Best free anti-virus?

I think it's horseshit that Windows doesn't have embedded anti-virus. Personally I almost never get tagged buy this shit as I use my head... my users unfortunately, are not as cunning as I. One computer is absolutely fucking hosed.

I'm getting a trial of NAV, but there's no way I'm paying a yearly subscription for this when there's free stuff. I used AVG before, and hated it. It never caught one virus... well, it did, I'd run it, and then restart and it'd give me the same error. :/ what do you bitches use?

 

I've used AVG for at least 2 years now and it finds every virus I ever get. Version 7 (came out the beginning of this year) is much improved from the older one.

I had it b0rk up after an update once - kept coming up with the "virus found" box but was displaying some hex error code, and kept doing this for every executable that was running at the time! That was the most annoying thing in the world, but it never happened again. There's been loads of updates since then anyway - that was like the first update of the new version.

I don't think there's anything else that good that you can get for free. I heard with one of the versions of Norton you could just re-install it after the 1 year and it would give you another year free, but I dunno about the new one. You could always craxx0r it if you really want ^_^

I think it's better that MS *didn't* put integrated anti-virus into Windows - it would be a really bad idea. It would mean nearly everyone will have the same AV program, which would just make Windows an even bigger target for virus makey guys/hackers than it already is. And Windows has enough security holes as it is! And look at how crap XP SP2's firewall is...

 

Just thought that I'd mention that NO OS has an embedded Antivirus - it's not really a Windows fault.

That said, you won't find my experience really helpful - I use AVG Free, but I've had nothing but good luck with it. It's found and cleaned what Norton failed to. I use the one-two-three combo of AdAware Personal SE, Microsoft Antispyware, and AVG Free, and have yet to have any problems.

 

True, but also the truth is that Windows 2k/XP is the most popular OS so it is the biggest target for virii/hacking anyway. I don't even have any anti-virus on Linux! Then again I also don't on my WinNT4 machine (which goes on the internet)... it's too decrepit for any hackers to care about!

Personally, for spyware and stuff, I use a combo of Ad-Aware, SpyBot and not using IE or Outlook :smt023

 

Yeah -- what Zilog said. If Windows wasn't so easily bombarded I wouldn't give a shit, but Linux doesn't NEED anti-virus, so doesn't have it. Windows costs $$ and sucks in terms of security. Bad combo.

I'll give AVG another shot... perhaps I'll have some better luck this time.

 

Panda Soft have a pretty good free antivirus software that also checks for spyware.

Yakumo

 

I can't stand AVG too - Seemed like a huge resource hog when i used it. Therefore i use Kaspersky - It does the job, and it seems to work a lot better than AVG. Mind you, most of the time i have it disabled, as i ifnd i don't get viruses unless i click everything imaginable - It's the great thing about being the only user of youre computer - You don't need to worry about what anyone else could do.

 

Too bad my brother and my mother are morons...

 

Well, I'm kind of the only IT fish in a pretty small pond. The good thing is that I don't have to do like 50 updates at once. The bad thing is that means I have to do basically everything computer-related...including cleaning up their crap.

 

I'd take an AVG/Ad-aware/Spybot combo any time. That's what I use and I've yet to have any problems.

Plus Spybot has that resident shield thing, and the immunizations, and that blocks out crap-ware.

 

AVG

I too have used AVG on my side computer and been fairly happy with it! =)
On my laptop I use TrendMicro's PC-Cillin AV and that's the BEST money you'll ever spend on an anti-virus.
I think any machine should have Ad-Aware SE and SpyBot S&D as well!
~Krelian

P.S.: I'd also suggest Giant's errr... "Microsoft's" AntiSpyware program since it's pretty easy to use and has a pretty good Active Shield.

 

AVG has worked for me, I guess (I can't tell you the last time I've had a virus). As for spyware/adware, I use Ad-aware SE, Spybot, and SpywareBlaster. I haven't had to worry about those too much since I stopped using Internet Explorer, though.

 

Assuming the internet connection isn't bork, try TrendMicro Housecall.

 

I'm a moderately happy AVG user. It's not found anything much in the past year of use, and I'd certainly not feel the need to have it on the constant scan mode (I run a scan every month or so). I've always had an aversion to antivirus programs, they can be terrible resource hogs - AVG isn't the way I have it set up, and it's free.

 

That free price tag is pretty nice on AVG. I've got mine set up to run daily (usually in the wee hours of the morning when I'm not up) so it helps keep crap from collecting. All in all, the various parts of it take up 10MB of memory on my setup - not too bad, methinks. The only thing is how much the system slows down while I'm running a scan, but again that's why I'm having it run at like 7 am.

Giant/Microsoft AntiSpyware, as Divine Evolution and I mentioned above, is an absolute godsend. Among the things it can do (aside from scanning for spyware) are actively block changes to your internet settings (for the time when some shitty popup or ad decides to replace your start or search page), notify you of attempted program installs over the internet and allow you to choose whether the install was authorized or not, and monitor new program installs from your local hard drive to make sure there was nothing running by a script or whathaveyou. Plus, at a cost of free dollars, it's not really a good idea to say no to this.

 

BEST free anti-virus? mmmm...lemme think *big smile* Llinux?

hehe, otherwise, there's AVG too...

 

We all know you're knew to linux and love it. If you've read my other posts from the last two years you'll see that 80% what I support is unix/linux. Still have to have PCs for something.

Anyways, I"m gutting this fucker. I left it on all night, running NAV demo and shit, came back, it said it found some virii and deleted them. Spybot can't delete anything w/o crashing so I go to downlod something else (via Firefox). At that moment. popup hell returned.

Maybe we should invest in Norton Ghost.

 

Gaijin get microsoft antispyware beta.

 

can't we joke a bit? i knew you where using linux too, btw. and yeah, AVG's still great...

 

I'm sure if he wanted to switch to Linux completely, he'd have managed to have do so by now.

That's one of the most irritating things I can think of - and it happens both here and elsewhere - is when someone has a Windows problem, or an IE problem, or a general Microsoft problem they want help with, and somebody thinks they're being funny by piping up with a smug, "Get Linux!", "Get Netscape/Firefox" or "Get -random Linux-based solution-". If a person had wanted to do one of those things, they most likely would have by now, but the issue at hand is clearly getting assistance with their existing software. I also find these answers to be really, really ridiculous - you're suggesting someone switch their ENTIRE operating system to avoid getting virii - a problem for which there are plenty of programs to fix, both free and commercial. As you've recently switched to Linux, I'm sure you may be aware of the time it takes to procure new software programs to replace the ones on your old OS, finding ways of using your old file types with the new software, acclimating yourself to the software and OS - the list goes on, and yet this is presented as a viable solution to virus infection. That's pretty ludicrous, and in no way is it remotely helpful to the original question.