Light and free antivirus programs?

[milhaus]

OMG. Norton stinks. I'd like recommendations for AV programs that are light, reliable and free . . . anybody help out?

[CanadaBoy]

Free... um:
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/ca-en/tpl/tpl01
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

[nolookingca]

Free... um:
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/ca-en/tpl/tpl01
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Second those. Also, Avast is a bit more feature rich (P2P, IM scanner, etc.), but AVG is slightly lighter. But not by much though, they are pretty much neck-and-neck, so just pick the one you prefer and stick with it.

[xKagex]

That reminds me of Christmas at the in-laws' place. Trying to install Norton on a dial-up connection. Arrrgh! it's bloody impossible! Finally after 3 tries, and still getting errors I had to convince Pop-in-law that even though he'd just spent $50 getting an upgrade for Norton (he had no disks, just an emailed code) I was going to install Avast.

I like Avast's "screensaver" mode, where it scans for viruses whenever the screensaver kicks in.

[chicken_little]

My family was using avast but they require you to register for a new license every year. Not a problem for me but it confuses the heck out of my parents. Result...they end up letting the license expire and have no antivirus running.

I've been installing AVG ever since on everyone's computer.

I've also installed microsoft's antispyware. To be on the safe side. :cheesygri

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

[Loco]

I like Avast! though there is a need to update license after year. I read a review on AVG (one year ago) that it missed some of the basic viruses and some people don't schedule the updates. It may have improved since I read that review, but there is a reason for the professional version. :)

[Div]

I prefer AVG.

[M-e-X-x]

i've used both, and both are excellent

-avast! has more options like p2p, newsgroup protections, but a slower scan engine (although there is an option of the speed of the scan)

-avg has less options, but faster scanner

resource wise, avast! was actually lighter for me :)

[ShadowVlican]

don't use avast.. it's nowhere near light... each of it's feature runs an individual process and takes up ram on their own

doh well, it IS free :cheesygri

[chicken_little]

No antivirus is probably perfect. AVG was able to find viruses that Avast let through onto my computer. Who knows what AVG is letting through. Must stop surfing those...cough...recreational sites. :cheesygri

[gilboman]

i think the name is symantec corporate (norton corporate) AV is very good and don't take up much resources at all. much better than the retail norton stuff

[Deal]

Totally agree with you about Norton. If it was only bloated I could live with it, but it puts all these hooks into the system and simply breaks stuff. :mad:

I started using AVG years ago, but then switched to Avast after AVG missed a few viruses that Avast found, albeit still locked in archived/zipped files. Then like the other posters said, I got tired of the renewal and the multiple processes, so I switched.

I'm now using AntiVir. I chose it because I read somewhere that it's the only free AV app that has realtime scanning, which only the pay versions of the other brands provide.

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

If I were to get a pay program it'd be Kaspersky or Eset based on their reputation.
http://www.kaspersky.com/index.html
http://www.eset.com/home/home.htm

[klam]

I install AVG (and previously Avast) on all my friends/family's computers who need a free AV. I think they're light enough on resources and simple enough to use (even for non-computer types). Its hard to find any conclusive tests on the effectiveness of these AV applications though. Most do say that Norton is very very accurate though, but reviews on AVG and Avast are somewhat less conclusive. I use NOD32 myself though.

[M-e-X-x]

I'm now using AntiVir. I chose it because I read somewhere that it's the only free AV app that has realtime scanning, which only the pay versions of the other brands provide.

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

have you seen the real-time scanning in action though? avg has caught stuff while i was surfing the net (java applet stuff), and archives, just do a manual scan after downloading

[fishlips20]

Geez - this thread is getting contorted.
I'm looking for something that'll scan e-mail, my instant messages...

We need a poll at the top of this thread.... nice, clear results...


POSTER, PLEASE PUT A POLL UP!

[akito925]

1 Vote for "AVG"!!!!AVG!

[chicken_little]

We need a poll at the top of this thread.... nice, clear results...
Seems like there was a similar poll awhile back. Maybe we need one for what FREE antivirus people recommend or are using.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=2125

[fishlips20]

Seems like there was a similar poll awhile back. Maybe we need one for what FREE antivirus people recommend or are using.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=2125


Agreed - already PM'd the person who started this thread...
let's hope he can put that poll together.