Freeware/ shareware Anti-virus

[subversion]

greetings friends

have you ever tried the following freeware/shareware anti-virus programmes? any comments/ precautions? do you have any others to recommend? thanks in advance... IMO the economic downturn necessitates the acquisition of free essentials... he he...

1. AVG Anti-virus FREE edition ver 8

2. Avira AntiVir Personal

3. Avast!

4. ThreatFire ver 4

5. PC Tools Antivirus ver 5

 

[live33]

From yer list, I have only used AVG. However, I dropped back to ver 7.5 as ver 8 has a resident process that hogs cpu cycles like crazy during it's background scan and it's not configurable, as in when u want it to run and when not too. So I ditched ver 8. AVG works well otherwise, with little to no conflicts with other programs, esp firewalls.

 

[teokiatuan]

i use firefox with noscript[which essentially blocks connections from everyone or from suspicious sites, can be set]

i find this is the best solution to prevent viruses etc as most infections occur from the browser, therefore good browser security is imperative to computer safety, and not getting infected then clearing with antivirus.

my main point:
why not keep the floor litter free instead of getting a maid to pick up after you,right?

firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
noscript: http://noscript.net/

to answer your question, i really dont have much experience with antivirus, i do the occasional scan once in a while with the Norton that lasts for a year with the purchase of my laptop

adaware by lavasoft is real good too.

 

[Cheez]

Although the free antivirus is supposed to function the same as the paid version, somehow my experience is quite different. The paid version somehow detected viruses (and saved me many times) when other PCs with free versions did not pick up.

Suggestion is for your crucial data machine which you are going use for important work to have the paid version. The last time I gave a lecture on my notebook, another lecturer's notebook didn't work with the projector and so she need to transfer her files to my notebook. Once her USB drive is plugged in, my antivirus (Kaspersky) detected more than 100 viruses! You can imagine I was shaking in my shoes. None of them got into my machine. Her notebook detected nothing - running free antivirus. This happened not just once to me - but many times. I'm glad I have a good antivirus.

 

[subversion]

i was gonna download those freeware until a colleague told me just that- the free stuff don't work, they are just there for show but another told me the AVG's great... conflicting views here

 

[seekz]

don't go for AVG, I've tried it before. Didn't detect or remove the virus that I kena. Go for Avast! its much better and has the option to do a low-level scan on reboot

Teo:
Some viruses are very stealth one, its not just from the web.
Just simply plugging in a fren's thumbdrive you'll kena already.

 

[teokiatuan]

yeah i forgot to mention thumbdrive ones too.

btw seekz you have pm regarding the keeley mod..

 

[dir]

I used to use AVG with HijackThis and I never had any problems with viruses or spyware. Although it's a bit more of a resource hog, I think it's still a solid AV program. As long as you're careful enough, you won't get easily infected. Most of the problems caused today are usually by invasive malware, like the recent Antivirus 2008.

Disable autorun for cds and thumbdrives, stop using IE and p2p programs, and scan your startup config regularly. Most of these are just common sense really, but I'm always surprised at how often people get infected.

 

[shredded]

want free things eh?

try combat arms or fifa online 2!

 

[theliverevolution]

i use AVG, works fine for me. My com is customed buit about 3 years ago and it runs smoothly, don't se the problem with it

 

[Cheez]

I've always been extra careful on my PC. Never had a virus on my PC causing problems. Never go to dubious websites. Never download dubious software. But when you start sharing, things gets scary.

Last year, my work place got a terrible virus outbreak. Eventually, we traced the source to a single SD card! One staff had been developing photos in a particular photo shop using his SD card. Got the virus there. SD card infected his PC. Then infected his USB. Then infected other's USB. Then the spread started. Can't imagine how it escape the screening. We had to develop very strict guidelines then. But you would be surprised how things can still happen.

My PC runs Bitdefender. My notebook runs Kaspersky. Both saved me multiple times when other people's USB drives is plugged in.