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Free anti-virus software?

ReviloRevilo Registered User regular
edited April 2009 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
Ok, so my 2 month free McAfee subscription has run out. Im not gona pay for more (despite how many scare tatics they're flashing up on my screen right out).
So i need some free protection.

Any recomendations?

Revilo on

Posts

  • exoplasmexoplasm Gainfully Employed Near Blizzard HQRegistered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I am very happy with Avast! Home Edition. Free registration! Just make sure to do a custom install and choose only Standard Shield. The rest will slow everything down.

    Others are happy with Avira. AVG seems to be at a low point at this time.

    exoplasm on
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  • prawnstar69prawnstar69 Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Yesterday I switched from AVG to Avira, much happier now. It seems to offer much better protection.

    prawnstar69 on
    Bana84.png
  • NibbleNibble Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Avira works well for me, but the nag screen that pops up during updates can be annoying sometimes.

    Nibble on
    sig.php?id=178
  • GrimReaperGrimReaper Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Nibble wrote: »
    Avira works well for me, but the nag screen that pops up during updates can be annoying sometimes.

    Google "avira secpol.msc".. :)

    GrimReaper on
    PSN | Steam
    ---
    I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
  • matricsmatrics Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Avast! is pretty nice, but a while back I was using the McAfee AV software from AOL.

    They were offering McAfee Internet Security Suite or McAfee VirusScan Plus for free if you sign up with their dialup thingy... even if you don't actually use it.

    Anyway, you might want to also install a third party firewall (not the one from windows I mean), as it can help quite a bit with keeping out trojans and other junk you'll stumble upon.

    Check out Softpedia for other ideas:

    http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/ - firewalls
    http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/ - AV software, but mostly tools for removing specific infections.

    Good luck

    matrics on
  • RBachRBach Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    The Windows Firewall is perfectly adequate for protecting against worms as such. While it does lack outbound protection, if you're relying on that feature to stop a virus, trojan, etc then you're in for an unfortunate surprise some time in the future. :)

    RBach on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Dark ShroudDark Shroud Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Comodo offers a full internet security suit free. What I like most about it that it can auto update on Vista with UAC enabled. http://www.comodo.com

    PC Tools Free AV is really good as well. http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

    I no longer use or recommend AVG or Avast. AVG is a major pain with all the false positives. And Avast Free edition is lacking, the only Virus I've had in the last 5 years was under Avast. I used to installed these for people whose computers I repaired. They would call me back within a months because their PCs were infected. I never had that problem with McAfee or NOD32.

    Dark Shroud on
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  • Rigor MortisRigor Mortis Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    AVG has a lot of false positives these days. I just stopped using it - switched to Avira but the nag screen is annoying as hell so I'm probably going to switch to PC Tools free because if their AV is as good as their firewall I'm happy.

    Rigor Mortis on
  • GrimReaperGrimReaper Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Rigor Mortis wrote: »
    AVG has a lot of false positives these days. I just stopped using it - switched to Avira but the nag screen is annoying as hell so I'm probably going to switch to PC Tools free because if their AV is as good as their firewall I'm happy.

    Tried the permissions tweak or secpol.msc tweak to get rid of the nag? I haven't had the nag since.. :)

    GrimReaper on
    PSN | Steam
    ---
    I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
  • SmurphSmurph Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Dark Shroud wrote: »
    Comodo offers a full internet security suit free. What I like most about it that it can auto update on Vista with UAC enabled. http://www.comodo.com

    PC Tools Free AV is really good as well. http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

    I no longer use or recommend AVG or Avast. AVG is a major pain with all the false positives. And Avast Free edition is lacking, the only Virus I've had in the last 5 years was under Avast. I used to installed these for people whose computers I repaired. They would call me back within a months because their PCs were infected. I never had that problem with McAfee or NOD32.

    That's because even though Avast is free to download and install, it only works for 30 days before you have to register and get your free 1-year key. People who aren't that computer literate have a tendency to not do that, so they get infected. Keyboard-Chair interface error.

    Smurph on
  • IronSunriseIronSunrise Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    GrimReaper wrote: »
    Nibble wrote: »
    Avira works well for me, but the nag screen that pops up during updates can be annoying sometimes.

    Google "avira secpol.msc".. :)

    Awesome. Most useful nerd tip in a while here...

    IronSunrise on
    Georg Dreyman, I have no sympathy for you.
  • TethTeth __BANNED USERS regular
    edited April 2009
    I like AVG because it suits my, uh, user profile(?) well. It's not intrusive at all (never caused issues with apps I run or slowed down my system), doesn't contain excessive components that often require themselves to be separately updated (Symantec is horrible with this, Google "symevent"), and since I don't really browse porn and use my desktop as a non-admin or non-root account (when in Linux) I can forgive that it isn't quite as proactive as other solutions out there - I don't open myself up to much common exploits in the wild. I also go out of my way to reduce my attack surface before I even plug the bitch into the Internets.

    Teth on
    #1
  • Teslan26Teslan26 Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    IronSunrise wrote: »
    GrimReaper wrote: »
    Nibble wrote: »
    Avira works well for me, but the nag screen that pops up during updates can be annoying sometimes.

    Google "avira secpol.msc".. :)

    Awesome. Most useful nerd tip in a while here...

    I did that, but it did not seem to mean anything to me.

    Teslan26 on
  • FingerSlutFingerSlut __BANNED USERS regular
    edited April 2009
    I'd been using AVg for years because it had a low memory footprint. Now theyve got all the bloat the others have. I switched to an AV, but this time its not free. D:

    FingerSlut on
  • BarcardiBarcardi All the Wizards Under A Rock: AfganistanRegistered User regular
    edited April 2009
    i switched from avg to avast and avast is so smooth and easy

    Barcardi on
    BREAKING NEWS!
  • warmepwarmep Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Teslan26 wrote: »
    IronSunrise wrote: »
    GrimReaper wrote: »
    Nibble wrote: »
    Avira works well for me, but the nag screen that pops up during updates can be annoying sometimes.

    Google "avira secpol.msc".. :)

    Awesome. Most useful nerd tip in a while here...

    I did that, but it did not seem to mean anything to me.

    You have to click on the results :P The first result from my search had instructions on how to disable the nag screen.

    warmep on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Sometimes I have the most horrible dreams. Or maybe they are real. Do dead men dream?
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I've been using ClamAV for Windows on my Eee. It doesn't have on-access scan, it only has "right-click-on-the-suspect-file-and-click-Scan" sort of scanning, but on my Eee that's important because on-access scanning can hurt the already meager performance. But there's no denying it's less safe.

    Besides, I try not to do retarded stuff on the Internet so I'm probably fine with just Clam.

    Daedalus on
  • Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited April 2009
    I am less impressed with Avira as I am with Avast.

    Avira only updates definition files once a day, and gives popups when updating prompting you to upgrade your software to a paid version. Avast checks multiple times per day for updates, and frequently updates several times a day.

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
  • warmepwarmep Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »
    I am less impressed with Avira as I am with Avast.

    Avira only updates definition files once a day, and gives popups when updating prompting you to upgrade your software to a paid version. Avast checks multiple times per day for updates, and frequently updates several times a day.

    I don't think that matters as much as you might think. Avira still has slightly better detection rates, but they are both pretty good. AV-Comparatives is a good website to check on detection rates, false positives, scanning speed, etc. I like Avira (once you disable the nag screen) because it is pretty lightweight and doesn't suck down your system resources.

    warmep on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Sometimes I have the most horrible dreams. Or maybe they are real. Do dead men dream?
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