OMO - free antivirus choice?

[embee]

OMO, simple question.

I've used Trend Micro for a while, works well, but the subscription runs out soon. I have 3 obvious freebie options that I can see, AVG, Virgin's own offering, or Kaspersky free with Barclays. I don't know how many knobs and whistles the Virgin/Barclays versions come with.

What would be your advice, or another?

[DarrenSV650S]

Avast

[Kenzie]

Been using Comodo free for some time, no issues. Use AVG on everything else.

[maviczap]

AVG, I've used the free one for ages, although if you get the full version of Kaspersky, then I'd go for that

[PyroUK]

Avast, been using it for years and it's brilliant.

[jonny.boyd]

+1 for avast - best out there in my opinion

[kaivalagi]

+1 for Avast also, best free AV out there for Windows

[littleoldman2]

AVG, I've used the free one for ages, although if you get the full version of Kaspersky, then I'd go for that

Kapersky is free if you bank with Barclays

[garynortheast]

Avast.

[admin]

Avast too

[atassiedevil]

In order

Avast...It's simply brilliant.
Comodo.
Microsoft Security Essentials (Surprisingly good).
Avira Antivir.
AVG only as a last resort. Seen it miss plenty of stuff.

[Jackie_Black]

Comodo

[Berlin]

Ok, so I've been using Avast for about a year and I'd like to know why so many find it brilliant?

It seems to never actually be up to date (I'm exagerating) but it seems it needs to update the virus database at least twice a day. Which effectively uses up all on my RAM and locks my computer for 20 mins twice a day.

Mind you I haven't got a virus this year so at lest there's that.

C

[DarrenSV650S]

Ok, so I've been using Avast for about a year and I'd like to know why so many find it brilliant?

It seems to never actually be up to date (I'm exagerating) but it seems it needs to update the virus database at least twice a day. Which effectively uses up all on my RAM and locks my computer for 20 mins twice a day.

Mind you I haven't got a virus this year so at lest there's that.

C

Your computer has 10mb of ram? Is it a calculator? ;)

Seriously though avast is currently using 8mb ram max on my system.

[Braindead101]

I use Comodo & haven't had any problems. I did use Kaspersky for a while but it kept blocking the dodgy websites I like visiting!

I also regularly scan with malwarebytes.

[L3nny]

I just use Windows defender or whatever it's called but then I don't really care if I get a virus as it only takes 20 mins to rebuild my laptop.

[Tomor]

Avast. The boot scan works well if someone has a virus and you can get it to do a boot scan.

[embee]

Great stuff orgers, that's about as good a recommendation as anyone could hope for.

Will look at installing Avast when this subscription runs out. Cheers all! =D>

[suzukigt380paul]

seen far to many problems on other peoples computers and problems missed with the free stuff,for a few pounds you can get norton antivirus and get full protection all the time,no matter how dodgy you web surfing is,all done and updated with out any faffing about

[kaivalagi]

Norton aint all that good to be honest, plus it uses shed loads of resources...but you are not entirely wrong, there are some good ones out there for a few quid...last time I checked Kaspersky was up at the top of the list. Avast is a good anti-virus though, regardless of being free or not

Of course the best option to to not run Windows at all....I'm currently surfing with LinuxMint and have no anti-virus installed....the only reason I need Windows for is to mess with Garmin tools, run updates for my devices such as gps/phone/tablets etc and use TuneECU for my bikes...

[suzukigt380paul]

Norton aint all that good to be honest, plus it uses shed loads of resources...but you are not entirely wrong, there are some good ones out there for a few quid...last time I checked Kaspersky was up at the top of the list.

Of course the best option to to not run Windows at all....I'm currently surfing with LinuxMint and have no anti-virus installed....the only reason I need Windows for to run updates for my phone/tablets and use TuneECU for my bikes...it has worked for me with out problem for aleast 5 years,unlike avg that my mate and his brother uses,and that is always freezing up and needing sorting out

[timwilky]

I use McAfee, on my windows VM. Would the freeby Avast be a better choice?

[muzikill]

I wouldnt touch norton with a bargepole. It installs way too much stuff to do a straightforward job. I use the kaspersky internet security package. I bought a 3pc version off ebay. Get 2 other mates to chip in and you've all got fully supported security for less than a tenner and it has one of the lowest usage footprints that wont noticeably hog your pc.

[kaivalagi]

it has worked for me with out problem for aleast 5 years,unlike avg that my mate and his brother uses,and that is always freezing up and needing sorting out
That's AVG, it used to be good and was my choice a few years ago, Avast is far better nowadays though in so many ways...Norton kills resources...

I use McAfee, on my windows VM. Would the freeby Avast be a better choice?
IMHO if you want free then go Avast, if you are willing to spend a few quid then Kaspersky...McAfee is okay, used at my work a lot and does the job with decent updates for definitions etc but it will cost more than Kaspersky and use more resources...

I use the kaspersky internet security package. I bought a 3pc version off ebay. Get 2 other mates to chip in and you've all got fully supported security for less than a tenner and it has one of the lowest usage footprints that wont noticeably hog your pc.
Good shout!

[Tomor]

My dad uses Kaspersky and he like it a lot. Doesn't seem to take up too much in the background. He also has the call blocker app on his phone (HTC One) which works amazingly well! Good company in my eyes.

[suzukigt380paul]

bitdefender antivirus plus,seems to score quite high on some antivirus reviews,at about £10 a year for upto 3 computers,but like anything on the net,if you look hard enough you can always find some site that agrees with what you want/use

[Bibio]

Antivir. been using it for a looooooong time and never ever had a problem. you do get the occasional popup and you have to configure it to update silently but it does not hog system resource's.

[fizzwheel]

I've had trouble with

AVG
Kazpersky
Norton

All causing performance issues on various family members / friends PC's

I've been running Microsoft Security Essentials on my Windows 8 Laptop for a while. If its available for the OS you are running that would be my suggestion. I've not had an issues with it so far...

[Ch00]

Virgins anti virus is ok but I have had it go wrong on two computers and it is a right pain to sort.

Now use Avast which seems to do the job

[Dave20046]

Virgins anti virus is ok but I have had it go wrong on two computers and it is a right pain to sort.

Now use Avast which seems to do the job

It used to be rewrapped AVG and was bloated and ineffective. This was 5 years ago mind

I've had least issues with Microsoft security essentials , I couple it with online armour firewall /OS guard

[NTECUK]

Never had issues with Norton on the gaming pc
Others we just use avast

[ralphsterz]

Use avast or ditch windows and run linux, no antivirus required.
Android is linux based, no antivirus required.

[L3nny]

Use avast or ditch windows and run linux, no antivirus required.
Android is linux based, no antivirus required.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_malware

:D

[kaivalagi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_malware

:D

Yes, but Linux (*unix) by default will not let any priviledges be available for any infected files which means worst case the same infected files in may go out (not found by an AV) but they wont infect and multiply on the host.

As long as the Linux system you run is running in the default secure way and a user of the system won't allow any unwarranted escalation of priviledges to an invading file, all is fine. Most apps are installed from a repository hosted by the distributor so software is good by default too.

The above link also mentions a lot (if not all) of this :)

However in comparison Android's app store is not as secure as say Ubuntu's or Debian's, as anyone can upload self signed apk's without vetting...

On windows however it's a whole other issue...things are not so restrictive by default, there is no proper central repository for software (free or otherwise) and virus/malware can get a hold much much easier, hence the booming AV industry

The basic recommendation to run a Linux desktop without any AV rather than Windows with one is still a sound one ;)

edit: can you tell I'm bored with Christmas already lol

[madnlooney]

i use Kaspersky free with Barclays, i think its a 3 pc product code you get too

[flymo]

For Windows AV protection on a home/personal PC I would highly recommend the free Microsoft Security Essentials software. Its very good quality, runs very efficiently and us updated extremely regularly.

I do not disagree with any of the other recommendations but I would challenge anybody claiming that one is better (at providing virus protection) than another.

Any claim that unix derivative OSs are immune to viruses is seriously flawed. Your only protection lies in the lower popularity of those OSs compared to Windows on PCs, security theatre in my opinion.

[DJFridge]

I use Avast. Seems to catch stuff it should and doesn't foul up stuff it shouldn't. I have it running on our home PC, the laptop and this tablet. Oh, and on my Android phone. On the odd occasion when I've had Avast go rogue on a PC, I use AVG as an alternative.

[GowerSV]

Microsoft Security Essentials - it's free and works well. If something does get through - try Kaspersky Virus Removal - it is free and gets rid of most things.