Free AntiVirus?

Rhino

What's a good free legal antivirus for WinXP?

I had something called AVG before I rebuilt the computer and it wasn't too bad; but forgot the company that makes it.

I also see that clamav is available for win32? Does it work good?

I'm hoping to find something that doesn't try to take over my system.
I have a free copy of Norton from work and a free copy of McCaffe from my ISP; but kind of have a bad taste in my mouth on both since their earlier revisions sucked pretty bad.

RedDawn

I typically use AVG. It doesn't take up that much resources, I have heard of it causing a few issues with certain games though.

Link here.

Arikado

AVG is good for catching trojans and worms, that's for sure. SpyWare, you can use SpyBot or AdAware.

My only gripe with the free version of AVG is how often it updates.

Silvoculous

I use Antivir right now, but it updates just as often as AVG, and at completely random times too, it seems. Either Antivir or AVG are ideal, coupled with Spybot or Ad-Aware.

Eat_Fire

Silvoculous wrote: »

I use Antivir right now, but it updates just as often as AVG, and at completely random times too, it seems. Either Antivir or AVG are ideal, coupled with Spybot or Ad-Aware.

I personally don't recommend AVG, Ad-Aware, and Spybot. From my experience, alot of people confuse "free" with good. I get plenty of computers checked in at work for viruses/spyware and everytime I ask if they have an Anti-virus its always "yah, i got that AV.. something I dont remember its free"

What I am trying to say is, there is still plenty of stuff that gets past them. I don't have a "Free" choice that I would recommend. However you might check out Kaspersky Antivirus.

Theres also a new program that I have seen that I havent got to try out yet, its called "Smart Restart" from what I understand it locks the hard drive to where it cannot be changed and erases data added to the hard drive everytime you restart, when you add files you have to add them to My Docs or create a setting for them.

That program has no annual fees so that might be a route to go.

Aurin

I've never had an issue with spyware with Ad-aware on my system. >.> But I use the hulking behemoth that is Norton for antivirus.

Some free things are fine to use. :P

Uncle Long

Disable the schedule on AVG and manually update your virus protection if you're bothered by how often it automatically updates.

I'd recommend AVG over Norton, honestly; Norton slows down a PC to such an extent that you might as well just install a virus and be done with it.

Spyware and AdAware are good and in conjunction with AVG you should be fine. If you have something ridiculous that you've gotten on your system that they can't take care of then I think you should reexamine your browsing habits as well as how clean you keep your system.

YourFatAuntSusan

I recommend AVG as well.

Gihgehls

AVG is good, but if you have issues Avast! is really good too.

wunderbar

Avast! is what I use.

Note the "!" is actually part of the name of Avast!

Don't let that detract you from trying it.

Ruckus

I used AVG personally and I used to use it professionally. It has always functioned better than any of the others I've used, with the exception of McAfee VirusScan Enterprise.

Dalboz

I use AVG and manually update it everyday. I also have ZoneAlarm installed and keep an active hosts file running (ZoneAlarm to prevent intrusion mostly, and the hosts file is really one of the best ways to handle adware/spyware as long it is kept updated).

blanknogo

Avast! is awesome.

gneGne

Avira antivir (www.free-av.com) is what I use and I didn't catch any viruses yet nor felt like I had a virus.

Dalboz

I think it should also be noted that about 95 percent of avoiding viruses and such is to just be smart about what you open or what sites you visits. Don't open the obviously nasty emails, especially be careful of attachments, etc.

Silvoculous

blanknogo wrote: »

Avast! is awesome.

True. I only tried it once, on a PC that wasn't mine, but the experience was sublime.

I also liked Panda Antivirus for the brief time I used it.