Alternatives to AVG Free?

[r_manic]

By far, I consider AVG Free the best anti-virus software out there, mostly because it provides comprehensive protection even if it's free.

I may be wrong though, so I'm wondering if anyone else has a free anti-virus and -malware utility that they rely on. I'm always open to change

 

[4Ryan6]

In my experience as with all the free AV solutions, the free is limited and you really need to pay for the missing coverage you may need today more than ever.

So applies the old addage; You get what you pay for.




Taken from AVG website:

What you don't get with AVG 8.5 Free

* Protection against identity theft, hacker attacks, infected downloads, infected instant-messaging and spam
* Protection for business computers, networks, and servers
* Support from AVG technicians

So no matter the AV brand, their best product offering is not free.

 

[le13enforce]

4ryan6 is correct: you will get what you pay for.

In any case, you can read this thread: Alternative to AVG FREE

Personally, a good alternative is Avast Home Edition. Though I don't see why you can't spend a few bucks or so on AV. It's worth it!

 

[Zenthar]

The thing is, sometimes you also don't get what you paid for. Norton got so bad for a few years (now much better), that most people lost faith in the old "paying for it = good" equation.

BTW, you can also check Avira AntiVir and VirusTotal. The later is a website to scan specific files against multiple virus scanners (about 40 of them), I find it useful when you get very doubtful files (like from some torrent sites) and/or to check for false positives.

 

[4Ryan6]

The thing is, sometimes you also don't get what you paid for. Norton got so bad for a few years (now much better), that most people lost faith in the old "paying for it = good" equation.

BTW, you can also check Avira AntiVir and VirusTotal. The later is a website to scan specific files against multiple virus scanners (about 40 of them), I find it useful when you get very doubtful files (like from some torrent sites) and/or to check for false positives.

Fortunately Symantec finally listened to the vast complaints they received and did something about it, Norton Internet Security 2009 is a good quality product that no longer bogs down your machine, if it didn't do exactly what they're claiming I'd be the first in line to bash it.

I am presently using it on 3 machines 2 with WinXP Pro 32bit and 1 with Vista Home Premium 32bit, I have no complaints against NIS 2009, nothing but praise.

The older claims against the past versions of Nortons are justified but this NIS 2009 is a completely revamped piece of software.

Nortons Internet Security 2009 is worth the money! Period

 

[Ctaver]

Antivir free is my favorite antivirs now, for good reason.

As far as I am concerned the best Antiviris, for me is always a FULL IMAGE BACKUP of my system,saves a lot of time & work.

 

[AKM880]

Avast! Home Edition is a lil better than AVG I've heard but has lower detection rates than AntiVir.

 

[macabre215]

Antivir free is my favorite antivirs now, for good reason.

As far as I am concerned the best Antiviris, for me is always a FULL IMAGE BACKUP of my system,saves a lot of time & work.

Avira is vastly better than AVG or Avast!, though it's much more aggressive and can mistaken some files as being malicious because it doesn't recognize them. Nod32 or Bitdefender are my favorite pay to use anti-virus.

 

[PCKing]

BTW, you can also check Avira AntiVir

Right. I have been using this anti-virus for months now and I can definitely say that it's much better than AVG.

To those who are telling that not all good features are available on a free software, I just can say that, "It's better to have one than nothing at all.

 

[macabre215]

Right. I have been using this anti-virus for months now and I can definitely say that it's much better than AVG.

To those who are telling that not all good features are available on a free software, I just can say that, "It's better to have one than nothing at all.

Funny thing is that it puts a lot of pay to use AV software to shame, but all of this will be moot once microsoft releases MSE. According to people like Steve Gibson and other genius programmers, MSE Beta looks to be more robust than AVs now while being very lite and is deadly accurate when looking for malicious software, looks like these companies are in trouble.

Bye Bye McAfee

http/spoonfeedin.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/tech-inside-microsofts-free-anti-virus/

 

[PCKing]

^It seems to be a good news to me.
I really like trying new Anti-Viruses every now and then.

BTW, when will it be released?

 

[macabre215]

^It seems to be a good news to me.
I really like trying new Anti-Viruses every now and then.

BTW, when will it be released?

It will be out by the end of calender 2009 but I suspect it will be around the release of Windows 7. I realized that Microsoft MSE is redundant, It's Microsoft Security Essentials. That's like saying ATM machine..... but I will leave that. =)

I tried to see if was still possible to download the beta. I found this link but since I don't have access to a windows machine and I'm on a netbook with linux at the moment, I couldn't get the download to work. So see if this works, just scroll down to the direct link near the bottom. http/www.intowindows.com/download-official-microsoft-security-essentials-mse-beta-now/