antivirus

[floven1]

i recently ran out the subscription on my norton antivirus software
i would like to run windows firewall, as well as antivirus software
does anyone have any suggesttions as to which antivirus software i should choose, i use windows 7

[xistence]

I personally use Avira AntiVir Personal Edition, for several years now. I never made real bad experiences with this software, so that might be an alternative (along of some other suggestions that might come up here).

[TronFAQ]

I hear Antivir is good, but I personally haven't used it. I know there's a free version of it available.

Avast is also good, and I've used it myself personally in the past. It, too, is free. I also know it works with the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

Right now I'm using NOD32, which I like very much. But it's not free. Again, it works with the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

[Daddyo]

I like McAfee, also lights up searched websites as good/bad which is extremely nice. Had norton for a long time before that which seemed to give better control over things, but I don't need that.

[tronrose]

I also use the free version Antivir. It also has an Anti-Spyware engine built in that Lavasoft Ad-aware uses in its free version(From my understanding), so it's not recommended to use that Anti-Spyware program with that Anti-virus program.

Antivir is not the best when it comes to false positives, but it rivals with the best Anti-virus software, and it's free! Plus, you can submit files and stuff when you get a suspicious file or a file that you know isn't a virus and they will update their definitions accordingly.

[Jizaboz]

AVG is good

[tronman63304]

i used it before but i got viruses with AVG but i mainly got it for the scan feature however i was referred to avast antivirus BUT.... i think it made tron2.0 stop working (you know the thing where you have no maps and save files are gone) i uninstalled it but still wont work so maybe its just me
EDIT: i fixed it (I) (HATE) (VISTA) i needed to cut and past all map files and save and anything that was needed for the game to load to my desk top and then put them back

[tronrose]

AVG used to be good... Their *was* stand-alone Anti-Spyware software was not too shabby. But, now they've got everything bundled, and I dislike their scanning features... Although their site verification(Or whatchamacallit) plugin is really nice.

[tronman63304]

yea i kept it for the site thing

[SweatyPyro]

I 3rd for Avira Anti Vir.
I also use a free version of Malwarebyte's Anti Malware. I'm practically set with these two, and I don't pay a cent.

[Jizaboz]

Yeah honestly I keep SpyBot Search & Destroy installed and update/scan with it from time to time to clean misc crap that AVG doesn't touch. Avast always seemed to me like... more anti-virus than I personally really need. I pretty much go to the same sites all the time and don't use keygens or anything shadey like that and I prefer to run UNIX O/S's with no virus scanning at all. However, on my Windoze gaming machine, AVG is my "better than nothing" solution

[zook_one]

I've been really happy with ESET NOD32 so far on Windows 7. + ESET is local San Diego Company.

http://www.eset.com/search-brand?CMP=KN ... iQodASEFUQ

-Z

[win3k]

Seconding NOD32; installed on 3 x XP pro machines here with no problems.

win3k

[floven1]

i actualy have avast now, nice piece of software. WITH HEURISTICS. how cool is that?

[TronFAQ]

Just wanted to revisit this topic, because in the meantime I've tried a couple more anti-virus solutions.

I still think NOD32 is one of the best, if not the best anti-virus solutions out there. However, it's not free and I was beginning to get tired of constantly needing to upgrade it. So I began looking at the free alternatives again.

I gave Avira a try, but ended up not liking it. My main issue with it is the pop-up ads if you don't register. It's extremely annoying to have ads appear every day. Other than that, I thought Avira was pretty good. I still prefer Avast as a free alternative, though.

But I ended up settling on Microsoft Security Essentials as my new anti-virus solution. Is it the best? Probably not. But it is rather good, especially for being free. Its predecessor Live OneCare was considered to be rather crappy. So it's ironic that the new free version, now called Essentials, is actually praised as being decent.

So as far as free anti-virus programs are concerned, Security Essentials and Avast are now my top picks. While for paid solutions, NOD32 still gets my vote.


As far as anti-malware programs go, I use SuperAntiSpyware. It, too, is considered one of the best free solutions. Malwarebytes, HiJack This, and Hitman Pro are also supposed to be good. I used to use Spybot Search and Destroy long ago, but it's not considered to be that effective any more.