virus programs

Blaster

Rear Admiral
Are there any good, free anti-virus programs or do I have to spend money to get decent protection for my computer?
I know there are a lot of free programs out there but how do they compare to the others?
 
Avast! antivirus is free for home use, and I swear by it. It's user friendly, updated very frequently and I recommend it to clients.

www.avast.com
They have a few different options in the download section. You'll fine Avast free home edition.
 
People pay for medical insurance.
People pay for car insurance.

But people refuse to pay for Anti-Virus software. It's remarkable. To get the best coverage you're going to need a program that updates itself and scans the computer automatically for you. And to get that you're going to need to pay.
 
I use Avast, but there are people who swear by Avira (but you have ads asking you to upgrade).

For spyware, I use Spybot S&D, but I've heard tons of recommendations for MalwareByte's Anti-Spyware and stuff.
 
AVG is good, but you need to combine it with with windows defender and something like ad-aware or regsupreme to really be able to clear out the garbage out of messed up installations.

Antivir is a pretty good tool as well. If you are in need of an antivirus tool, I recommend best that you best buy one, things like "Panda Antivirus", "Trend Micro", or "kaspersky" if you just download a free test version and purchase it online.

One real direct advise: Stay far, FAR away from using hitmanpro if you need any of your data.
 
avast
I used AVG until an update that suddenly caused it to have cpu usage spikes and memory usage issues. forums at the time indicated a lot of people were having the same issue so I knew it wasn't my pc so I ditched it
 
For faster computers I use Norton Internet Security. The 2009 version is completely remade, but still uses A LOT of system resources. You used to be able to get the OEM version (single PC) from newegg for about 30 USD. But that version doesn't seem to exist on newegg right now.

For older computers I use Eset Nod32 Anitvirus Home Edition 4.0. Eset barely uses any resources at all. I had to turn off the automatic scan at startup though. I really like eset. I only notice it is running whenever it pops up and reports it just updated itself. It has auto protected me from trojans several times. You should sign up to get junk mail from newegg.com. Sometimes you can get promo codes to buy eset for 20 USD.

On the free side malwarebytes is the best out there (IMHO). You can download the free version here: http://www.malwarebytes.org/ The full scans take a while to complete. But it's free and seems to be thorough.
 
Personally, I use a combination of Malware and Spybot Search and Destroy.

I have Avast8 free in the background, but Spybot's Teatimer does the same job for half the memory
 
People pay for medical insurance.
People pay for car insurance.

But people refuse to pay for Anti-Virus software. It's remarkable. To get the best coverage you're going to need a program that updates itself and scans the computer automatically for you. And to get that you're going to need to pay.

Not only is free avg a fantastic program, in my experience the major programs I have bought have been clunky and bloated.
 
Not only is free avg a fantastic program, in my experience the major programs I have bought have been clunky and bloated.

Yeah, AVG is good because it's not just crappy freeware. They make their money selling a full featured security line to corporations so it's actually a fully featured Anti-Virus program with frequent virus definition updates and all and the ability to schedule virus scans. They just happen to be nice and give it away for non buisness use. That paired with some kind of spyware removal/detection like spybot S&D are pretty much all the average home user will ever need.

You can buy AVGs full internet security line but you don't really need it.
 
I love AVG. It doesn't suck up a quarter of my system resources and hijack my computer with stupid questions.
 
People pay for car insurance.

Yeah, because it's the law. Good luck trying to sue someone to pay for damages if they don't have insurance, it's a long and costly process.

People pay for medical insurance.

Because it's unfortunately becoming the law. Personally, I'd rather not since I go to the hospital once every 5 years or so when something happens, and ONLY if I really need to. But that's just the way it is, plus if you get the right job, they'll pay for it FOR you.

But people refuse to pay for Anti-Virus software. It's remarkable. To get the best coverage you're going to need a program that updates itself and scans the computer automatically for you. And to get that you're going to need to pay.

Why should we? This opens the door for less scrupulous companies to infect your computer with malware, spyware, or even viruses and then hold the safety of your information hostage until you shell out the cash to pay for the software to get the bugs out that THEY INSTALLED IN THE FIRST PLACE!

I had this one end user call us over at IT support one time saying that he actually paid for the software to remove the malware that had infected his computer... he paid $80 for a one time computer cleaning. $80!!!

No thank you, I'll take the free stuff.
 
Because it's unfortunately becoming the law. Personally, I'd rather not since I go to the hospital once every 5 years or so when something happens, and ONLY if I really need to. But that's just the way it is, plus if you get the right job, they'll pay for it FOR you.

You are right in principle, BUUUUUUUT... Do you really have the money on your bank account right now to pay for a serious surgery and the needed stay in hospital? Not likely. So if you are lucky you might get credit and will have to pay for a long long time for it. If you aren't - what then?
Much safer to be insured.
Who actually pays it doesn't matter. In the end it is you (you'd get more money instead of the health insurance at that 'right job' if they didn't pay it).
Generally speaking - IMHO insurances are a good thing for stuff where the likelyhood is low, but the potential damage is high. Which is the case for health, especially as you get older.
 
This is not a health insurance discussion and everyone would be wise to avoid replying to the above two posts.
 
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