Best free anti-virus software out there? - Page 2

m21sniper · 04-23-2009, 11:40 AM

If you hit the uninstall for 8.5 it even gives you a prompt that the feature will be added later.

It may be an 8.5 specific problem.

I used AVG, Windows defender, Ad-aware, and malware bytes. Only malware bytes had any effect at all. AVG would find and remove stuff, but it was back at reboot. Same for defender.

One scan with Malwarebytes, boom- it was gone.

SloDave also reccomended combo fix as well. There are links to all of it in my thread.

I'm not an expert- but i know what worked for me, and i had one seriously nasty infection.

PS: AVG REALLY slowed my machine down just in normal operation. That's why i wanted to uninstall it to begin with. I ended up having to reboot in safe mode and manually remove those files it would let me remove.

dtw · 04-23-2009, 11:47 AM

BTW, cleanliness is next to godliness when it comes to avoiding infections. CCleaner is a great free utility that I run on a daily basis.

m21sniper · 04-23-2009, 11:54 AM

I have that too.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Ccleaner rocks. It's amazing how much garbage Windoze dumps all over the place - registry, etc. As an operating system it's an organizational mess. That little app has helped a lot.

jbryant · 04-23-2009, 12:58 PM

Thanks for the heads up on Ccleaner & Malwarebytes...
Just downloaded them and they worked great.

gtc · gtc's Garage

I use and like Nod 32. It's free if you pirate it.

m21sniper · 04-23-2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbryant

Thanks for the heads up on Ccleaner & Malwarebytes...
Just downloaded them and they worked great.

glad to help bro.

the downloadable version of MS windows defender has some nice utility features too, though as an actual anti-virus it seems thoroughly useless.

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

I'm using AVG and really like it better than Norton/Symantec. I might be the only one that actually bought the package. It's 3 machines for 2 years, so 6 years worth of protection for about $25, if I remember correctly. Anyway it does everything I ask of it, so well worth it.

SoCal911T · 04-23-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I've been using AVG for about two years, but I think it's no longer free. I have the AVG 7.5 version and every morning I get a notice that 7.5 is no longer supported and I have to go to 8.5 to stay current,

AVG is still updating my 7.5 version even though I keep getting the dire warnings about it not being supported after April 12th.

Eric Coffey · 04-23-2009, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt V

I've been using Avast for a couple of years and have yet to get a virus. Course I also use mozilla firefox for my web browser too.

+1 on Avast. The best free one out there IMO.

mikester · 04-23-2009, 07:06 PM

Here is the link to the latest version of AVG Free.

http://www.avg.com/filedir/inst/avg_free_stf_en_85_287a1483.exe

onewhippedpuppy · 04-23-2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerryH

I'm using AVG and really like it better than Norton/Symantec. I might be the only one that actually bought the package. It's 3 machines for 2 years, so 6 years worth of protection for about $25, if I remember correctly. Anyway it does everything I ask of it, so well worth it.

Ever try to get Norton/Symantec off of your computer?

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

I've had very good luck with Norton 360 ver 2 recently.

m21sniper · 04-24-2009, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Ever try to get Norton/Symantec off of your computer?

My dad's puter tech calls it the most effective virus ever written.

LOL

Joeaksa · 04-24-2009, 06:32 AM

Art,

Is Norton free these days? It used to be on every new computer sold.

Its too much of a memory hog for me to keep it.

Joe A

Jesset100 · Jesset100's Garage

Blink

t951 · t951's Garage

My wife works for Symantec, as did I for many years.

here is the deal. The last few products SUCKED. SEP11 (what a brilliant product name huh?!) has taken down more machines than the virus that it supposed to protect you from.

I can get it free and I won't install it. The only thing worse was the consumer products like Norton 360. We would drop off boxes of it at customer sites for their home use. We would get them back with angry notes all the time. Total garbage.

That said the new NIS2009 is good. The prime directives were to make it be accurate and have LOW resource impact. It even has a graph that shows you resource consumption.

Anyway, you probably can get it for free or heavily discounted if you look around.

For the record there are two things I will mention.

I was on the data protection side of the house (not security/virus side). (Formerly Veritas). We didn't like the Symantec team diluting our reputation. Therefore, I am not a true expert.

There is no secret virus lab at Symantec that generates virii so that they can justify their products. (I looked!!). Seemed obvious to me. Write viruses to "test" your product and help sell your product.

t.

juan ruiz · juan ruiz's Garage

Guys I need your help, When this thread started I downloaded the programs that some of you suggested, they worked great without any issues however the other day I wondered into unknown territory and now none of the anti virus software that I have installed will work.

I removed all of them in an attempt to downloaded them again and now my PC won't even let me download them, If my lucky enough it will download almost to the end then it will stop with a error message, most of them I'm receiving the following error,

What can I do ?

Internet Explorer cannot display the web page

Most likely causes:
You are not connected to the Internet.
The website is encountering problems.
There might be a typing error in the address.

What you can try:
Diagnose Connection Problems

More information

This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:

Internet connectivity has been lost.
The website is temporarily unavailable.
The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the websites domain.
If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click Tools, click Internet Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section.

For offline users

You can still view subscribed feeds and some recently viewed web pages.
To view subscribed feeds

Click the Favorites Center button , click Feeds, and then click the feed you want to view.

To view recently visited web pages (might not work on all pages)

Click Tools , and then click Work Offline.
Click the Favorites Center button , click History, and then click the page you want to view.

Joeaksa · 05-31-2009, 01:34 PM

Juan,

First question, which OS (Vista, XP or what) are you using and how long has it been on your machine?

If the OS (operating system) has been on the computer longer than a year or so, its time to backup your data and format the hard drive. Then re-install the OS and start fresh again. Once the computer has been running for a year or so it gets full of crap and there is simply no better way to do it right.

I just did this with my desktop and laptop and was really surprised at the increase in performance. Might give a thought to starting over this way if you are having problems.

Joe A

juan ruiz · juan ruiz's Garage

I have Vista which came with the PC that is a 1 1/2 year old, according to what I'm reading I have 44.0 KB free of 72.0 GB but I think thats another issue all together because every time I try to back up the system it says that the system is full, I have an external hard drive thats is is 386GB Free of 465 GB.

I hope that helps so you guys can help me

Thanks !