[ozpodge]

Avast? Avg? Norton. Regards, Ozpodge



"Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again."
James R. Cook

[Flashorn]

Hey OZ!!



Well , if you already have a AntiVirus program installed on your PC and are looking

to install something different then , I would suggest you get their Uninstall Tool if

they have one.

Now as for The Best AntiVirus that would depend on what you are looking for and

what you expect from such a program.



MY advice is forget about AVG and Norton . You would now have the choice between

Avast , which has all the features you would probably need or Avira AntiVir which will

keep you safe but doesn't have the features of Avast . This will have to be your choice.

The one you are more comfortable with and what you expect this program to do for you.



You can read about them on their respective website.



Avast AntiVirus .



Avira AntiVir AntiVirus .



FLASHORN. !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[taustin1382]

AVG gets the job done just fine and is free,



I have used it on clients pcs for years and have it on my wifes laptop.... no issues yet.

[poglatg]

At present I use Avira, and HijackThis... HijackThis isn't really an anti-virus or anti-mallware programme, it basically logs any programme trying to access the web from your computer. You can then check this log file on line, and remove any nasties.

Avira - in my humble opinion anyway - is the best free anti Virus. The only thing I don't like about it is occationally you get full screen ad popups.

If you get the Avira suite you also get a gnarly fire wall email monitoring etc.

Norton has worked very hard to escape it's percevied security flaws, and has done quite well if you don't mind paying through the nose for licencing.

AVG is an old favourite of mine, and still is a solid programme.

Basically I reccomend using an anti-mallware programme in conjunction with anti-virus and HijackThis to boot.

[taustin1382]

just want to add: avg does antivirus and spyware in one application



hijack this is an awesome app once you are knee deep in you know what... :D

[Flashorn]

Hey poglatg!!



If you want to rid yourself of the nag screen in Avira then, just Google.

It's all over the net.



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[SpiritWind]

:D Hi :



One of the Advantages of Avast as compared to either Avira or AVG is the quality of each

program's Online Support Forums. One of the "Regulars" who now advises on Avast

several yrs ago was on AVG's . At times, he comments on the relatively poor Support

"offered" on the AVG Forums .

[Adama]

Hi Oz,

No Norton! Yes SUPERantispyware and Yes Malwarebytes AntiMalware!

:^0

[lilxkid24]

avira has a higher detection rate than avast

[dianamoles]

what about comodo??/

[snorg]

I use Avast, its the best.

[Knifeblade]

With "you get what you pay for" caveat now put aside, I've been very happy with the free Avast. I've run it for 4 years now, it never let me down. One thing about Avast, and I do agree with another poster, is that it's real-time detection rates aren't always as good as another mentioned product. I've been dealing with it by ensuring I have auto-updates always enabled, and do a full system scan with Avast once-weekly. Works great for me.

I also use SuperAntiSpyware free version, it's an excellent home version. Both these programs play nice with each other, and I feel very confident that I am safe, as long as I run weekly scans of both programs, regardless of how much or little I surf around.

[coastie65]

Hi oz, as you can tell, when you ask that question, you open Pandora's box. :D You have gotten a lot of input most of which is good. There ar a number of good free apps out there which have been suggested such as Avast! anti virus which I run. I also have Superantispyware as an adjunct to my regular app. Norton and McAfee are not friendly with your computer and tend to be resource hungry as well as intrusive. In my opinion, what you can get for free is probably better than most of the stuff you pay for. As I said, you have had some good input here on this. I might add that SpiritWind is our resident Guru on this sort of thing. coastie

[Flashorn]

Hey OZ!!



I have been with Avira for quite some time now on XP and VIsta and coupled

with SUPERAntiSpyware Professional , you can't get better protection

for such a small footprint on your resources. If the Nag Screen in Avira Free

bothers you then try this site NoSplash .This is not illegal.

It has been dicussed on the Avira Free Forums. But, to tell you the truth , I like seing the screen

come up. I know that Avira is up todate when it's there.



If you want to pay for your protection then the Best in class would be NOD32 by ESET.

The other one I would suggest , if you are to buy, would be BitDefender. But, remember,

No suites. Use the layered option. One Antivirus , One AntiSpyware and a good Firewall.

For Firewalls check out this site , where you will find Free and Pay For. They have been

tested by Matousec and are labelled accordingly. Matousec Firewall Challenge .

In Vista, I use PC Tools Firewall Plus Free .



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[dianamoles]

I was just wondering .....



Is it a good idea to have Windows firewall and Comodo firewall running? Right now, I have Comodo running....

[AuroraDizon]

Due to protential conflicts you should not have 2 firewalls running at the same time. I suggest you disable Windows Firewall.

[Knifeblade]

I'm with Aurora here, practically anything is better than Windows firewall. And two firewalls tend not to play nice with each other. Much less any other protect programs you have going on. Save the frustration you are bound to encounter. Commodo hands down over the Window wall.

[techie4fun]

Just my two cents worth:

Try things out and see what you like. There are MANY free anti-virus applications available on the web. It's generally wiser to take into mind that "Bill Joe's" recommendation for the BEST Anti-virus as Avast! and Malware Removal Specialist David Pennol's recommendation for Norton Anti-Virus (this is completely make believe) may be TOTALLY opposite.

You know what you're looking for in a product - decide what's best for (YOU).

Cheers,



Techie