Topic: Free Antivirus?

[Steve F]

by the way... getting the spelling of the name right on antivirus and antispyware software is VERY IMPORTANT!

Huh?

[heffay]

AGV is not AVG

just like AD-AWARE is not Adware

[Steve F]

AGV is not AVG

just like AD-AWARE is not Adware

OOps!  yeah, I meant "AVG".  I should proof read more closely.

[heffay]

it was a point you reminded me of... not something i was calling you on.   

[Retro Rocket]

ad-aware is great for spam and malware but i use Kaspersky for my antivirus and it is an excellent product, only problem is it isn't free.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

this is free and excellent for cleaning cookies and temp files and any other rubbish you don't need on your system.

Mick

[cb650]

I tried to use AVG but it wouldnt download completely so tried another one someone suggested (cant think of the name right now)  and so far like it.  Might go ahead and buy it and get rid of norton on this machine too.  Thanks to all.

[burmashave]

About a year ago, I wrote this guide to protecting Windows machines:
   
Antivirus, Malware, Rootkit Protection for Windows PC's

To be fully protected, one should protect against several different types of attacks. My short guide describes each of those attack types, and for each, I recommend a solid piece of free protection.

[Inigo Montoya]

There is so much free stuff out there that is very good that unless there is some amazing reason, you should never have to pay for AV,malware, or virtually any program. Obviously games are exempt to some extent but even programs like photoshop have free counterparts. Gimp may not be quite as powerful but will do virtually anything the average user could want.

[burmashave]

There is so much free stuff out there that is very good that unless there is some amazing reason, you should never have to pay for AV,malware, or virtually any program. Obviously games are exempt to some extent but even programs like photoshop have free counterparts. Gimp may not be quite as powerful but will do virtually anything the average user could want.

Good gosh, one's needs dictate the software, and not the other way around. I do not use free A/V for my Win installations because I prefer a higher level of quality and protection. I would not call that an amazing reason. I wrote the guide because I work in technology, and I get frequent requests for A/V A/M recommendations.

A tool that is right for one is not necessarily the best for another. I use a wealth of open source software; however, I do not recommend every one of these "free" tools, or even OS's, to everyone. Purchased software often makes sense, especially in cases where the purchase cost is low and the purchased software has a much shallower learning curve than that of an application that comes at no cost.

[Inigo Montoya]

I have not found an av program that provides any better protection than anything you can pay for. I suppose if some are afraid to learn a new system, then they might want to pay for what they know. Now I am talking software besides the OS. I use a combo of avg, superantispyware and anti-malware bytes. All free and take up WAY less resources than any flavor or norton or mcafee, with better protection.
I cant stand how adobe makes people jump through hopes to use their software, so I go gimp or some other program to get the same results. Again, I am not a professional designer and so there is nothing adobe does that others do not. You can argue shockwave and flash but those were developed by macromedia, not adobe.

I am not trying to break anyone's arm, just saying that there are free programs out there just as good as anything you pay for and only extreme circumstances(or dislike of learning a new suite) is the only reason I see to for not going free.

just my 2 pennies.

[tramp]

i use avast
no problems

[burmashave]

I have not found an av program that provides any better protection than anything you can pay for. I suppose if some are afraid to learn a new system, then they might want to pay for what they know. Now I am talking software besides the OS. I use a combo of avg, superantispyware and anti-malware bytes. All free and take up WAY less resources than any flavor or norton or mcafee, with better protection.
I cant stand how adobe makes people jump through hopes to use their software, so I go gimp or some other program to get the same results. Again, I am not a professional designer and so there is nothing adobe does that others do not. You can argue shockwave and flash but those were developed by macromedia, not adobe.

I am not trying to break anyone's arm, just saying that there are free programs out there just as good as anything you pay for and only extreme circumstances(or dislike of learning a new suite) is the only reason I see to for not going free.

just my 2 pennies.

Nod32 from Eset performs better in terms of catching viruses, etc. in the wild. I perform Windows installations for others and for clients. I set all of them up with free software as per my guide. On the other hand, setting up free software often requires a "few more hoops" than the paid versions. Some people have the money and do not want the fuss. It's a trade off, not a universal. There are few "always," never's,", etc. in technology. A user's needs should dictate a solution.

I've been using The Gimp for about 8 years, OpenOffice.org from the time it was StarOffice in the late 90's, Firefox since its early betas, Inkscape and Scribus for many years. Most of the software I use is open source, but I understand these tools are not right for everyone. OpenOffice.org is, by many standards, a better office suite than Microsoft's; however, many users are best served by the Microsoft suite. Similarly, at one time Adobe had horrible user interfaces; however, with their new Creative Suites, this has all changed. The Gimp, although a wonderful application, may not be as intuitive to some. Software selection involves more than price alone, and the choice is not about better/worse; it's about fitness for a purpose.

[josixpak]

My parents use avast, and I haven't heard them complaining about it. I see I'm in the minority here, but I use Symantec. My school provided it for free, which I use on my Mac and PC. I can't argue with free! I graduated some time ago, but the subscriptions haven't run out yet. Once they do, I'll be on this thread to see what to do, though.

[mlinder]

Or you could just dual boot into your favorite linux distro (suse and ubuntu are the two easiest to set up, in my experience) and not worry about viruses, malware, etc., and only boot into windows when you need to run something that only works in windows....

[oldfett]

Or you could just dual boot into your favorite linux distro (suse and ubuntu are the two easiest to set up, in my experience) and not worry about viruses, malware, etc., and only boot into windows when you need to run something that only works in windows....

Dual booting is a good idea for advanced users but for most people it just isn't a good idea. Especially when you have to restart into Windows as that takes a few minutes. I dual boot on my netbook as I can load Ubuntu many times faster than Windows. My server is probably going to be switching over from Server 2003 in the next month or so to Red Hat in some probability.

In my experience any "legit" anti-virus(winantivirus, vistavirus and the such are not legit!) is better than none and you will always have fanboys. For my home computers I use AVG free. Why? Because its free, because I am behind a firewall router, because I use common sense and do not surf for porn and open suspicious emails and I tend to format every 6 months... did I mention free? I install Norton, Panda, Trend Micro, Bit-Defender and occasionally AVG on customer machines at work. I must say that Norton 2009 and Norton 360 3.0 is completely reworked and works fantastic. Installs in about 3-5 minutes and is no longer a resource hog. It hasn't had enough field experience to completely sway me but its a start. I really do not have a favorite. I like aspects of them all and dislike others. I think you get more features in a payed for antivirus but a free one does the basic features, there are other utilities to do the rest.

I refuse to touch McAfee. Someday in the future if they rework it... maybe. Until then no. All the computers that go through me get at one of the anti-viruses listed above, Spy-bot and MalwareBytes. I really like for customers to have a more robust firewall that just the Windows one but most get annoyed at the pop-ups and disable them anyway.

[Inigo Montoya]

OR a person could just install ubuntu and create a virtual windows machine! OR you can install WINE and then install your windows programs there.