afternoon all

as I'm a bit of a pikey I always sign up for the free trials of anti-virus software but should I be paying to get a better quality one?

I have used Avast and Windows Live OneCare so far, alternating between the two when the free trial runs out!!


has anyone got either a really good free one, or a recommendation to actually buy something...?



cheers guys



hb

AVG - Powerful anti virus suite. Performs daily update checks and also informs you of any time a program tries to access the internet.

Ad-Aware - Spot on Ad-Ware tracker, can also be set to run at regular intervals.

SpyBot - Search & Destroy - Spyware blocker. Used to take off the bits of code that nefarious web sites use to track you.

I use avast its free for domestic use, a techie guy at comet said he used it when i brought my laptop. Used it for a year now without any problems

Cheers for helping out wub..

I use panda internet security 2009, it's a good all-rounder

And trojan remover which picks up lots of nasties that may take panda a few days to detect.

i wouldnt recomend avg at all, i tried it and got nothin but a pc full of virus`s, avg stands for ALL VIRUS`S GOT. my pc ended up with over 19,000 problems n had to be wiped clean.

personally, the only anti virus software ive found to be the best and dont slow your computer down is eset nod32 smart security. its 1 that has to be paid for but has probly got to be the best on the market, as it wont let anything through at all, and it updates itself several times a day. ive never had a problem with it and would recomend it. i have even clicked on wot i kno as virus`s and eset kicked in n just stopped it in its tracks

damnit!! why can't you guys agree?!

I've been using AVG for years and never had any issues. Setup so it checks for daily updates and weekly virus checks

yea did that but it kept letting viruses thru, but anyway, im really happy using eset nod32 and kno alot of people that use it too, n weve all said the same. its the only antivirus software we`ll use again

When avg v8 first came out, it was a bit buggy and i had a similar thing happen to me, where it let everything in, this was nearly a year ago now and I'm sure they fixed all the bugs now..

A lot of people still swear by using v7 and don't actually like v8..

avast from rapidshare lol

Yeah but do rapidshare check there files for virus's n stuff?

no , its all about trust, you can find stuff on forums like this all over the net people will share links to stuff they have used and tried.

No you get avast from the avast site or at least I did.

Well lets get this cleared up.

AVG is a powerful virus suite. The problems is it's slow to react to new virues out there.

Also rememeber that there are probably as many viruses undetected as there are on the best defintions lists out there.

Malware prevention is NOT a simple as installing your favorite AV software. You have to be paraniod and double check everything.

The best (and fastest to react) AV ive ever seen is Sophos. Universities get it for free and some allow students to have a free copy. Along with update details of the campus AV server. If you know anybody in the educational IT market. Consider asking them for details.

My personal tips are.....

Avoid cracked/hacked/unlocked software this is the biggest carrier of viruses.

If you must steal software use Virtual Machines to test it first before you let it loose on your machine. If it all goes awful, just delete the VM.

Use Virus Total.com to check files/downloads that your AV might not recognise.

Always goto the source of free software. Compare actual file sizes against documented sizes.

Avoid free porn sites. I know it hurts, but if you must then use a VM. Its like a virtual condom.

Use an in/out firewall not just an inwards. This will catch most things you didnt notice as it tries to get online to call home/send key-stokes logs etc.

Always keep a back up. Use EASEUS Disk Copy 2.0 (or similar) to make a copy of yoru whole drive just after a clean install/rebuild. This offers the abilty to swap to a clean disk if you become infected.

Use more than one anti-malware app. Ie run AVG and defender realtime but use MalWareBytes (and as many as you can get) once a week/month/whatever.

Lastly BE MEGA PARANOID. Even with all AV and anti-spyware running you might still get an infection.

AGV


Kaspersky

as I thought... all this is as clear as mud!!!


are the free ones worth having? Do they do the same job, or should I be paying for one?

pay for one as with the cracked versions you dont get updates and support if anything goes wrong , i would only suggest using the pirate versions as a sort of extended trial to see if the software suits your needs and to try and get rid of stubborn viruses.

I've used AVG free for years and its never let a virus through... I find it to be a very good virus prevention software which uses little resources and scans the computer during the night

what do you do when the free trial runs out? Do you just ignore the warning and it still works?

the virus database will get old so new viruses will not be detected making your pc prone to new threats.

best anti virus is to use somebody else's pc lol