vs Mac, Windows vs. Linux, or Tables vs. CSS.

[Aaron]

For anti-virus, I use AVG free. For anti-spyware, I use SpyBot and Ad-aware.

[SmileyFreak1981]

I use Avast on my machine. I installed it on my church's laptop too, which was running Norton, and it caught two trojans that Norton completely ignored.

[rossid]

I'm using the antivirus that comes w/AOL. I guess it's good, not too knowledgable in that area :rolleyes: Anyone know how good it is?I just switched my mother-in-law to this too. Have not had a chance to get on the computer but my son says it is slow on initial log in. Right at the XP welcome screen where you select a user, and before it goes to your desktop, he says it took something like two minutes. I'm going to check this out tonight...

[HotWireD]

I just switched my mother-in-law to this too. Have not had a chance to get on the computer but my son says it is slow on initial log in. Right at the XP welcome screen where you select a user, and before it goes to your desktop, he says it took something like two minutes. I'm going to check this out tonight...

It could be doing a full scan of the computer before finishing logging on, which is a good idea, but a tad slow.

[Gandalf]

For anti-virus, I use AVG free. For anti-spyware, I use SpyBot and Ad-aware.
Ditto... on the machines I have any of it installed on. :) I'm a believer in the best protection against malware and virus attacks being a well-educated user. I've never been infected with any of 'em on my own systems, whether running an AV program or not. But AVG/SpyBot/AdAware is the combination I use when cleaning up friends' computers when they encounter such problems. I generally also recommend they use Firefox rather than IE to avoid spyware/malware problems. (Adblock, Adblock Filterset.G Updater, and IETab extensions get installed while I'm at it)

Symantec's professional/business AV product is pretty good, but I'm not a fan of anything they produce under the Norton brand. McAfee's, if anything, even worse than Norton IMO. AVG Free is a good option for home use (it's not licensed for commercial use, and they don't do a very good job of server-based management of updates, etc. across a network even on the paid version, but the virus protection is good).

[Gandalf]

I don't know what AV software AOL may be including, but with it being AOL, my guess would be it's probably not very good...

[Tony Trout]

I use Avast anti-virus and AdAware and Spybot S&D...:) :)

[Sam!]

I don't know what AV software AOL may be including, but with it being AOL, my guess would be it's probably not very good...
Any good antivirus would delete AOL!

hehe. :D

[rossid]

It could be doing a full scan of the computer before finishing logging on, which is a good idea, but a tad slow.Windows XP is the OS and this is what just happened:

1. when you select a user it took 45 seconds till I could use the desktop icons

2. opening AOL's signon tookd a minute and 15 seconds

Any AOL experts have an opinion?

Plus I hate that downloading a lot of things requires me to change the parental control from general(full access) to mature teen(is supposed to restrict the bad stuff). I always forget to change the parental control back to he more restrictive setting.

One hour later - now I've noticed the "internet" light on the modem is red instead of green. In calling my phone provider for the DSL they say there are system problems in my area. I'm going to check this again when I'm online to see if the color of the light changes. If not I'll have a fun time calling them...

[Gandalf]

Any good antivirus would delete AOL!

hehe. :D
Exactly :)

Really, other than spreading itself to other systems, AOL does more damage than most virus threats out there. The proprietary software they force you to use in order to connect is so bloated and poorly written that it slows systems to a fraction of the speed they should be capable of operating at, and generally screws things up.

[rossid]

Exactly :)

Really, other than spreading itself to other systems, AOL does more damage than most virus threats out there. The proprietary software they force you to use in order to connect is so bloated and poorly written that it slows systems to a fraction of the speed they should be capable of operating at, and generally screws things up.I realized that a long time ago. Well now we are back in the DSL world. Using IE as our browser and AOL for email. Yes it may be primitive but it is not my account.

[rossid]

So IE allows you to edit viewed content but it restricts a lot of acceptable sites. Is there a free and effective way to protect the kids from seeing unacceptable stuff?

Thanks

Doriano

:D

[Gandalf]

Look over their shoulders.

[rossid]

Look over their shoulders.Okay, I kind of laughed at that, but am tired and frustrated so then it bugged me. No offense. Perhaps I need to try raising the Content Adviser Ratings one notch. A friend had familyweb but uses Norton now. He also said Mayberry RFD is out there.

Let me post in the IE thread.

Thanks

D

:)

[Melodeon]

My PC-Cillin just expired on my desktop and I was going to download AVG or Avast... do I need to completely remove the PC-Cillin program from my computer? And then the AVG or Avast will be all I will need to have?

Thanks!!
Melanie

[godsgeek]

The quick answer is yes.:D Both of those programs during there installation should detect your old antivirus software and either remove it or request that you un-install it. I would recomment the free version of AVG anti-virus, been using it for two years now and it ain't failed me yet.:)

[Sam!]

If you are going to use any other antivirus software, you should remove PC-Cillin. I am starting to hear less-than-stellar things about Avast and AVG, althougH I am still using Avast, so...

[middletree]

You should never have more than one AV running on a machine. Multiple anti-spyware is fine.

[kleinrider]

FWIW, I used AVG for many years on my old laptop (still using on it, actually - 4 years now), but switched to Avast for my new one (a little more than a year), and I like it alot. Not sure I could qualify why I like it better, I just do. I use Norton for our PC's at work, but am seriously considering switching to Avast for our systems here once the Norton expires.

[Gapeach3DFan]

Well, the only problem I have with that is that my laptop won't let me uninstall McAfee. I had no problem uninstalling Norton from my desktop when it expired. That's when I got Avast, which I like. It was recommended by a friend as well as several other sources.

[The Unknown Gomer]

Time to bump this thread, since I tried to upgrade AVG this last weekend in response to their pop up that's been suggesting for the last month that I do that to remain protected, only to find that since I'm still using XP with SP1 (don't ask, very long story) it says I have to upgrade back to at least SP2 before I can install their new version.

So, looking for a NEW free AV program, since I have neither the time or inclination to go rooting around my registry to fix whatever stops my SP2 re-installation half way through and reverts it back to SP1 again.

Is Avast still keeping people happy and virus free? Or is there something better out there now that I might want to get instead?

[middletree]

I'm using Avast on my main computer and am happy.

[lilmikey]

I use AVG but as of now I have no spyware checker I might download Spybot again

[The Unknown Gomer]

I uninstalled AVG this morning (since it wouldn't let me make the required program update, I needed to go with something else), and replaced it with Avast.

Hope that most of the default settings right after installation are protection enough, since the Avast interface is completely different from AVG's and I didn't have time to sit down and figure it all out this morning.

So we'll see how it goes. At least it let me install it, which is more than I can say for AVG's latest version...

[WeaselInYerFoot]

We had Norton at work a while back. I despised it. It's good for catching viruses, but it takes up too many resources and bogs down your system. We now use Trend Micro which has a pretty small footprint. It's done it's job to say the least, and has saved our networks numerous times (no thanks to the office dumbos who think a "free" screensaver is really free).

At home I use ClamAV for my linux machine, and basically nothing for Windows XP (I only use it for games). ClamWin is actually free, and uses the ClamAV virus definitions which are pretty decent. Only problem is that the Windows version doesn't do real time scans for you'll have to manually scan everything you download (although it'll automatically scan emails, and Live Messenger files) or use the scheduler so it can do it's thing in the middle of the night.

One cool tip:
If you have a friend who has an infested computer yet is still able to get online, Trend Micro has a free tool called HouseCall (http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/housecall) which will scan and clean the computer straight from the browser.

[Jason]

I use Trend Micro now. I like it.

[rossid]

Okay did I post we have Webroot w/ Antivirus. I added SpyBot because it was free. Yesterday I added OpenDNS.com which I was told sped web page loads, however, it has a built-in internet filter that screens a lot of stuff.

Thoughts on any or all of this stuff?

[energizerbunney]

use avast. its really good

[rossid]

Running Webroot 5.8. Windows Security Center always pops up that there is no Malware protection since I am not using Windows Defender. So I always have to manually turn on Webroot AntiVirus and AntiSpyware. I can't figure out the settings so it stays on.
???

[Jason]

Not free, but I now love ESET Smart Security.

[The Unknown Gomer]

Back to using AVG again. I finally updated XP with SP3, so since I found Avast to really slow down my boot up process when I started my PC, I uninstalled it and went back to AVG since my version of XP was now up to snuff. I'm a much happier camper. (Although someone at the office said that PC Tools is actually a better FASTER program than AVG, so I might have to look into that...)

Just wanted to take a few seconds to sing the praises of another program though... SuperAntiSpyware, the free version. Despite my running AVG and Spybot, in the span of about 30 seconds this morning, this NASTY little virus/trojan/malware thing managed to get past both of them (even though when the warning windows came up to tell me about it, I told AVG to vault it, and SpyBot to NOT allow it to make any changes) and glom on to something like 15 or twenty different places in my PC, including several places in my registry as well as attach itself to Windows Explorer, which suddenly would not stay loaded. :eek: I found myself having to access any files I needed via Windows Task Manager.

Spybot found it the thing, and tried to fix it, but when I rebooted it was still there. :mad:

I actually ran another two programs to try and find it after that, both SuperAntiSpyware and another one called VundoFix, since the second actually targeted that particular virus. After an extensive scan by both programs, and telling them both to fix what they found, I finally - after about an hour and half - got rid of the thing and got my PC back to normal again. Whew. So I'm not sure which program did what, but SASw found more than just the five that VundoFix found and got rid of the whole lot of them, so I'm thinking that SASw did most of the work and should probably get most of the credit. :)

This is probably a coincidence, but what gets me is that this Vundo virus thing has been around for a LOOOONG time, apparently, and as much surfing as I do, it's not until AFTER I update to SP3 that I actually get hit with it? I think I liked it better when I was flying under the radar and still using SP1, I NEVER picked up anything more evil than a tracking cookie before now. :rolleyes:

[D.meapH]

Do you think the world is being had? Put it all together and