# Best free anti virus?



## 1nf3rn0x (Jul 21, 2011)

As the title says, what is the best free anti virus?


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## Damn_Smooth (Jul 21, 2011)

I prefer Avast myself. I couple that with Malwarebytes and I haven't had any issues.


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## mtosev (Jul 21, 2011)

Microsoft Security Essentials


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## Jetster (Jul 21, 2011)

mtosev said:


> Microsoft Security Essentials



What that guy said ^

I have used 

Avast

AVG

But I found MSE was the easiest, smallest, most effective.


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## Deleted member 3 (Jul 21, 2011)

MSSE does the job on my workstations. Server side I'm using F-secure.


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## Madmanden (Jul 21, 2011)

I've recently tried out different AV. I keep coming back to MSE for its lightness and ease of use. I do couple it up with PrevX though.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jul 21, 2011)

Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes is all you'll ever need!


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## Melvis (Jul 21, 2011)

Avast, with Comodo Firewall = WIN


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## Bo$$ (Jul 21, 2011)

Avast and comodo are very good together...


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## MilkyWay (Jul 21, 2011)

Used MSE on my cousins pc that had a virus that made all the .exe not work so i tried malwarebytes and spybot search and destroy too nothing happend. Avira Anti Virus got rid of it first time.

Heartily recommend Avira but i dont use an anti virus right now.


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## qubit (Jul 21, 2011)

Dont bother with second-rate free a/v programs. Get a top player like Kaspersky or Norton.

If you buy them from places like Amazon, they'll be very reasonably priced, too.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 21, 2011)

qubit said:


> Dont bother with second-rate free a/v programs. Get a top player like Kaspersky or Norton.
> 
> If you buy them from places like Amazon, they'll be very reasonably priced, too.



+1

look for the KIS 2009 or 2010 for dirt cheap, lots of re-sellers on Amazon still have plenty of stock.

Kaspersky allow you to upgrade to 2012 for free so long as you have a valid key.


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## qubit (Jul 21, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> +1
> 
> look for the KIS 2009 or 2010 for dirt cheap, lots of re-sellers on Amazon still have plenty of stock.
> 
> Kaspersky allow you to upgrade to 2012 for free so long as you have a valid key.



Yes, that's absolutely true - good one.


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## Melvis (Jul 21, 2011)

qubit said:


> Dont bother with second-rate free a/v programs. Get a top player like Kaspersky or Norton.
> 
> If you buy them from places like Amazon, they'll be very reasonably priced, too.



Just dont get Norton, its the biggest pile of Sh@t ever!


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## lilhasselhoffer (Jul 21, 2011)

As others have said, Avast and comodo are a very good combination.  If you're a decently skilled user you shouldn't have issues.

For basic users, use MSSE.  There are less text prompts, and a generally less intrusive UI.  It seems to detect most issues, but doesn't offer the same flexibility as the above combo.



As far as Norton, don't touch it with a barge pole.  Though the newer revisions are less of a problem, they have the tendency to expand their program until it chokes out the rest of your computer.

This is a side note considering that the thread is entitled "Best free anti virus?," which precludes any paid solution.


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## qubit (Jul 21, 2011)

Melvis said:


> Just dont get Norton, its the biggest pile of Sh@t ever!



That _used_ to be true. I know two people with the current version and it's a whole lot better and runs perfectly - one of the top a/v's in fact. It also got very good reviews.


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## Widjaja (Jul 21, 2011)

I use AVG 2011 and when it fails which is only due to my own fault, I use Malwarebytes then CCleaner.


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## AsRock (Jul 21, 2011)

Damn_Smooth said:


> I prefer Avast myself. I couple that with Malwarebytes and I haven't had any issues.



For sure, aVast as a main AV and Malwarebytes as a second.  MWB and MSE failed last to detect on the last system i had in were aVast found it.


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## fullinfusion (Jul 21, 2011)

I've been using Avira AntiVir for years without a single problem, you know how the Germans and encryption go hand in hand


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## remixedcat (Jul 21, 2011)

anyone here try panda cloud???? I have it on my HTPC downstairs.


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## remixedcat (Jul 21, 2011)

Melvis said:


> Just dont get Norton, its the biggest pile of Sh@t ever!



a story from an experts-exchange member:






This made me LOL.


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## dirtyferret (Jul 21, 2011)

remixedcat said:


> a story from an experts-exchange member:
> http://i.imgur.com/qOo46.png
> 
> This made me LOL.



+1. norton is garbage, no one with any intelligence would recommend it.  I have never had a good experience with any of the their products and the only good reviews they get are the ones symantec pay's for.  They are a step above CA which is a step above scareware.

I use MS Essentials or AVG along with Malwarebytes.  Never had an issue with my PCs or the ones I built for other people.


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## brandonwh64 (Jul 21, 2011)

I use AVG free and It has been good to me


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## Frick (Jul 21, 2011)

dirtyferret said:


> +1. norton is garbage, no one with any intelligence would recommend it.  I have never had a good experience with any of the their products and the only good reviews they get are the ones symantec pay's for.  They are a step above CA which is a step above scareware.



It's not that bad. The reviews I've seen has placed it in the "pretty good" territory (the complete IS package that is).

For AV only MSE is fine. If you don't like it that it updates through Windows Updates there's always Avast.

EDIT: Speaking of Norton btw, when I was at Microsoft support it wasn't that uncommon that Norton products did something bad to the OS, so it's not all good. But it's still not that horrible imo.


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## sneekypeet (Jul 21, 2011)

There is this super cool new anti virus, its called the "search feature". Seriously is it that time of the month again, we need another of these?


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## Lebowski (Jul 21, 2011)

Avast/AVG with Comodo as others have suggested.  They have kept my pc clean for years.  Although I have moved onto ESET Nod32.  Personally I would stay away from anything Norton.....bloatware.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 21, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> There is this super cool new anti virus, its called the "search feature". Seriously is it that time of the month again, we need another of these?



We already had our "intel vs AMD" fix this month. We even had a "Religion vs Science". This is just the climax I assume........wait we need a "AMD vs Nvidia" for a full circle.


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## Frick (Jul 21, 2011)

Lebowski said:


> Personally I would stay away from anything Norton.....bloatware.



So I take it the last time you used it was in 2004 or something? Because it's totally not that anymore. I tried it the last time we had this argument and it used less resources than MSE which most people say is light.


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## Lebowski (Jul 21, 2011)

Frick said:


> So I take it the last time you used it was in 2004 or something? Because it's totally not that anymore. I tried it the last time we had this argument and it used less resources than MSE which most people say is light.




Your probably right, last time I tried to install it was prob before that and I was shocked at the size of the install and how resource heavy it was.  Not even mentioning how pricey it was  .   Ignore my opinion if it has changed that much.


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## streetfighter 2 (Jul 21, 2011)

I had a poll on the most popular anti-virus (which doesn't necessarily mean the best).  Here's the rankings (in the free or mostly free arena):


Microsoft Security Essentials |(43 votes) 
Avast |(24 votes)
Malwarebytes |(19 votes)
AVG |(13 votes)
None|(10 votes)
Comodo|(3 votes)
Ad-Aware Free|(1 vote)


sneekypeet said:


> Seriously is it that time of the month again, we need another of these?


Busta Rhymes - Gimme Some More


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## Jstn7477 (Jul 21, 2011)

I use MSE + Malwarebytes. 

My laptop came with Norton (laptop was packaged in November 2010), and I uninstalled it right away. Everyone that has bought my laptop has had problems with their wireless internet dropping or not working at all because of Norton. After uninstalling, I had to repair my TCP/IP stack because uninstalling Norton made downloads very slow and caused even more issues with my internet. I don't know why Norton has to be such a butt pirate when it comes to networking, as it's not like it even blocks many threats anyway.


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## newtekie1 (Jul 21, 2011)

The fact of the matter is that most of the well known anti-viruses are pretty much equal.  Some are slightly better here, and others are slightly better there, but in the end they are all pretty equal.  They are all not perfect, they will all fail to detect a virus now and then, I've seen machines infected come into my shop with pretty much every AV imaginable.

Really the AV is a tool, and as such it is only as good as the person using it.  So use a few of them yourself, find the one that you like the UI the most on, and use that one.


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## Crap Daddy (Jul 21, 2011)

I have MSE on one machine and AVAST on another. MSE is extremely discreet and I would recommend it to everybody. Knock on wood, absolutely no problems whatsoever. But then again, you have to keep being careful and let Windows do its security updates.


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## Damn_Smooth (Jul 21, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> We already had our "intel vs AMD" fix this month. We even had a "Religion vs Science". This is just the climax I assume........wait we need a "AMD vs Nvidia" for a full circle.



You're slipping.  We already have it.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149351


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## Drone (Jul 21, 2011)

MSE > Avast >= Avira > AVG

Actually the best way is not going to porno sites.


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## _JP_ (Jul 21, 2011)

Drone said:


> Actually the best way is not going to porno sites.


 Say it ain't so!


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## newtekie1 (Jul 21, 2011)

Drone said:


> Actually the best way is not going to porno sites.



Impossible!


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## qubit (Jul 21, 2011)

Drone said:


> MSE > Avast >= Avira > AVG
> 
> Actually the best way is not going to porno sites.



what is porno site  plez esplane!


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## _JP_ (Jul 21, 2011)

MSE or avast! + Comodo and you're good to go. Malwarebytes is a good thing to have installed too.


qubit said:


> plez esplane!


Good lord!  I don't think even south-americans pretending to talk in english manage to say something like that.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 21, 2011)

whatever happened to Zonealarm? I used to use that quite a bit back in the day. the only reason why i switched off it was I got sick of running seperate programs for firewall and Anti-virus. used to use Zonealarm with NOD32 or some other similar combination


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## remixedcat (Jul 21, 2011)

been using Sophos on this and it found a few while and got rid of them while going to celeb sites (meme research) while clam av never batted an eyelid....


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## 95Viper (Jul 21, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> whatever happened to Zonealarm?



They are still there.  Just dumped 'em, myself.
They use the Kaspersky scan engine in that A/V; but, for some reason it screws with your reads/writes when you use on-demand scanning (causes long delays, like, seconds).  They can't get it right... and it ain't Kaspersky's fault, because that is what I switched to and don't have the problems.
And, if, you asks questions on ZoneAlarm's forum or talk to the tech support, they tell you it is you or your systems fault and to re-install.  I got tired of re-installing on three different systems every so often, so, I got rid of it.  Even the new version does it.

IMO...  Free = MSE + Superantispyware or Malwarebytes + Comodo Firewall = Pretty Good and fairly secure.


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## Melvis (Jul 22, 2011)

qubit said:


> That _used_ to be true. I know two people with the current version and it's a whole lot better and runs perfectly - one of the top a/v's in fact. It also got very good reviews.



To a point it is. Norton isnt as bloated as it once was, but it still sux for stuffing up your PC and also just not finding shit (viruses etc) Ive work on computers everyday as my job and the ones that come in the most that have viruses on them are the ones using Norton, ive even run Avast on most of these machines (with an up to date Norton) and it has found more viruses then Norton has. 

Ive gotta deal with Norton alot, just about every machine comes with Norton pre installed, 30/60 day trial etc and people then just pay the $99 so it will keep going for the next 365days. I try to tell people that its just crap, but people just dont listen these days. (More money for me i guess) 

Even Choice magazine here voted it as the best anti viruses program, and i just shook my head and thought how much is Norton paying this guy to say this? People will read it and go with it if they dont have any idea. So sad.



remixedcat said:


> a story from an experts-exchange member:
> http://i.imgur.com/qOo46.png
> 
> This made me LOL.



Exactly!!


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## Drone (Jul 25, 2011)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp

July 19, 2011



> Comodo and Ad-Aware FREE were especially effective at *blocking new malware attacks*, while Panda Cloud and Ad-Aware FREE did a good job *removing existing malware*.



Just found this article @ PCMAG



> Where others excelled at one task or the other, Ad-Aware FREE Internet Security 9.0 *handled both protection and cleanup very well*. It remains PCMag's Editor's Choice for free antivirus.


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## qubit (Jul 25, 2011)

Melvis said:


> To a point it is. Norton isnt as bloated as it once was, but it still sux for stuffing up your PC and also just not finding shit (viruses etc) Ive work on computers everyday as my job and the ones that come in the most that have viruses on them are the ones using Norton, ive even run Avast on most of these machines (with an up to date Norton) and it has found more viruses then Norton has.
> 
> Ive gotta deal with Norton alot, just about every machine comes with Norton pre installed, 30/60 day trial etc and people then just pay the $99 so it will keep going for the next 365days. I try to tell people that its just crap, but people just dont listen these days. (More money for me i guess)
> 
> Even Choice magazine here voted it as the best anti viruses program, and i just shook my head and thought how much is Norton paying this guy to say this? People will read it and go with it if they dont have any idea. So sad.



So it's still not all that. I'm not that surprised, really. I'm happy with Kaspersky, which I've been running for several years now and doesn't cause many issues.


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## remixedcat (Jul 25, 2011)

MSE didn't do so well on that chart.


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## Drone (Jul 25, 2011)

remixedcat said:


> MSE didn't do so well on that chart.



Yeah and it's strange. I thought MSE was better than Comodo. However I agree that Norman is the best scareware cleaner and avast is a good weapon against the rootkits.


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## remixedcat (Jul 26, 2011)

I guess it's good to layer up.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 26, 2011)

remixedcat said:


> I guess it's good to layer up.



Thats always been the case. Better solution is to practice habits that don't lead you to get one in the first place.

1. No pornz.
2. No torrents.
3. No FTP
4. No "Google" image searching.
5. Don't bring in files from off site computers (Libraries, Cyber cafés).
6. Don't open strange e-mails.
7. Don't open .exe files from e-mails. Even from friends.
8. Use strong passwords.
9. Keep your rig fully updated. Anti-virus AND your OS.

Granted some of those are blasphemous for some. But in all honesty they all make your chances sky rocket to getting hit. Hell I make my living off of Google image search sometimes. Its the only time I have been hit in two years.

No anti-virus can repair stupidity.


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## Bo$$ (Jul 26, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> No anti-virus can repair stupidity.



have you tried reformating??


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 26, 2011)

Bo$$ said:


> have you tried reformating??



Every Friday night. But its wearing down my liver.


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## remixedcat (Jul 26, 2011)

use a screwdriver.


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## Drone (Jul 26, 2011)

Just use Linux.


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## kciaccio (Jul 26, 2011)

nvidiaintelftw said:


> Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes is all you'll ever need!



Agreed


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## klawrence (Jul 26, 2011)

I run Avast Free version, and Comodo free version.


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## kciaccio (Jul 26, 2011)

qubit said:


> Dont bother with second-rate free a/v programs. Get a top player like Kaspersky or Norton.
> 
> If you buy them from places like Amazon, they'll be very reasonably priced, too.



Too CPU intensive and it slows your system down to much. Everything has to run through it. Malwarebytes is hardly second rate, I put it against Norton and Kaspersky toe o toe any day of the week. They are a complete waste of money.

It is the first thing I strip out when optimizing peoples computers.


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## qubit (Jul 26, 2011)

kciaccio said:


> Too CPU intensive and it slows your system down to much. Everything has to run through it. Malwarebytes is hardly second rate, I put it against Norton and Kaspersky toe o toe any day of the week. They are a complete waste of money.
> 
> It is the first thing I strip out when optimizing peoples computers.



Kaspersky hardly slows down computers in my experience. That's even installing it on old and slow computers with only one core and a clock speed of less than a gigglehurtz.

As far as detection goes, no a/v is perfect and they all let significant attacks through.


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## remixedcat (Jul 26, 2011)

this is my firewall:


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## newtekie1 (Jul 26, 2011)

kciaccio said:


> Too CPU intensive and it slows your system down to much. Everything has to run through it. Malwarebytes is hardly second rate, I put it against Norton and Kaspersky toe o toe any day of the week. They are a complete waste of money.
> 
> It is the first thing I strip out when optimizing peoples computers.



All active AV programs work the same way, so that is hardly a valid argument.  Back in the day that might have been worth looking into, but in todays world where the common system has a multi-core processor and gobs of RAM, having an AV scanning every file that is accessed in the background isn't noticeable.  Even on my Celeron rig with 2GB of RAM having an active AV doesn't have any noticeable effect.


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## twilyth (Jul 27, 2011)

Doesn't Avira still have a free version?  It requires more user intervention than other software but I like that aspect of it oddly enough.


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## qubit (Jul 27, 2011)

twilyth said:


> Doesn't Avira still have a free version?  It requires more user intervention than other software *but I like that aspect of it oddly enough.*



I bet it feels more 'techie'.


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## twilyth (Jul 27, 2011)

qubit said:


> I bet it feels more 'techie'.



I like to pretend that I'm needed.


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## Melvis (Jul 27, 2011)

qubit said:


> So it's still not all that. I'm not that surprised, really. I'm happy with Kaspersky, which I've been running for several years now and doesn't cause many issues.



Yea its now not as bad as it once was with been so heavy on a system, just doesn't find Viruses etc very well and can bring other programs to a stop then have to go into the registry just so i can uninstall Norton argh!

If people ask me what Anti Viruses to go with and they want a payed one i also say Kaspersky or NOD32, otherwise go with the free ones like Comodo, Avast and Avira. 

They all have there problems though, ive had (5yrs ago) Comodo Anti viruses stuff up my pc that it would stop all my programs from launching. Ive had Avast just not start up when the PC starts and then will refuse to reinstall, and ive seen Kaspersky do the same as Avast but its rare unlike Norton.


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## micropage7 (Jul 27, 2011)

remixedcat said:


> this is my firewall:







wow, maybe you need to make tutorial of using it 
peace


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## Widjaja (Jul 27, 2011)

^^ Even when using a firewall there are some filthy players who still trick you into pressing enter so they can bypass the firewall.


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## ShiBDiB (Jul 27, 2011)

MSE and common sense when it comes to where i get my pr0n


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Jul 27, 2011)

I ditched MSE for Avira after that overriding your windows update settings shit.


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## bostonbuddy (Jul 27, 2011)

Widjaja said:


> ^^ Even when using a firewall there are some filthy players who still trick you into pressing enter so they can bypass the firewall.



Thats why you need to use the backdoor.............o


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## remixedcat (Jul 27, 2011)

backdoor sluts..


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## kciaccio (Jul 27, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Thats always been the case. Better solution is to practice habits that don't lead you to get one in the first place.
> 
> 1. No pornz.
> 2. No torrents.
> ...



What is the point of having a computer then? lol


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## John1986 (Aug 5, 2011)

Bo$$ said:


> Avast and comodo are very good together...



I thought that it is better not to install several antiviruses together.
_________
How about studying iPhone app development?


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## r9 (Aug 5, 2011)

Drone said:


> MSE > Avast >= Avira > AVG
> 
> Actually the best way is not going to porno sites.



Than why would I need a computer ?


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## Drone (Aug 5, 2011)

r9 said:


> Than why would I need a computer ?



To create your own porno site


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 5, 2011)

Drone said:


> To create your own porno site



that gets hacked by hackers and turned into a malware site


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## Melvis (Aug 5, 2011)

John1986 said:


> I thought that it is better not to install several antiviruses together.



Just the firewall of comodo, not the whole suite.


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## Msap14 (Aug 5, 2011)

Comodo is hands down the best imo. They pikced up a virus that malwarebytes, kaspersky, and some little tool programs couldn't find. They also give you up to 500$ to fix your computer if they can't remove a virus via remote connection which come witht he program.


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## remixedcat (Aug 5, 2011)

kaspersky was bloated.


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