Whats the best free virus protection software?

[LiquidX]

I have Norton but the update expiration ran out. Then the damn thing got messed up after a windows update, now I am stuck with virus updates from 2001. Are these free virus protections worth it or should I just pay the $25 it cost to update Norton for the year?

X
Thanks.

[Starscream]

AVG is very very good. http://www.grisoft.com

Trend Micro's online scan is also useful.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

[LiquidX]

I cant tell you how much I love transformers.....I almost fell over the other when I learned there making a game. Soundwave is the real king though.

Sorry for the rant but thanks Starscream, but I figured out how to get free protection from norton doing a little deleting in the registry.......just till I buy there new version.

[sbp]

http://www.grisoft.com/

[Headbust]

Ive been using RAV ANITIVIRUS for about 4 months now...once the 30 trial runs out just reinstall it.

[cricket]

anything that is "FREE"..usually means that "you get what you paid for"...dont be foolish..stick with the "leader"...NORTON ANTIVIRUS....if it is screwed up, uninstall it and then reinstall it and then update it to the newest definitions.. or go buy the newest release norton "antivirus 2003".. another special note: if you ever do a system retore: disable norton antivirus first, then do restore, otherwise you may get a problem.after restore is done, reenable norton.

[Lfctony]

AS known to us, Internet is full of peril and antivirus software is essential. The consequence of the antivirus software is the raging matter we have been of concern. I use a anti-virus software www.search-and-destroy.com, which is very assisted in preventing the viruses.

Nice marketing post. 2 posts advertising the same site... Enjoy your brief stay...

[XDanger]

AVG was annoying me with fasle postives , Avast now.

[KillSwitcH]

Been using AVG for some time now. Works great, but I do re-format every year..... it's a good idea to clean out your computer for speed every once and a while.

[Drolfrawd]

Avast or Antivir, but for a few bucks nod32 by eset beats then all

[shilk]

I use Avira. It beat NOD32 and all of the other in virus tests. Plus it's free and the footprint is really small. :)

[Eliminator]

antivir(avira) looks interesting.... i can say AVG gives far too many false positives... a while ago it said my original Crysis DVD was infected.... i switched to Avast but i managed to pick up a virus that it did not catch... i switched to nod32 for a while... and im using kasperky now and i havent looked back...

[Drolfrawd]

Norton sucks

[XDanger]

anything that is "FREE"..usually means that "you get what you paid for"...dont be foolish..stick with the "leader"...NORTON ANTIVIRUS....if it is screwed up, uninstall it and then reinstall it and then update it to the newest definitions.. or go buy the newest release norton "antivirus 2003".. another special note: if you ever do a system retore: disable norton antivirus first, then do restore, otherwise you may get a problem.after restore is done, reenable norton.

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Norton is fine if you dont know what you're doing and have money to burn but people who have a clue will use Free AVG/Avira/Avast Spywareblaster Spybot S&D (updated by FILEHIPPO.COM :)) and the like.

Also I.T. professionals hat have been brainwashed by their company will also use and defend Norton.

The newer version of Norton isnt such a hog as it used to be but still not worth it.

[Medion]

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

AV Comparatives does a quarterly detection rate test on many AV suites. They're independent, and have a solid reputation. For November 2008, here's the results for Windows Viruses, and overall (tested in WinXP SP3). I'm displaying top 5, as well as listing Avira, Avast, and AVG (freebies) as notables when not in the top 5.

Windows Viruses:

1. Kaspersky AV (92%)
2. AVIRA (91%)
3. McAfee VirusScan+ (90%)
4. Microsoft OneCare (84%)
5. F-Secure Anti-Virus (68%)
- AVG (56%)
- Avast (55%)

Overall:

1. AVIRA (67%)
2. Kaspersky AV (60%)
3. AntiVirusKit (59%)
4. ESET NOD32 Antivirus (51%)
5. Sophos E S&C (50%)
- AVG (40%)
- Avast (39%)

So what does this tell us? It's not opinion, it's mere fact that Avira is one of the best AV programs out there today. It's also free. In fact, it was 2nd in virus detections this quarter, and has been top 3 for the past year. While they tested the premium version, the free version offers the same detections from this test, minus the active spyware guard, and minus the faster update servers. Kaspersky has been the only one to compare to it for the past year, and they do not offer a free version.

Bottom line is, if you want only one free AV program, Avira is the best way to go. There are other viable alternatives, but Avira is proven to be the best free AV for over a year running now.

[Retrolock]

How about Comodo Internet Security suite? It has an antivirus and firewall, all for free! I'm using it at my home pc.

[XDanger]

Avira

I know Ive installed it before ,I must have had a good reason to uninstall it...Maybe not

I use it in Vista 64bit ...Is that right?

Havent used Vista in a while...

[crainger]

How about Comodo Internet Security suite? It has an antivirus and firewall, all for free! I'm using it at my home pc.

Yuck.

[Shamrock]

I tried the Comodo Firewall, and hated it. Even when I set things to trusted, it wouldn't let any output. Like I put Firefox on the internet trusted list, and it would open up, but not goto ANY website. It also wouldn't even let me log onto my ISP.

Medion has convinced me to give Avira a try. I am tired of the false positives of AVG, and for the past 3 months I can update, but only if I delete ALL .ctf files. Or else I get "Invalid Control File".
Besides Avira having as good of rating as Kaspersky, it's almost like getting Kaspersky for free. :)

[Retrolock]

Yuck.

:thumbdwn: is that so?

so what other free antivirus to use? I used to have avast but it made me accidentally delete the service TrustedInstaller which ****ed up my vista 64.

While on this subject, how bout the best free firewall?

[wysiwyg]

comodo does a free F/W with A\V

[CaptNKILL]

This thread is 5 years old guys. You responded to a spam bot who has been banned. :captnkill:

[zoomy942]

running linux. best AV evar

[XDanger]

This thread is 5 years old guys. You responded to a spam bot who has been banned. :captnkill:

Spambot or not, I stand by my comments!! :p

[crainger]

This thread is 5 years old guys. You responded to a spam bot who has been banned. :captnkill:

Spoil sport. ::(: