Best free anti-virus program?

Hi,

well the title says it all, doesnt it? What free anti-virus program do you guys advice me? i have windows vista.



Thanks, Thomas

 

There was actually a thread on this a little while ago: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=190538
That thread really needs a sticky since this is a very common question. I personally use AntiVir and Avast. AVG is also great as recommended in the thread, but two antivirus programs are enough for me. I just realized that it might not be the best idea to have both of my antivirus programs running their active protection

 

oh sorry, i didn't see that thread. i used the search function though...


anyway, thanks!

 

Hey, no problem at all. I know that the search function isn't that great, plus this thread was on page 7 or so.

 

Not at all.

 

I have a preference for Avast. It is reasonably fast has good detection capabilities and it gets updates automatically very frequently (usually every day).

 

I used AVG until a friend accidentally bought NOD32 family edition so I use that now Can't beat free!

 

I prefer Avast.

 

There are three good free AVs: AntiVir, AVG and avast.

AVG has been said to be poor at detecting viruses. avast, to me, seems to be a bit of a system hog, however has better virus detection than AVG. Finally, theres AntiVir, which i think is the best out of the three, it doesnt hog system resources and i think has better virus detection than both AVG and avast.

All are capable of running on vista. I know AntiVir does for sure because i use it myself.

AntiVir: http://www.free-av.com/

AVG: http://free.grisoft.com/

avast: http://www.avast.com/

 

Hey Avast fans...there are more than one versions on the site and i got confused...can u recommend me the one for Home basic? asap as my norton has expired..thanks

 

I'd be interested to see where you got this information?

 

Here's the direct link:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Within the 60-day trial period, you need to register it to make it permanently free. You register with a valid e-mail address and get a serial number from Avast directly. You then use this serial number to make the trial version, permanently free.

 

Well i know that avast is a system hog as i have used it (i have used all three - and still use AntiVir). The virus detection bit from here

Infact, that comparison reckons that AVG is better than avast; i missed that. Any who, AntiVir is still one of the best on there (definatly out of the 3).

 

yes that is true, i also missed that. But i would imagine that the trend would be the same for the free versions.

 

Actually, right now, the best Antivirus on the market is nod32 . For free... avast is ok, so are avg and such, but they do have other issues.

http://www.av-comparatives.org

Most in depth review of most of the common AV solutions on the market.

:-D

AV -- use nod32 -- Not free, but well worth it
FW -- Right now, comodo has the best leak prevention, but at the same time, its a pain in the butt training its new defense+ mechanism
SW/AW -- This section of things you need multiple programs to be protected... Spybot, AAW Personal 2007, Windows Defender (Good start having all three of these )

 

Here's a list of Avast Products. I think the one you're looking for is the "avast! 4 Home Edition FREE Download". If you are willing to pay for Avast then you should go for "avast! 4 Professional Edition Download".

I personally would rate the free antivirus software like this. Avast>Antivir>AVG

 

As I say every week when this question is asked, AVG works for me.

 

Someone needs to sticky the Best free anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall thread. Should we ask a mod to do it?

 

Just my thoughts I didn't want to say it, but every week is right.

 

right now you can get kaspersky for free through amazon after rebate..

otherwise imo best free is avira...

 

AVG Free Edition