currently i am using avira, and every time i try to scan my comp about once a month, it always freezes up. even if i just let it scan with nothing else running, it still freezes up. Can anyone recommend a better anit virus program that scans as well as offers real time protection
thanks

4/27/2010 12:20:56 AM

i generally think anti virus is a waste of time and memory

but i've heard good things about http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

4/27/2010 12:25:33 AM

Cover of Maximum PC last month. Not free, but definitely sheds some light on who's got their duckies in a row.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/kill

If someone absolutely refuses to pay cash for a product they're going to depend on every day to keep their pc safe.... I recommend avast. But it eats memory for breakfast and scans like molasses. I like it because it works with a host of email clients - which may be the #1 source of virii.

AVG also has a good product, used it on my last repair job for some dude not running anything at all (of course my job was to remove virii.....)

Maybe your best solution is a good network storage and Returnil or some equivalent. Uses WAY less resources with equivalent protection. Set your PC to reboot every night or so and you'll always be clean. Of course manually scan your network storage regularly, just in case.

4/27/2010 12:32:01 AM

^^wow, microsoft continues to impress me with all these new software, they've really branched out

4/27/2010 1:23:03 AM

I've always just installed AVG free on the PCs I build. Never had a problem.

4/27/2010 2:43:25 AM

microsoft security essentials

4/27/2010 8:44:00 AM

i typically use ^ or AVG free...usually lean towards the latter as it seems to pick up more stuff than some of the others

4/27/2010 1:58:32 PM

We have a contract with this awful company Vexira, but I have installed MS Essentials on a lot of the work computers that have virus problems.

At home and on side work, I usually go with AVG, but don't want to violate the EULA by installing it on business PCs.

[Edited on April 27, 2010 at 2:53 PM. Reason : ]

4/27/2010 2:53:00 PM

I use a program called avast

I like it.

4/27/2010 4:23:23 PM

Antivirus XP 2010

4/27/2010 4:43:08 PM

^A teacher just called me about that today. Said it ran great and found lots of viruses that our antivirus program didn't catch. But it needed us to renew the subscription, which was $35 and wanted to know if somebody could do that so it would clean her computer up for her. AWESOME!

[Edited on April 27, 2010 at 5:11 PM. Reason : ]

4/27/2010 5:11:08 PM

AVG Free is what I use. Zero issues with it ever.

4/27/2010 5:38:08 PM

**side note** I thought they were killing security essentials with OneCare?

4/27/2010 7:49:28 PM

Other way around.

4/27/2010 8:02:37 PM

AVG or windows security essentials

4/27/2010 8:40:57 PM

Whatever happened to that Cloud Antivirus that was being developed by Panda?

4/27/2010 8:45:14 PM

i used AVG and got rid of avira. I scanned with no problem or freezing, unlike avira. thanks guys

4/27/2010 8:52:24 PM

Quote :

" Your search - good free antivirus - did not match any documents. Suggestions: * Make sure you backup regularly. * Try clicking only on verified links. * Try visiting fewer shady websites. * Try paying money if you value your security. "

4/27/2010 9:06:15 PM

^ troll, but those are mostly decent suggestions, except for that spying for your av one.

4/27/2010 9:11:31 PM

I was only sort-of-trolling ... Here's an interesting article posted yesterday:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20003340-245.html

Quote :

" Google: Fake antivirus is 15 percent of all malware A rise in fake antivirus offerings on Web sites around the globe shows that scammers are increasingly turning to social engineering to get malware on computers rather than exploiting holes in software, a Google study to be released on Tuesday indicates. Fake antivirus--false pop-up warnings designed to scare money out of computer users--represents 15 percent of all malware that Google detects on Web sites, according to 13-month analysis the company conducted between January 2009 and February 2010. That's a five-fold increase from when the company first started its analysis, Niels Provos, a principal software engineer at Google, said in an interview. Meanwhile, fake antivirus scams represent half of all malware delivered via advertisements, which is becoming a problem for high-profile sites that rely on their advertisers and ad networks to distribute clean ads. Google analyzed 240 million Web pages and uncovered more than 11,000 domains involved in fake antivirus distribution for the study, which Google is set to unveil at the Usenix Workshop on Large-Scale Exploits and Emergent Threats Tuesday in San Jose, Calif. Researchers also found that over the course of the study, domains used for distributing the malware were online for shorter and shorter periods of time in the face of Google's Safe Browsing technology. Used in Chrome and Firefox, Safe Browsing helps alert Web browsers to sites hosting malware, Provos said. "As early as 2003, malware authors prompted users to download fake AV software by sending messages via a vulnerability in the Microsoft Messenger service. We observed the first form of fake AV attack involving Web sites, e.g. Malwarealarm.com, in our systems on March 3, 2007," the report says. "At that time, fake AV attacks employed simple JavaScript to display an alert that asked users to download a fake AV executable." "More recent fake AV sites have evolved to use complex JavaScript to mimic the look and feel of the Windows user interface," the report continues. "In some cases, the fake AV detects even the operating system version running on the target machine and adjusts its interface to match." Fake antivirus is easy money for scammers, Provos said. "Once it is installed on the user system, it's difficult to uninstall, you can't run Windows updates anymore or install other antivirus products, and you must install the [operating] system," rending it unusable until it is cleaned up, he said. Provos said when encountering a fake antivirus message, Web surfers should close the browser and restart the program. People who are duped by the scam may have to get professional help in cleaning up the computer, he said. They should also monitor their credit card accounts because scammers can use the credit card information for identity fraud. "

[Edited on April 28, 2010 at 12:50 PM. Reason : .]

4/28/2010 12:49:10 PM