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Free Anti virus

january39

eXo Staff
My AV is about to run out and before i go out and buy a.n.other product. I wondered what the viewpoint on free av i.e MS Security essentials seems pretty good but then...? AVG gets mentioned a bit as well, the reviews i have read are favourably to both really

If free anti virus is a no no then what are the recommendations for a good anti virus?
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
Free antivirus works great and you really don't need to pay for AV software anymore. Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG and Avast! are all solid choices and I recommend all three (I've personally used Avast! the most with MSE coming in second)
 

Spiros

Maiki
AVG has worked well for me for the last year or so. I'm always downloading something, and I haven't gotten any viruses.

I used to pay for Norton aswell, now I just can't justify paying for AV.
 

Riorio99

New Member
Avast! is superb, and comes highly recommended. I would also keep Malware Bytes installed as well, but you don't need to pay for that if you have Avast! installed, it's just an incredibly handy and powerful malware remover.
 

EvilSeph

Administrator
You generally get what you pay for when it comes to anti-viruses. ESET and Norton products are well worth the money if you want a pay-for solution.

However, that being said, Microsoft Security Essentials is improving a lot. Right now I have Malware Bytes Anti-Malware and run scans with it every so often. Along with doing that I have both Avast! and Microsoft Security Essentials Beta monitoring my system. Usually it isn't a good idea to run more than one real-time anti-virus but I know what I'm doing. Other alternatives include AVG and Avira but I prefer what I'm using.

My only issue with Avast is how much of a resource hog it is, though this can be remedied by disabling unwanted shields.

That answers your question, however, I feel as if we're missing out on a very important step when it comes to combatting malware: prevention. Stop running as Administrator and, for the love of God, I hope you haven't disabled UAC. Prevention and common sense are better ways to combat this issue than relying on software to catch a signature.
 

El Xando

"Dam whippersnapper"
I've used AVG for ages and it's brilliant.
 

elite

Oldie moldie
I expected that you use such Anti-Malware EvilSeph for the large amounts of tabs you open. ;P

I personally recommend Avira for anyone that I format his laptop. However, recently it got into compatibility troubles with Windows Defender since installation recommends to turn it off. Besides that, it is free, light weight, and gets the job done.

As for Avast, it is strong especially because it has the boot scan features, which scans all of the PC before loading OS. And that I think is an essential feature for any AV.
 

Adiuvo

Active Member
Microsoft Security Essentials. Haven't had a single problem since I installed it.
That. I really find no need to run anything else. You shouldn't be downloading shady things anyways.
 

january39

eXo Staff
Well, i have gone for AVG in the finish, i will see how this pans out for now. I have put MSE on my other computer so i can get some results and compare.

Thanks for the tips guys.
 

EvilSeph

Administrator
I can save you time and tell you that MSE isn't that good unless you're running the beta. They're adding a new anti-malware engine among other things and it makes quite a difference.
 

Moose

Meta Moose
I can save you time and tell you that MSE isn't that good unless you're running the beta. They're adding a new anti-malware engine among other things and it makes quite a difference.

Is it 'not that good' enough that it's worth running a different AV instead?
 

EvilSeph

Administrator
It misses a lot of definitions it really should have and picks up things that aren't a big deal. I was running it on my systems for a while and believed it to be doing well until two of my systems (used by family members, not me) were infected by your silly fake anti-virus that every other decent anti-virus or anti-malware program would catch a mile away. I decided to throw it at my virus collection (which I no longer have) and it only caught 3 of several well known viruses that any decent AV should have multiple signatures for. In fact, I'm pretty sure it *still* doesn't catch it.

It's up to you. I'd like to say it is decent enough that casual usage of a computer will be protected by it, but honestly...my family was just trying to watch cricket. There's nothing malicious about that. Going from personal experiences, I wouldn't trust it at all in its current state. The beta is a really big improvement though and I can't wait for it to go live.
 

LocutusEstBorg

Active Member
Kaspersky was the best paid AV but the new 2010/11 versions have WAY too many hooks and break things in Windows and really slow down installations and scripts. Only after a failed uninstallation of Kaspersky followed by a futile attempt to manually remove all its hooks did I see how bloated it has become over the years.

I now use Forefront Client Security. It's basically the enterprise version of Security Essentials. The best part about it is if you select Advanced SpyNet membership, it tells you every time an application modifies system files/settings such as the autorun keys and services. You can either permit the change or undo the operation. Infinitely useful for preventing applications from installing bullcrap in start-up in the first place. Other AVs provide similar functionality but require extensive configuration to make it only alert you for specific stuff like autorun etc.

Another neat thing about it is it clearly labels the threats it discovers and doesn't pretend to have saved your computer from a catastrophic disaster for every tiny thing. It allows you to ignore keygens and cracks and only warns you that it might be illegal in your organization or something like that.

I'll never trust another non-Microsoft security product to make efficient system hooks after my recent Kaspersky disaster.
 
I now use Forefront Client Security. It's basically the enterprise version of Security Essentials. The best part about it is if you select Advanced SpyNet membership, it tells you every time an application modifies system files/settings such as the autorun keys and services. You can either permit the change or undo the operation. Infinitely useful for preventing applications from installing bullcrap in start-up in the first place. Other AVs provide similar functionality but require extensive configuration to make it only alert you for specific stuff like autorun etc.

I had a friend who works as a freelance web designer, and he raved about how great Forefront was. So here's recommendation-by-proxy.
 

LocutusEstBorg

Active Member
I also use Forefront Threat Management Gateway instead of a router. I tried it out for kicks because I've gone mad with power, but surprisingly I found a massive improvement in response times for both browsing and gaming, even though latency is the same. I expected it to have a negative impact since it does real-time virus scanning of known protocols. It also stops known application level exploit code from even entering the network by inspecting all connections. It even scans SSL encrypted connections for malware/exploits. You need to install the Forefront root certificate in the client PCs though for this to work transparently though. It also runs torrents with like 500 peers without choking.
 

Colm

New Member
MSE is possibly the best AV you'll get for nothing. AVG is becoming slow and bloated (in comparison to what it was), MSE is low on resources and quite effective.
 
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