off the wall, got a computer question for you guys

natejones75 · 01-25-2011, 06:26 PM

this is off the wall, BUT, I just got a new laptop and the free 30 day trial of Norton Antivirus is up

There are a lot of free antivirus programs on the net. Would one of you PC guys tell me which one to use? which one is the best as far as speed and security

Reverendc · 01-25-2011, 06:39 PM

Odd place for that question, but you can get away with a freebie such as AVG or Microsoft Security Essentials as long as you browse smart.

jpicobra · 01-25-2011, 06:57 PM

+1 on the AVG. I use it at home and have been safe so far. SMWBO, not so much, but I have been able to remove them with a bit of work.

66Restomod · 01-25-2011, 07:00 PM

Free AVG
It updates every time you boot with the latest update

supershifter2 · 01-25-2011, 07:03 PM

i had norton several years ago. norton made the system run slow and the protection wasnt that great. i ran NOD32 for a couple of years and it didnt affect the system and did a great job of nailing trojan horses to the wall ! i have ben running microsoft free security downloaded from their website for a few months now and i havent had it go after anything but a local radio computer tech guy says its really good.

sixtysevenGTconv · 01-25-2011, 07:05 PM

I read an article in Sunday paper speaking to this. Because gov clamped down on Microsoft, they're not allowed to make it your default anti virus program. But said it is a very good program. Don't be afraid to use it what it said.

68LimeGold · 01-25-2011, 07:25 PM

I was a an AVG supporter until the day it missed a virus. Since then, I've been using Avast's free version and it's been great.

mikemstang66 · 01-25-2011, 08:24 PM

GIVE AVG A TRY been using it for 1 year or so now

TheDude · 01-25-2011, 08:35 PM

I have been using Avira for a long time. I also have Spyware Blaster and I used to use Spybot. Sometimes, one program will catch what the other does not. Avira is the only software that is running while my computer is. I can supplement Avira with manual scans from the other programs if I think I have a virus.

rickster · 01-25-2011, 09:35 PM

AVG

ATaylor · 01-25-2011, 09:52 PM

Run a free one if it makes you feel safe. The real anti-virus is YOU, just watch what you do online, stay out of 'bad neighborhoods', and keep the computer behind a router and change the default password on the router.

JFL · 01-25-2011, 10:29 PM

Another vote for AVG's free version here. Gets the job done (with the precautions already mentioned) and does not take up too much space on your hard drive, nor interfere with other applications.

289pony · 01-25-2011, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDude

I have been using Avira for a long time. I also have Spyware Blaster and I used to use Spybot. Sometimes, one program will catch what the other does not. Avira is the only software that is running while my computer is. I can supplement Avira with manual scans from the other programs if I think I have a virus.

+1 for Avira. Been using it a while now and I have no complaints. It's easy to use/customize for your preferences and it does not bog down my system resources like other anti-vir programs have been known to do.

GypsyR · 01-25-2011, 11:14 PM

I've been using Malwarebytes for search and destroy for a couple of years. Iobit 360 is my secondary and watchdog program. They work pretty well.
Iobit also has a handy program I actually use a lot more called Advanced System Care (free). It does a variety of stuff to help keep your PC up to par. One little extra feature I particularly like is the startup killer. Every time I get a new version of Adobe Reader or Quicktime in particular they both like to stick little "quickstart" programs in the startup menu. Every time. Which I hate. They run every time the PC starts up and you can't find or delete them normally. If I want to read a PDF once a week it pops up and works fine, I don't need the speed launcher thingie running 24/7 hogging up resources to save a second or two off a document's opening time.
I tried Microsoft on my rather outdated laptop and it bogged down to the point of being useless. Finding it to be such a hog I wasn't about to install it on anything else and uninstalled it.

kenash · 01-26-2011, 08:56 AM

If you have Verizon as an internet acces supplier, they have, what's called "Verizon Security Suite" (partner with McAfee) that costs $5.95/mo. and is a complete package covering 3 PCs. I've used it for a couple of years and have, thus far, never had any damaging corruptions. It has intercepted a number attacks.
I'm wary of any "freeware" as there is always an agenda and a promise to scan for free.
Good luck with your choice.