Comments on: Best free antivirus for Windows?

Question: Best free antivirus for Windows?

signal — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 20:55:25 -0800

What's the best free antivirus for Windows?

By: angry modem

angry modem — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:01:59 -0800

I've used AVG free and it seems to do the job, though you don't have much scheduling flexibility.

By: shepd

shepd — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:03:51 -0800

If you're running windows ME or less, F-Prot for DOS is still regularly updated.

By: xyzzy

xyzzy — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:47:36 -0800

I like Anti-Vir Personal Edition.

By: twine42

twine42 — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 01:30:38 -0800

I used to use avg, but I got fed up with it's need to download the entire database every time it updated (apparently). I'm now using avast! and would recommend it, although if anyone knows how to switch off the Klaxon I'd love to hear from you. ;)

By: bshort

bshort — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 06:43:46 -0800

AVG is very good.

By: boaz

boaz — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 07:12:02 -0800

I use avast!, which seems to work well (though it hasn't come in contact with an actual virus yet on my system, so it's tough to tell). It's pretty feature-rich, but, like twine42, I'd love to be able to make it 'quieter'; for me, the pop-up in the corner every time it updates the virus definitions gets old fast.

By: cowboy

cowboy — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 07:20:52 -0800

In addition to AVG or other anti-virus software, I would use SpyBotSD to catch spyware and other crap that is missed. It's a great product and free to boot.

By: MzB

MzB — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 07:28:50 -0800

Another AVG user (no virus yet). Also, from time to time use McAfee FreeScan.

By: mnology

mnology — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:46:37 -0800

Ditto for AVG. I managed to contract something which spread throughout my home network. AVG cleaned everything up and has kept me safe since then.

By: signal

signal — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:40:24 -0800

I've used AVG for a few months, but recently (about 2 weeks ago), the update feature stopped working: it does the whole song and dance of downloading, but it doesn't actually update the virus defintions for some reason.
Hence my question.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 11:47:24 -0800

(A) The cheapest and best solution to viruses is to not get them in the first place. Don't use Outlook/Outlook Express, for gods sake, don't open any attachments that can contain executables, and don't download pirate warez.

(B) Housecall is a free, online virus checker. If you follow step A with the commitment an evangelist television preacher shows to money, you won't need a fulltime virus checker.

By: MzB

MzB — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 13:21:40 -0800

signal, I just updated the AVG signatures, so it works.
The version of my software (not of the signatures file) is 6.0.553

By: skallas

skallas — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 23:06:08 -0800

I'll second AVG. Seems to work. I've tried fooling it a few times and its caught all my attempts to trick it. There's even a plug-in for Outlook Express (not sure what version).