Free Anti-Virus Roundup

Iria

Although it isn’t possible to fully protect your computer from a huge array of viral, spyware, and other malware threats, a good anti-virus application goes a long way to securing your PC. Now that most computers are permanently connected to the internet, it is more important than ever to ensure you have an up-to-date and reliable anti-virus package on your computer. Some people still don’t have any installed, thinking that because they are careful what they download, they will be safe. Others don’t like the thought of losing even the slightest amount of performance from their PC. However, the importance of getting a good virus scanner cannot be underestimated – and this lesson is often only learned after a virus infection.
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Source: Velocity Reviews

IvanV

I'd like to hear from other people with experience with these programs. Is Avira that good? Also, AVG always seemed lighter compared to Avast to me. I'm not so sure about memory usage, but with Avast, my system seems slightly less responsive. Still, that may be because I still haven't switched to AVG 8.0.

Tipstaff

Honestly, lighter is not good. If you do all your email via a web client I would suggest using AntiVir, and if you are using a mail client I would use Avast!.

AVG just doesn't cut it anymore. I used to install AVG on every machine I sold at my store up until, and including, version 7. I haven't installed 8 yet, but frankly I'm not going to. I just don't trust it anymore. I stopped using AVG simply because it didn't stop jack, or didn't warn me about jack until AFTER the machine was thoroughly infected. By that time it was all over, and a reformat was then in that computers future.

IvanV

Thanks. So far, both AVG and Avast have kept me clean and detected everything my sister brought from college (not her fault really, their computers are crawling with all sorts of bad stuff), except on one occasion when I set too loose rules for a p2p app and AVG detected the problem after the infection already took place, so I do trust Avast a little more. Plus it's modular, so when I'm not using other people's CDs and USBs, I can pause the standard shied, but keep other components on. And anyway, I too consider a heavier footprint for better protection a good tradeoff.

Just Learnin'

Hmmm, so far no infections while using AVG 8 free other than a few false positives which they corrected fairly quickly.

Judas

about 3 days ago... i had a machine come in with avast that was loaded to the nuts with viruses....

my confidence in anti-viruses remains zero...

Tipstaff

I have to admit, though, that no single AV software is perfect, and that all of them can be ineffective at catching specific viruses, or ways in which they infect. Even the best of them have bad days.

As Judas suggests, don't rely on AV software. You can do your best by being careful on how you surf the net, and by also incorporating other things like active malware scanners such as Comodo BOClean which is free, having a startup monitor running like Spybot S&Ds Tea Timer or Startup Monitor (which can help detect crap trying to install, and thus allows you to stop it in it's tracks sooner rather than later when your screwed), and running scans with software like SUPERAnitSpyware, Ad-Aware, or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (all 3 have active scanners in their paid versions btw) on a routine basis.

Vehicon

AVG 8 is what i have been using. I used NOD32 and Avast, i think NOD worked pretty good, but i wasn't to impressed with Avast.

Just Learnin'

Another good "keep them out" is SpywareBlaster: SpywareBlaster

Vikingod

I've been using Avast for longer than I can remember. I can't imagine using anything but, honestly. I've not run into any major problems in those years, it seems to detect very accurately.

UBT - Terry

I'm with Judas on this one Avast isn't as good as it used to be I also had someone come to me as pc going mad and was full of nasties 163 of them to be exact.
I personally like AVG 8 along with adaware 2008.
Never had any problems using these, but as someone else already said being careful what you look at online helps more

Zardon

been using avast pro for 3 years, never had a single virus in that time frame. If judas dislikes it, that probably means its awesome. Most other anti virus clients affect performance and I wont tolerate that, in my extensive testing Avast was one of the few which affected performance by 0%.

Obviously if all you do is surf porn, key gen and other dodgy sites something will get past, no matter how good the software is. Sensible surfing is always necessary.

zerodamage

I have a fairly fool proof way to keeping my user's machines clean. Keep in mind that my users all have local admin privelages and each machine directly connected to the internet.

1: Extensive Education

2: IPSec standard based firewall (Windows XP Only).

3: Spybot configured to automatically update, immunize, and clean daily and weekly

4: Enforcing the use of Firefox with the Adblock Plus, Adblock Filterset.G Updater, and Forecastbar addons. A good portion of drive-by malware comes from compromised advertisements on websites. People also like to install Weather Bug which owned by a former Spyware vendor so the Forecastbar is an easy alternative.

5: I force my users' systems to update their systems. With you, that should be easy. My wife is a myspace/facebook user and after a year of a similar setup, she hasn't been infected once.

6: I do not surf the web with my Windows machine. My windows machine is a gaming machine only. I surf the web with my Linux machine. Not everyone has two computers, but running a virtual machine with Ubuntu on it is easy. Virtualbox is free and runs very nice. When you are done surfing and want to game, suspend or stop the virtual machine and game.

7: NoScript firefox addons (not for my users but for me) on all of my firefox installs. Rogue scripts on any websites are completely avoided with this addons.

8: OpenDNS. Configure your home network and/or work network to use this. In conjuction with a DD-WRT capable router, you will be in internet heaven. With OpenDNS, you can block sites via content type. There are categories for phishing sites, spyware, and even porn because your little brother is to blame for infecting your computer. DD-WRT or other open source firmware for your routers makes it easy to do Dynamic DNS.


Curious about my IPSec policy or how to configure Spybot effectively to do the scans and automatic immunization, post up or PM me.

Tipstaff

Thanks for mentioning that plugin. Very useful plugin.

Iria

Noscript is also reportedly the only way to avoid the "clickjacking" flaw that all browsers are vulnerable to ...

Judas

Frankly your attitude is getting quite out of hand considering your position as a site owner and administrator.

It's gone from being short jabs hopefully in jest, to questionable sarcasm to outright stating your wishes in the form of a suggestion or however you wish to put it, to have me not post anything at all (the jist of the suggestion being to just simply have me leave the site or just lerk only...). You've stated that most of reasoning behind this is due to complaints from other users sending you hundreds of PM's or E-mail because "I" am posting either "wrong" information or counter accepted norms. On top of all this you make the clear assumption that anything stated to coutner what i may have posted "will not change your mind" (referring to mine) which is absurdly untrue considering that i would have to say I'm probably the most open to anything on these forums. I've clearly admitted to making mistakes in the past or else proving them otherwise in other cases, Ironically in the cases where i've clearly deminstrated that i was indeed correct, clearly countering the "your a liar" compaigns of other members of the forum INCLUDING that of your staff, the reaction is usually ignoring the results, removeall of the posts, suggestions to take it to PM which initially would have been fine if only there wasn't so much garbage out of the public forums already. Essentially it's alright to discredit, call a member a liar, eventually creating the public acceptance of belittling another member without providing any avenue for that said member to counter it due to be "flamitory" in some way or another. (granted this hasn't ALWAYS happened, but the bigger ones tend to, including the ones that clearly disprove or put a staff member in bad light. A specific case in which i won't name the staff member would be an excellent example).

Orginally on the forums in the past i would make some suggestions based upon my own experience and opinion of the matter without clearly stating it was my own opinion (although in the light of political correctness, suddenly this is seen as nessary) so recently i've make it fairly clear with constantly place the "IMO" in with the post.

Things recently getting hectic with the sudden increase of hostilities specifically singling me out (example quoted above). If i post my opinion, make a statement about the situations from my own point of view, provide plausible solutions that are "not of the norm" or considered nessiary at all, suddenly i'm getting this kind of attitude? Something is wrong here, and of all people i would have thought you yourself would have come to realize it and told some of the people bitching about it to either get a life, take it the way they want and stop bothering you or other staff members.


If i want to apply a exceptional thin layer of thermal paste to both the cpu and heatsink as an over the top method that clearly does work even if it may or maynot shave off a degree or improve the performance of the sum of all parts, who the hell cares, it's an alternative method, it doesn't need an adminstrator to come in and tell me that it's a waist of time or anyone else, the post was in passing and to sum it up, was a post in reflection to a previous post by another user, i didn't go off topic as i was blamed for by another user.

Now i would expect this post to be deleted right, not on topic? Considering it a clear responce to you as well as others, and one of the first to take a step up rather then sluffing it off like i've done in the past, in fairness it should remain.

Your getting sick of me obviously, why i'm not 100% sure as going by all your posts over the past few years with the growing hostility to me for no REAL reason other then other people bitching.

I'm Sorry, I'm not a robot, i'm not an "in the box only" type of person, i'm not closed minded as you've suggested, i agree i do have a habit of going a little bit further then most people would on my quest for something in which i can never obtain but at least i try, for perfection. I put time into that of which I care for, it seperates me from the other people. I don't just quit at "it's good enough" on the specific things that IS my living.


And as i've stated, above in in relation to the orginal topic, reguardless of the anti-virus in use, 100% confidence in it is "IMO" not good. As i've clearly seen that reguardless of the brand/make/year/whatever version of software you've got, you can quite easily still get infected. And a few people agreed, a few people haven't, some are relying on that which they've used for years, some moved to another due to getting infected once or several times, is it always greener on the otherside in the anti-virus world? Apparently no, why would it be difference, theres bound to be something better out right now and then a meer matter of seconds later even, a virus definition update or update in general could potentially make that one better then the previous best one.

Best solution is safe internet usage, i've "proved" that to myself and to others that even without a anti-virus, you can be virus free. It's no different then sticking to the calm shallow waters of a lake without a life jacket, most people would consider that suicide, but then people get a life jacket and start sailing into the perfect storm expecting to come out without a scratch on them. It isn't nessarily stupid to have a computer on the internet without anti-virus, but it is pretty stupid to have an anti-virus and the go into the most nasty horrible places on the internet that are swarming with infestations and thinking your going to fine because look.. i'm using an antivirus. It'll help, no doubt, but in the end your luck will indeed run out if you keep sailing those waters.

That is my opinion, That is a logical way of looking at it, Nowhere did i say that Avast was a horrible peice of shit and should burn in hell, or that i dislike it specifically. (although i did say that about Java which i still stand by imo). Norton i dislike because it's bloated, Mcafee i dislike because it's also similare in it's bloated, I dislike anti-viruses in general because in the end, most of all the customers still aren't using the internet properly and relying on thier anti-virus to save them. It's not solving the problem, it's actually creating more.

zaim

Personally, AVAST anti-virus has protected me like no other anti-virus has in the past. So light, clean, easy to use... very good protection.

Zardon

Yeah its very reliable, never had any issues over the years. I like the very low overhead. I hate the way some applications just take over a CPU core or hog 500 meg of ram!

Zardon

Oh it will remain, as far as im aware nothing of your has been deleted in the past which is quite remarkable considering the amount of nonsense you have posted. You are however from this point on getting no more protection from me and you will be treated like everyone else regardless of your post count or time served here. Nice to get things out in the open right?

Consider this a courtesy.

BlueMak