Filed under: PC Tools
Whats a free anti virus protection program that you can trust? And are they free?
August 25, 2010
7 thoughts on “Whats a free anti virus protection program that you can trust? And are they free?”
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Clean Registry and Optimize PC
Hi.if you are interested in free trials, get kaspersky. If not a free trial check out Macafee.Macafee is free if you are an aol user.
Just personal opinion of course. I use Avast , I have also got superantispyware and Malwarebytes. I recently changed to Comodo firewall which seems fine and I seem to boot up quicker. They are all free for personal use and I have had no trouble with Viruses Trojans Hackers etc. I also use Windows Defender from the Microsoft site. It is safe to use two anti-spy products but never use more than one A/V as it can cause conflicts. You should run A/V and anti spy weekly.
Hi there,
There are lots of AV softwares available on internet… here are some of them… choose the best one for your PC ans install
* Grisoft’s AVG 8.0.
AVG has a long history, and has been through loads of modifications to provide a better service on its way to the current version, AVG 8.0. The company makes its money by selling virus protection to small businesses, and offers free home-user versions as a means of promoting its professional service. It’s protection is reasonably thorough, though it doesn’t offer any real tech support. It’s quite unintrusive, doesn’t use too many resources, and it will regularly auto-update.
* Alwil Softaware’s Avast! 4.
Alwil software’s Avast! 4 is free for non-commercial users and offers regular updates, as well as proper technical support via e-mail or phone. Protection-wise it’s very similar to AVG, covering all the same bases and not hogging system resources, but it has a funkier interface (for those who like a pinch of fashion with their computer security). The only downside is that you have to re-register it after each year of use.
* AntiVir.
AntiVir by Alvira actually offers better standard virus detection than both of the above, but lacks in other areas. It won’t scan your emails before you open them, uses more resources (less of a problem if you’ve a more powerful PC), and maintains a perhaps-too-visible presence on your desktop. You’ll also have to occasionally re-register it to keep it going.
Whichever of these you choose, there’s one important warning…
Hackers develop new bugs constantly. All these free anti-virus services offer regular updates, if you don’t download them, you’re not protected.
Yet it’s not just about how up to date your software is. If you’re not using it, what’s the point. Try to fit in a full ‘on-demand’ scan (that is, one where the virus scanner flicks through all the files on your hard drive) once a week. This should make sure nothing slips through the net.
Free online virus scanners for further protection
Whilst they shouldn’t replace proper software, online scanners provide a secondary scan and can sometimes be more up to date. So if you’re worried your software isn’t working well enough, or want a second opinion, these are worth a regular play with.
* Trendmicro’s Housecall 6.6.
Updated daily, Housecall 6.6 will rummage through your whole machine, identifying infections as it goes. As a bonus, it’ll also look for other vulnerabilities in your machine, and in many cases fix those it finds. Feedback’s generally excellent for the service, though be aware it might pique the interest of your firewall since it runs using ActiveX or Java (you choose which).
* Panda Security’s Activescan 2.0.
In a bid to sell you its paid-for security programmes, Panda Security also offers a free online scan, which will be better for some as it can be customised to only scan certain sections of your hard drive.
A note for those with new PCs
Often companies throw in free anti-virus programs hoping you’ll subscribe to them out of convenience once the free trial ends. By all means take advantage of the free offer, but then ditch and switch to a free version when it expires. Make sure you uninstall the trial too; it may interfere with the new virus scanner, and even if not it’ll certainly slow down your PC.
Note for Norton users only: It can be a bit of a pain to get rid of all Norton AntiVirus’s components from your machine. If you’re having trouble doing so, try Symantec’s own Norton Removal Tool, which is designed to solve this very problem.
Good Luck!
Olivia
I would go with Avira or Avast. Both are free and of great quality.
Download page –
Avira:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/antivir.html
Avast:
http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html?part=dl-85737&subj=dl&tag=button
Anti-Virus programs will get rid of any infections you already have. To have on-the-fly protection, you want what is called a "real-time" virus protection. Both of the above are real-time AV programs.
If you haven’t already gotten anti-spyware protection, I would recommend SuperAntiSpyware.
Comodo makes a great free firewall.
AVG works well
but download quick and then scan. just going onto the internet and you can end up with virus’s
i forgot once, and had 67 virus’s in less than 30mins
http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html
http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpyware-Free-Edition/3000-8022_4-10523889.html
Here is a very good basic protection package complete with Web Shield and inbound/outbound e-mail scanner..
I have had all three on my computer for the last 3 years….and they all have saved me some serious infections………
http://nospy.blog.com/ is a good one