Free virus checkers and spyware jobby reccomedations please

[dizzyblonde]

yup....need to change them today. Good ones please, answers on a postcard...well ok just here will do.:smt039

[BigBaddad]

Avira....excellent

http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

[hindle8907]

if you looking for free protection i tent to install Microsoft security essentials and avast free onto my customers machines.

[dizzyblonde]

I'm coming off Avast, it doesn't seem to be offering much with the free one, so I want something a bit better this time, or different.

[BigBaddad]

Avira.....very low system use. I've got 2 teenage lads and it deals with anything they throw at it.

[dizzyblonde]

cheers BBd. That sounds the sort of thing thats needed!

I also have Adaware...but that just seems crap....any alternative to that?

[hindle8907]

Did you get any viruses while on avast ?
maybe give the avira ago as bigbaddad suggests.

[BigBaddad]

TBH Avira is all I use and I've never had any issues. I always used Norton, but then you see how much it slows your system down.

[454697819]

avg - free addition works A ok.

[Viney]

My mates inot IT security and its his job. He had a point about MS SE, saying that as a lot of poeple write virus's etc to attack windows and MS products in general then the MS SE gets bombarded more often than most in his expierence. I used to run it with no problems, but changed on his advice. I now use AVG again which in its 2011 guise seems pretty good.

[keithd]

I use Spybot for spyware, seems to be very good.

http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

[Gordon B]

Another vote for MSE, been using it for ages and have put it on loads of peoples machines as well.

Would recommend a sweep with Malwarebytes first to confirm machine is all clean. This bad boy gets pretty much anything.

[suzukigt380paul]

there aint ever anything free in this world.so i would say norton 360.i bought mine on ebay,no disc just a code.and cost about £18 for 2 years cover

[Bibio]

Antivir and Javacool's spyware blaster + spyware guard. never had a problem. ok so you have to remember and manually update javacool's stuff but its free and takes up no systems resources. antivir just gives a pop up every time it updates but who cares its free.

[hindle8907]

Nod32 is what I use as my paid service.

Think I am going to set-up some virtual machines when I get a minute and install each of available free-Anti virus programs onto them and inject some Sypyware/Viruses and see what results I get. will probably start a new thread in a few weeks if I get round to it.

[SoulKiss]

MSE is what I use and seems to be good.

If running Adaware, also run Spybot, if running Spybot also run Adaware...

[collis]

Avast free and Spybot S&D here.
Spybot has a resident sheild so stopps anything comming in avg just gives peice of mind as is not intrusicve to be scanning every little file all the time.

AVOID norton and anything by Microshaft,
If they build an OS (Windows XP/Vista/7) that is vunerable to virus attacks what makes you think a "security essentials" program will do anything to protect you?

I wouldnt buy a product as you'll have to pay again next year - false economy.
There are plenty of Free programs out there, AVG is good but you need to turn off its pre-schedualed scanns as they get a little resource hungry.
Not tested Avira personally but herd it's not bad.

Also what internet security do you have at the physical layer?
IE any routers etc?

If you have a new VM hub they you can enable an option to have all packets filtered on inbound to stop some cookies/popups etc as well but i'm not sure how well that will work.

[dizzyblonde]

For some reason I couldn't download Avira, from either Cnet, or its home site. Very strange.

I've used AVG before, and it was ok, so managed to downlad that for now. I'll see how it behaves.
I'm just getting round to the spyware thingy. So it looks like spybot then?

[Dicky Ticker]

Malwarebytes--as recommended by out local IT Guru