Would a free anti-virus/firewall do?

Hi,

My KIS 7.0 subscription is about to run out in 6 days and was wondering whether free programs would do the job. What I do:
- General net browsing,
- Online gaming,
- Torrent downloading,
- Occasional mp3 downloads.

I've used KIS 7 for almost one year and have hardly no alerts nor nothing found by any scan in that time - only a few "hidden data" sent alerts which aren't so alarming in the specific cases. I'm really satisfied with it however hate the number of scans and scan time. I think KIS 09 should be ok since it just has one Full scan option which is good to see.

However, would something like AVG or Avira (<-- that seems to be the best free alternative) along with Zonealarm/Windows firewall do an adequate job?

I've seen Norton has vastly improved there 2009 edition but I can find KIS for £10 less and arguably its been the most consistant AV over the past few years.

Thanks.

 

A free antivirus/firewall would be more than enough I would think. I use avira + online armor/vista firewall on my laptops (only one firewall on each), and I haven't encountered any problems whatsoever. I know a fair amount of people that use avira and are quite satisfied with it.

If you're careful about what you do, free solutions should be more than adequate.

 

What more can be said, I've been using avast home last 4 years, wonderful!! Has anti viral, anti root kit, firewall, antispyware. Not even one bug.The system runs smoothly and efficiently no matter what. Used to use Norton,HATED IT.

 

Are you a university or college student by any chance? Many such institutions allow their students free downloads of various antivirus programs; for instance, my school gives free copies of Symantec Corporate Antivirus (10.2).

 

Free Avira+Default Windows Firewall

 

Yeh just checked out my uni's it website and seems they offer Sophos anti-virus. That seems quite a popular AV in education since I remember my school used to use the same thing. Have no idea on how it compares to Kaspersky, Nod32 or Norton.
On the other hand, KIS 2009 is up for £10 on amazon uk which seems to be an incredible deal seeing that I bought KIS 7 for £30 (1 user license).

Seems free alternatives should do though relying I'm not stupid.....which I sometimes am when drunk .

Regards,
jam.

 

Comodo is great.

 

Comodo Firewall + Threatfire + NIS 2009 ($10 at Frys.com, you just have to look at all of the NIS 2009s to find it) = as safe as a kangaroo's pouch.

 

Yep, and that equals to a FTW

2 easy working programs...that do the job they need to do!


Cin

 

Ok, I'm gonna try out Avira with Windows Firewall. I'll probably enable my router firewall too just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for your help guys......as always

 

One program you might want to use/try also, is ThreatFire.
It's a real-time anti-malware behavioural blocker which uses little resources/memory, it offers decent protection and doesn't conflict with Vista FW or Avira. And it's free.
Those combined, offer a very decent FW, AV, AS/anti-malware package.
Cheers.

 

ThreatFire is way to intrusive. Yeah, it protects you but with a load of annoyances.

 

Have you tried their latest and improved version?
The level of 'annoyance' largely depends on the settings you use/alter yourself.
If you crank it up from the standard level of protection, one should expect more warnings that require user input.
(not meant as criticism, McGrady, just info for the OP).

 

To be honest i dont even use a commercial firewall anymore. I just use windows built in firewall. Why? no one is gonna hack me behind my router's firewall. Its not gonna happen...NAT is a really good defense. And i dont do anything stupid to allow programs on my computer that could connect out (which a software firewall isnt gonna prevent anyways).

Wanna test me? ill gladly give out my IP like that guy gives out his social security number

Oh and for antivirus i just use symantec endpoint cuz i got it free from the university. Else i would use a free program.

 

If you get Comodo they have a guide on their forums to make a rule for uTorrent. They also have a new suite with AV now that supposed to be pretty good.

The other freebees in my sig should do you fine.

 

Hehe, some freeware programs might do.

Personally, I use Avast! Home Edition, Comodo Firewall Professional, SpyBot Search & Destroy (TeaTimer + SDHelper), Malwarebytes' AntiMalware, Spyware Blaster and I maintain my PC in fit with TuneUp Utilities 2009, Sweepi and CCLeaner, so far nothing, absolutely nothing has been able to go through my freeware (TuneUp Utilities 2009 is the only non-freeware program in my arsenal, but it is not a security program anyway) fortress, I went as far as disabling the firewall on my routers (I have two routers), because Comodo is just good enough to take the lead.

On my browser (Mozilla Firefox), however, I use NoScript, McAfee SiteAdvisor, WOT and AdBlock Plus, along with setting it to clear any traces of web browsing everytime I close it, so tracking cookies just do not stand a chance not even if the immunizations of both SpyBot S&D and SpywareBlaster did not catch them.

I do not really recommend you getting Comodo Firewall Professional if you do not know much about connections, networking, and do not like being annoyed every 5 seconds because "Program wants to access the screen directly", but, it does what it knows best, being the best freeware OS and Internet firewall. (If configured well enough.)

 

Awesome! They both should work very easily for you!

Let us know!


Cin