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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Pete Elite on 11 December 2008, 00:27:55

Title: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Pete Elite on 11 December 2008, 00:27:55
  Hi,
     Can anyone tell me what is probably the best free Antivirus(Internet security)to use and is Windows XPs Firewall adequate and up to the task?

           Thanks,
                     Pete :).
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: BigAl on 11 December 2008, 00:41:26
recently heard very good things about comodo http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
combined firewall and AV, planning to test next week for the kids laptops
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: shanjon on 11 December 2008, 00:49:15
AVG FREE from grisoft is a good one and i have been using it on the kids laptops for years,
it is also a recomended antivirus in the book titled ( windows for dummies)
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: sir moanalot on 11 December 2008, 07:45:25
avg 8 free seems best :y
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: dbug on 11 December 2008, 08:49:58
A/v - use Avast - fast and low overhead - used to use AVG free, Norton (slow) * McAfee (slower!!)

Firewall - ZoneAlarm or Comodo
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Bacon Butty Man on 11 December 2008, 08:57:22
Quote
recently heard very good things about comodo http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
combined firewall and AV, planning to test next week for the kids laptops

there are no good free ones, they all let viruses thru, get Panda off ebay for about a fiver, real copy not hooky. thats what i use on all my pc's inc the business pc, with all the sensative data on there i need a good one an dthis beats em all hands down ;D
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: waspy on 11 December 2008, 09:08:48
AVG free is the best one & up to the job. It's the one i've used for some years. It's in the download section of this site :y

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Bacon Butty Man on 11 December 2008, 09:14:41
Quote
AVG free is the best one & up to the job. It's the one i've used for some years. It's in the download section of this site :y

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/

CD PETE, please would you change your avatar as it makes me queasy, not a nice sight in the morning >:( >:( >:(
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: waspy on 11 December 2008, 09:18:10
Quote
Quote
AVG free is the best one & up to the job. It's the one i've used for some years. It's in the download section of this site :y

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/

CD PETE, please would you change your avatar as it makes me queasy, not a nice sight in the morning >:( >:( >:(

How do you think i feel, i have to look at it every time i post :D :D

Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 11 December 2008, 09:31:33
AVG free, never had a problem on a computer with it installed.  :y
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: bob.dent on 11 December 2008, 09:53:02
As already said, there are a few reasonable free versions around but well worth spending around £25 per year for Kaspersky. Sorts out just about everything......viruses, malware, adware, spyware etc. and constantly updates daily. :y
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Pete Elite on 13 December 2008, 00:19:24
   Thanks all for the great suggestions :) :y.
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: GuzziHero on 13 December 2008, 00:20:55
AVG, AdAware, and if things really go pear shaped, Hijack This!
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: HerefordElite on 13 December 2008, 00:22:26
i've just uninstalled Norton and all my BT crap and downloaded AVG but now it's doing a full scan and has been for 2 hours and is nowhere near the end, should it take that long? :-?
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: GuzziHero on 13 December 2008, 00:24:26
Yes.  Its thorough.  Takes blooming ages.

But mostly, you just let it sit there and it sorts out any flying infections as they occur.
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: HerefordElite on 13 December 2008, 00:32:56
Quote
Yes.  Its thorough.  Takes blooming ages.

But mostly, you just let it sit there and it sorts out any flying infections as they occur.


that was my next question as it's found 5 'threats' but doesn't apear to be doing anything about them?
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: GuzziHero on 13 December 2008, 00:34:59
At the end itll ask what you want to do.  Far as I know, if you cancel part way through a scan itll also ask what you want it to do.  Move To Vault is what I usually do, I dont see much point in trying to heal a corrupted file.
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: TheBoy on 13 December 2008, 10:13:15
No AV software - free or commercial - are 100%.  But more critical than that is how often they and you update it.  The big commercial ones (ie Norton and Mcafee) do tend to more on the ball than the free ones, but don't let that put you off the free ones.  Just remember, the definitions should be updated at least daily though.


Also remember, AV software will only stop viruses (and some trojans).  It is not intended to stop other nasties, such as browser hijacks (massively on the increase again), ad tracking and targetted ads, password snoopers, keyloggers, and other malware.

For general malware, adaware is pretty good, though bloated now, though on my Vista PCs, I just stick to the included Windows Defender most of the time.


Not much to prevent browser hijacking, hijackthis can be useful to clean up some (but not all) hijacks, but needs skill and knowledge to use effectively.


Whenever any of my machines are compromised - which is rare - they get rebuilt.  It is simply not possible to guarantee 100% cleanup.
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Jim on 13 December 2008, 10:21:24
I use avast, it's free and very good and updates itself daily

http://www.avast.com/eng/home-registration.php
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Markjay on 13 December 2008, 11:48:55
I recommend buying proper AV e.g McAfee etc (not Norton though), but if you are not prepared to pay for it then as suggested the free AVG seems adequate.
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: rickyboy on 13 December 2008, 12:11:40
Used all aforementioned - Avast gets my vote every time.  You can get it (and others) at www.download.com.  Anti-virus is only as good as its updates, windows updates are equally as important to keep your system secure.
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: MickAP on 13 December 2008, 12:33:49
Never had any problems with AVG. Used it on all computers for years now. First thing I do is get rid of Norton which seems to be preloaded on some computers. Avast, had problems with that on another computer got rid and installed AVG.

Mick
Title: Re: Antivirus, Best Free One
Post by: Del Boy on 14 December 2008, 20:58:10
AVG free 8.0 been using AVG since it was AVG 5 and never had any probs, great 4 a freebie.