Free Antivirus

[bhoolkumehul]

My configuration is below

P 4 1.7 GHz
512 MB DDR RAM
windows XP Pro SP2
Mercury Mobo with onboard VGA

which Free or paid antivirus will easily run on this system?

[Faun]

Avira Antivir

[Krow]

Avira is pretty good. I second it.

[Rajesh345]

use Commodo Internet security [AV + Firewall + ]

Free
less resource usuage

[ssk_the_gr8]

Avira Antivir is really light ... use it

[topgear]

I've been using Avira Antivir free since 2006.

another two alternatives you can try is avast home edition and AVG free edition - these two has offline update packs as well.

[ssk_the_gr8]

^^even antivir has offline updates.

[funkysourav]

Use Avira Premium Security Suite for free
it has better update servers and update frequency and speed
and a "webguard"
you don't need to crack patch, it is legal

[topgear]

^^ you should have us the process or at least post the link to the method.

found it here

but you just can't use it for forever and it has 3 months license expiary date and you have to register for new license key and if the offers end there's no way to extend it further.

but in free version a valid license key is automatically obtained and it's valid for 6 months.

Is the premium method still working ??

BTW, we should really buy the premium version as it's the only method to pay the developers of this great Security suite or otherwise we should use the free version - IMO.

so Avira Free FTW!

Originally Posted by ssk_the_gr8

^^even antivir has offline updates.

yep - it has just forgot to mention.

http://www.avira.com/en/support-vdf-update-info

[ravi_9793]

I have recently started using "Microsoft Security Essential" with comodo firewall on few systems and I am loving it.

Its very light, easy to use and effective.

[Zangetsu]

Avast Home Edition 5
AVG 9
Eset NOD32

[ajai5777]

Avast 5 home is the best
Malwarebytes antimalware as scanner.

[funkysourav]

Avira Antivir Personal
Avast Free Home

[funkysourav]

Additionally
download Comodo Free Firewall,
MBAM as Ajai has suggested,Super Anti-Spyware and Hitman Pro,
Sandboxie(sandbox your browser)
Prevx Safeonline(Facebook x64)
WOT
Lastpass(free intuitive password manager)

I am telling you all this because?
Antivirus is never quite enough

[Cool Buddy]

My suggestion would be avira. Keep in mind though that having an antivirus doesn't guarantee you a virus free PC.
you should be careful about the sites you visit. Stay away from downloading screen savers specifically. Do no click on a link unless you are sure what it does. of course, you can trust reputes sites like yahoo, google, etc. But on facebook, orkut, twitter etc. where content is posted by users, make sure the link goes where it says before you click on it.
Also be careful with pen drives, use tweakUI to disable autorun on your PC completely. It is a good practice to scan a pen drive before opening it. If you find scanning takes too long, you can assume that if no virus is found in first 2 minutes, there is none on it.
If you download files using torrents, be sure to read comments and feedbacks regarding viruses or trojans.
If you find that the computer is taking too long to start up, check startup items. You can do this by going to start>run and typing msconfig then going to the startup tab. or you can use CCleaner and find the startup items under tools.

[funkysourav]

^^^
+1 for CoolBuddy
@op
make a note of all the points he has mentioned
always remember
Antiviruses have their limitations, use your brain and habits can negate those limitations

[Zangetsu]

@Coolbuddy: your points r good..but i once got virus from yahoo add.....

[funkysourav]

@Karan
AVIRA PSS and Avira Premium has Webguard built in
which checks every webpage you are opening for viruses realtime
alternatively you can use Prevx Safeonline(cloud based safeweb augmentation) which is available at their Facebook page for free giveaway

[Sam]

Originally Posted by topgear

I've been using Avira Antivir free since 2006.

another two alternatives you can try is avast home edition and AVG free edition - these two has offline update packs as well.

it'll tax his system. only 512Mb of DDR ram & a slow (& HOT) P4.

Originally Posted by funkysourav

Additionally
download Comodo Free Firewall,
MBAM as Ajai has suggested,Super Anti-Spyware and Hitman Pro,
Sandboxie(sandbox your browser)
Prevx Safeonline(Facebook x64)
WOT
Lastpass(free intuitive password manager)

I am telling you all this because?
Antivirus is never quite enough

MBAM is good. but i'll suggest using Emsisoft AntiMalware (its trial but has freeware mode) as scanner.

WOT is for Google Chrome only, i think or is available for Firefox also? also Comodo Firewall have sandbox builtin. but not sure if its as effective as Sandboxie.

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

Also be careful with pen drives, use tweakUI to disable autorun on your PC completely. It is a good practice to scan a pen drive before opening it. If you find scanning takes too long, you can assume that if no virus is found in first 2 minutes, there is none on it.

a very good suggestion. yes pendrive is the major source for virus but yes, i have (from my personal experience) found that some virus/worms stick to the end of the file system, or say are detected when the scanning is at 99%. so using smart extension helps (skipping .avi, .mp3, etc extensions).

[topgear]

Originally Posted by Sam.Shab

it'll tax his system. only 512Mb of DDR ram & a slow (& HOT) P4.

are you talking about avira free edition - well it won't tax his system bcoz I've used it with the same config.

personally I think avast is a bit taxing on the system resource and AVG too.

[funkysourav]

Originally Posted by Sam.Shab

it'll tax his system. only 512Mb of DDR ram & a slow (& HOT) P4.



MBAM is good. but i'll suggest using Emsisoft AntiMalware (its trial but has freeware mode) as scanner.

WOT is for Google Chrome only, i think or is available for Firefox also? also Comodo Firewall have sandbox builtin. but not sure if its as effective as Sandboxie.



a very good suggestion. yes pendrive is the major source for virus but yes, i have (from my personal experience) found that some virus/worms stick to the end of the file system, or say are detected when the scanning is at 99%. so using smart extension helps (skipping .avi, .mp3, etc extensions).

Avira wont tax his system(it is the best for anyone IMO)
Panda cloud Free is little less system intensive(but not recommended)
Wot is available for all browsers(IE,Opera,Chrome,FF)+McAfee SiteAdvisor+Prevx Safe online Facebook Free
Sandboxie is more effective and multipurpose than Comodo Sandbox
Online Armor Free is a good option for firewall(less nagging)

and the BIGGIE "Winpatrol Free"(light HIPS)


else if you register at Computerbild.de(german site)
they give away free Kaspersky 2010(valid for 3 months) every 3 months
this giveaway(fully legitimate) is in collaboration with Kaspersky Germany
and is available only for Computerbild subscribers

[Sam]

Originally Posted by topgear

are you talking about avira free edition - well it won't tax his system bcoz I've used it with the same config.

personally I think avast is a bit taxing on the system resource and AVG too.

no. AVG. i highlighted it.

Avast falls between Avira & AVG when it comes to eating up cpu power & memory. also in detection.

[funkysourav]

@all,OP
I don't think we should recommend AVG to anyone
the AV Comparatives report speaks volumes about its ineffectiveness
Avira and Avast are the only choices now, it seems(in free)
also if you look at the Kaspersky 2011 scores, they are dismal at best
and are surpassed even by Avast free

[topgear]

^^ good suggestion.

[funkysourav]

Free Antivirus
@topgear
what do you think of this post?
AFAIK its legal
it may serve beneficial for Kaspersky lovers

personally
i would never ditch Avira and Comodo for anything else
Avira Antivir Personal uses the same engine as its Premium Counterpart,
but its updates are less in frequency(which isn't much difference IMO)
missing only a Webguard, which can be easily replaced by Prevx,WOT combo

@all
can anyone suggest a better alternative to Comodo?

[Sam]

^^ Outpost Firewall. just its paid. however i never used it. used Zone Alarm, Comodo, PC Tools Firewall+, Sygate (or something like that) & lastly online armor. Comodo look best of all. just one need configure it a bit.

[topgear]

@ funkysourav - I've seen people running KIS and it's very slow - also it slows down the booting process of windows -

I use several combos ( at least they are all installed )

Avira Free, Comodo firewall, Spybot Search and Destroy ( though the scanning is slow it's DB is just robust ), Malware bytes antimalware ( I was once a beta tester of this app ), Spyware terminator, spyware blaster and of course opera and my common sense - I think it's the best way to be virus free

[Sam]

is Spybot S&D good? better than the tons of spyware scanners available? also hows spyware terminator? i used once & dumped it forever. mainly cause one have to manually download update thats around 30-40Mb (first time but its way too large for me as a GPRS user).

[topgear]

The large update size of ST is a great issue.

Spybot S&D updates very fast and can scan tons of spywares or malicious contents but it's scanning is very slow and cpu usage is very high as compared to other similar products.

[Sam]

yes, & i download the update manually (they have an option for manual update) but ST didn't take it. so it was a waste. very moment kicked it out of my system & deleted the setup file. i have much better apps to take care of my security.

ok thanks about the S&D's info. i was doubtful about it since its been a long time since a new version rolled out. heard the tea timer setting (or protection maybe, forgotten) is very good. however never got the chance to see it in action.