Best anti-virus freeware.

L

Lou

I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Other comments.

TIA

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.
 
H

HVS

On 01 Apr 2006, wrote
I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is
about out. I am looking for latest opinions on which program
is better and why. More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in
years) Other comments.
Click to expand...

I've used Grisovt AVG free for years; seems to do the trick for
me.
 
A

Al

I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Other comments.

TIA

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.
Click to expand...

Check out http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Version 4.7 should be out soon
 
S

S.O. Meone

HVS said:
I've used Grisovt AVG free for years; seems to do the trick for
me.
Click to expand...

which is also the best answer I can give. If I were using Antivir or
Avast, I would probably have said the same about those packages.

The OP may have to take the following into consideration though. I
don't know about Antivir and Avast, but the definition update files
for AVG have grown very large (more than 2 Mb, it wasn't always like
that)), which is a serious disadvantage for those on dial-up.

S.O. Meone
 
H

HVS

I've used Grisovt AVG free for years; seems to do the trick
for me.
Click to expand...

which is also the best answer I can give. If I were using
Antivir or Avast, I would probably have said the same about
those packages.[/QUOTE]

Yup; they seem to be much of a muchness, really.

What it comes down to, I think, is that in order to avoid
viruses, good browsing habits are much more important than
whatever back-stop software you use to catch the ones that might
get through.
The OP may have to take the following into consideration
though. I don't know about Antivir and Avast, but the
definition update files for AVG have grown very large (more
than 2 Mb, it wasn't always like that)), which is a serious
disadvantage for those on dial-up.
Click to expand...

It's a good point; I should remember that. (I've had broadband
for so long now that I tend to forget about download sizes.)
 
A

Anonymous

Hi Lou,

For the requirements you described, I would recommend AVG Antivirus
(http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/). One word of warning
though: you'll need to go into AVG Control Center > Email Scanner >
Properties Button > Logging Tab > and decide which log you want to use.
By default, AVG logs all incoming and outgoing emails forever---along
with the sender, recipient, and text of the message---which can be a
major security hazard if you're interested in such things.

I also use the free version of ShadowSurfer from www.storagecraft.com
to create a virtual machine when I surf the Net. (Admittedly,
ShadowSurfer is NOT an antivirus.) Any malware that I pick up is "gone"
when I restart my computer, even if it was able to sneak pass AVG for
some reason.
 
L

Lou

S.O. Meone said:
which is also the best answer I can give. If I were using Antivir or
Avast, I would probably have said the same about those packages.

The OP may have to take the following into consideration though. I
don't know about Antivir and Avast, but the definition update files
for AVG have grown very large (more than 2 Mb, it wasn't always like
that)), which is a serious disadvantage for those on dial-up.

S.O. Meone
Click to expand...

Thanks to all who have posted (so far), esp for the links.
Trend's definition file is now over 8meg! While I do have DSL that
seems a bit much. Also, The Trend update id not automatic. They notify
one is available and you still need to do 4 or 5 steps. You would think
payware would automate it (like the free MS beta Antispyware).

I will keep reading (and saving) comments.

What a great group!

Lou
Experience is the best and most expensive teacher.
 
M

meow2222

I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Other comments.

TIA

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.
Click to expand...

AVG is quite good, updates automatically and frequently. Virus defs are
several megs large now, with 60,000 viruses thats going to be how it
is. Its not a problem on dialup, avg loads updates only, not whole new
defs.

I looked for a DOS AV that would fit on a floppy until I realised you
just cant find a decent def file on one flop. The AVs that do are over
a decade old, eg MS/CPAV.


NT
 
M

M.L.

I also use the free version of ShadowSurfer from www.storagecraft.com
to create a virtual machine when I surf the Net. (Admittedly,
ShadowSurfer is NOT an antivirus.) Any malware that I pick up is "gone"
when I restart my computer, even if it was able to sneak pass AVG for
some reason.
Click to expand...

Not freeware.
 
M

Morten Skarstad

(e-mail address removed) skrev:
I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Click to expand...

First of all, there is ClamAV. It is totally free, but it does not do on
access-protection, making it less than useful for a lot of people.

Then there are the three A's, avast!, AVG and Antivir. AFAIK they all
have similar licenses, making them free for personal use but not for
corporate use.

I used Antivir years ago, and totally hated it. There were really no
updates. Instead you had to download and reinstall the _entire_
application whenever it got updated. On top of that, it one day just
disappeared off the web. There were no way to download a newer version,
the website was totally dead, so I dumped it and never heard about it
again until years later.

Then I tried AVG, which was a lot better. But still I was not quite
happy. It (probably) protected me just fine, and updates were easy
enough. But for automatic updating it used scheduling, so it depended on
your computer being turned on and connected to the net at a fixed hour
every day. I was on dial-up at the time, so to stay updated I had to
make sure of doing it manually every once in a while.

I later discovered avast!, and have stuck to it since. I like the
interface better than AVG and it has super smooth updating even if you
are on dial-up. I have also seen both AVG and avast! installed on the
computers of relatives that are not computer experts, and I have noticed
that the AVG installations sometimes tend to get outdated because the
updating fails.

Protection-wise, both AVG and avast! should be about in the same league,
i.e. just fine. avast! uses somewhat more system resources than AVG, but
still uses much less than some of the AV monstrosities they charge money
for nowadays.
 
D

Duddits

I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Other comments.

TIA

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.
Click to expand...
Check this comparison of freeware virus scanners out:
http://tinyurl.com/lnu64

I use the first(best) one ;-)

regards

Dud
 
M

MLD

Morten Skarstad said:
(e-mail address removed) skrev:

First of all, there is ClamAV. It is totally free, but it does not do on
access-protection, making it less than useful for a lot of people.

Then there are the three A's, avast!, AVG and Antivir. AFAIK they all
have similar licenses, making them free for personal use but not for
corporate use.

I used Antivir years ago, and totally hated it. There were really no
updates. Instead you had to download and reinstall the _entire_
application whenever it got updated. On top of that, it one day just
disappeared off the web. There were no way to download a newer version,
the website was totally dead, so I dumped it and never heard about it
again until years later.

Then I tried AVG, which was a lot better. But still I was not quite
happy. It (probably) protected me just fine, and updates were easy
enough. But for automatic updating it used scheduling, so it depended on
your computer being turned on and connected to the net at a fixed hour
every day. I was on dial-up at the time, so to stay updated I had to
make sure of doing it manually every once in a while.

I later discovered avast!, and have stuck to it since. I like the
interface better than AVG and it has super smooth updating even if you
are on dial-up. I have also seen both AVG and avast! installed on the
computers of relatives that are not computer experts, and I have noticed
that the AVG installations sometimes tend to get outdated because the
updating fails.

Protection-wise, both AVG and avast! should be about in the same league,
i.e. just fine. avast! uses somewhat more system resources than AVG, but
still uses much less than some of the AV monstrosities they charge money
for nowadays.
Click to expand...

The only downside of Avast is that it stops the automatic making of System
Restore Points. I like Avast so it's not enough of an issue for me to get
rid of it. I just make my own Restore points every once in a while.
MLD
 
A

Anonymous

M.L. said:
Not freeware.
Click to expand...


I never wrote that ShadowSurfer was freeware. Storagecraft was giving
ShadowSurfer away for free when I downloaded it, so I wrote that I was
using the free version of ShadowSurfer.

StorageCraft was giving ShadowSurfer away as a marketing promotional
recently and that is when I got it. At the time I downloaded
ShadowSurfer, it was a fully funtional application that was free of
charge with no nags or donation-pleas.

I don't know if they are still running that promotional or not. Surf to
their site and see if you can get a free copy too.
 
J

jtees4

I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Other comments.

TIA

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.
Click to expand...
I am currently using AVG. It is fine. I used Antivir for a long time
with no real problems. I tried Avast a couple of times and both times
I ended up having computer problems. vast worked great as finding
viruses, but I guess I had some kind of compatability problem.


Never Forget!!!
http://www.september11victims.com/september11Victims/VictimInfo.asp?ID=2654
 
S

Susan Bugher

Morten said:
Then I tried AVG, which was a lot better. But still I was not quite
happy. It (probably) protected me just fine, and updates were easy
enough. But for automatic updating it used scheduling, so it depended on
your computer being turned on and connected to the net at a fixed hour
every day. I was on dial-up at the time, so to stay updated I had to
make sure of doing it manually every once in a while.
Click to expand...

I use and like AVG. I've turned off AVG's automatic updater. If I forget
to update for a few day the AVG icon turns gray (and XP tells me it's
out-of-date). Downloads are usually SMALL. I just updated - the whole
process took less than two minutes on dial-up. File size was 625 KB
(most updates are less than 100 KB).

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)
 
J

jimpgh2002

I know this is a common topic, but my Trend subscription is about out.
I am looking for latest opinions on which program is better and why.
More thorough?
Easier to update? Automatic update?
Better than Trend? (I do not believe I have had a virus in years)
Other comments.

TIA

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.
Click to expand...
I've been happy with Avast -
http://www.avast.com/eng/whats_new_in_avastve.html
 
P

perro

AVG Free Edition wins hands down.

I have been using this puppy four years and counting without any
problem. In fact I like it so much when I first installed it that I
intentionally allow it to add a signature in my outgoing emails just to
promote it. It uses little resources. My father-in-law has an old
laptop that he uses only to surf the web (Pentium 300mhz) that was
running F-Secure but it was slowing the machine like a mother... I
installed AVG and no prob. Poor old man paid $70 for F-Secure. He was
also concern about spyware and all that junk. Installed the standard
freewares we at alt.freeware love: SpywareBlaster, Ad-Aware, Spybot.
Six months and the only comments I get from the old man are thanks.

AVG 100%. Them Czechs know what they are doing.

Hasta luego mis amigos,
Perrro
 

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