[joseph431]

I always see mention of free antivirus programs to use in the home environment. Are there any that are available to small business or small educational institutions?

[compnovo]

joseph431, on 09 June 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I always see mention of free antivirus programs to use in the home environment. Are there any that are available to small business or small educational institutions?

Hi joseph431,
You didn't mention how small your business is, but Microsoft Security Essentials is good for up to 10 PCs...
http://www.microsoft...ls/default.aspx
...and it's well regarded. I use it on all my computers at home.
p.s., Welcome to the forums.

This post has been edited by compnovo: 09 June 2011 - 12:10 PM

[joseph431]

compnovo, on 09 June 2011 - 12:10 PM, said:

joseph431, on 09 June 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I always see mention of free antivirus programs to use in the home environment. Are there any that are available to small business or small educational institutions?

Hi joseph431,
You didn't mention how small your business is, but Microsoft Security Essentials is good for up to 10 PCs...
http://www.microsoft...ls/default.aspx
...and it's well regarded. I use it on all my computers at home.
p.s., Welcome to the forums.

oh, there are about 35. But what if it was larger still, around 300.

[LincolnSpector]

joseph431, on 09 June 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I always see mention of free antivirus programs to use in the home environment. Are there any that are available to small business or small educational institutions?

Hi, Joseph, and welcome to the forums.

Most of the free AV programs exist as marketing tools for the professional versions. They help increase brand recognition. But it's not in the companies' interests for everyone to use the free one. So they make it free only for personal use. Businesses and organizations have to get the full, pro version.

I installed the free version of Avira on three PCs in my home. After a while, I shelled out the money for the Pro version for my own computer, because I run a business on it. Using the free version was thus a license violation.

I'm not sure, but I think you may be allowed to use Microsoft's on a business computer. Their motivation is different. They're trying to make Windows a better product.

Lincoln

[crazy4laptops]

joseph431, on 09 June 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I always see mention of free antivirus programs to use in the home environment. Are there any that are available to small business or small educational institutions?

Depending on the size of the business, eset nod32 runs at about $20 a computer a year.
I know it's not free, but it is outstanding protection! Plus, you get centralized management for free! How cool is that?

Have you considered the Mac OS X or Linux for the risky end-users?

[joseph431]

LincolnSpector, on 10 June 2011 - 06:50 AM, said:

joseph431, on 09 June 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I always see mention of free antivirus programs to use in the home environment. Are there any that are available to small business or small educational institutions?

Hi, Joseph, and welcome to the forums.

Most of the free AV programs exist as marketing tools for the professional versions. They help increase brand recognition. But it's not in the companies' interests for everyone to use the free one. So they make it free only for personal use. Businesses and organizations have to get the full, pro version.

I installed the free version of Avira on three PCs in my home. After a while, I shelled out the money for the Pro version for my own computer, because I run a business on it. Using the free version was thus a license violation.

I'm not sure, but I think you may be allowed to use Microsoft's on a business computer. Their motivation is different. They're trying to make Windows a better product.

Lincoln

Thanks,
I believe Microsoft's still is mainly for home use. Although they are apparently working on a central-managed business version.

[LiveBrianD]

Actually Microsoft Forefront is for business use - I wonder if it has the same engine as MSE or something like that.

[samurusawyer]

Free online virus scan

If you suspect that a file might contain malicious code, and it is under 1MB in size, you can check it for malware using the free online Kaspersky File Scanner.

* Use the Browse button to locate the potentially harmful file
* Click Submit to upload the file for checking
* The Kaspersky File Scanner will check the uploaded file and display the results on the same page. In addition, you will be able to view the current number of known viruses in Kaspersky Lab’s malware databases

(http://www.)kaspersky(.)com(/)virusscanner

[Charles29]

Many antivirus software has the probation period, you can try to use, I know one online antivirus web site:www.virustotal.com
You only need to upload programs, will automatically scan showed that the results.

[LiveBrianD]

Charles29, on 21 August 2011 - 11:30 PM, said:

Many antivirus software has the probation period, you can try to use, I know one online antivirus web site:www.virustotal.com
You only need to upload programs, will automatically scan showed that the results.

fyi, that shows what a ton of av engines think of a file. Max 40MB file size or something...