Free (or dirt cheap) Antivirus!

[richieuk]

Anyone know of a good Anti-virus software package like Norton Internet Security which doesn't bug the udders off you for every little thing, yet allows easy playing with firewall settings etc?

I'd take Norton if it wasn't £30! But my budget it amazingly tight!

[TAKTAK]

free

Avast! antivirus
Comodo firewall/ zone alarm firewall (take your pick) turn off defense+....... or be prepared to get hundreds of popups for everything...

or paid

kaspersky internet security
nod32
eset internet security

norton is pants...

[Craig321]

Anti-virus:
NOD32 (paid)
AntiVir (free)
Avast!

Firewall:
Comodo (free)

Combo, but apparently the firewall isn't as good as Comodo:
ESET Smart Security (paid for, this is basically NOD32 with a firewall)

[richieuk]

Ok, anyone here use those? How reliable are they and how good are they? How big are thier system footprints etc

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Kaspersky and Avast seem not to take up much system resources IMHO.Nod32 is also quite good but is was reasonably expensive last time I checked! You can get a three user 1 year Kaspersky antivirus license from Scan for under £10 which is stonking value!!

http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=839040

A thee user 1 year license for the Internet Security version is just over 14 quid too!!

http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=839038

Single user versions cost a few quid less also:

http://scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=kaspersky

[TAKTAK]

Ok, anyone here use those? How reliable are they and how good are they? How big are thier system footprints etc

i use and install avast and comodo on every system i build/repair...

they are very low footprint programs compared to others... hence why i use them...

and they havn't steered me wrong so far...

[Emirzan]

I agree with TAKTAK, avast & comodo are what I used before getting eset. Both are excellent for free programs but in my opinion neither stands up to eset in terms of performance & features or having a low system footprint. But that's to be expected for a purchased product.

[this_is_gav]

If you're with Barclays online banking you can get Kaspersky Internet Security for free.

Better bet than the free solutions, and far, far superior than anything with 'Norton' in it.

NOD32 otherwise. 3 year subscription if you've got the money in hand (it'll save you quite a bit in the long run).

For free, apparently Avira (AV only) is now the free choice. Can't recommend it myself. AVAST for 2nd.

[Betty_Swallocks]

I always use AVG. It's free and it's effective.

[0iD]

Avast!/Comodo are an effective combo for nowt.

[dangel]

Avast/Commodo vote from me too.

[s3ds]

AVG/zonealarm for newer systems
clamwin/zonealarm for older and HTPC (smaller footprint)
AVG(paid)/windows firewall for works PC's

all PC's are behind a NAT firewall aswell

thats what i use

[NightshadowUK]

Been using Antivir for as long as I can remember, never failed me (or the umpteen systems I've installed it on) yet.

[Sacred]

Just how important is a firewall // anti virus program?

I've had computers (OS X and Windows based) since 1997 and I've had a total of three viruses in all that time. Two of which were not recognised by anti virus software anyway. And the other from being young, naive and visiting websites I shouldn't have been, needless to say getting endless spamming of them types of pop-ups on the family computer wasn't a good thing.

So back to my original question, just how important are they? Or are they just a creation of the media driven world that dictates to us what we need and want?

[NightshadowUK]

I installed Antivir on a couples' PC last week, considering the install of Windows was less than a year old and their surfing habits were very basic, it had detected over 100 malicious files in just a few minutes. In the end I set it to auto-delete and went out, it was FULL of crap.

And firewalls, as far as I understand, stop unwanted inbound and outbound traffic, i.e. one of these malicious files sending out your login details to some 's server.

They're VERY important and you're a fool to yourself if you don't run both.

[Lanky123]

They are very important, but equally important are your surfing habits. I had to do a Windows reinstall on a horribly infected pc for some family friends; it took a good 30 seconds to do anything you wanted and no antivirus program would install or run. I made sure they didn't have any infected usb sticks and the like, put AVG on the new install and told them to run scans every day. By the next week it was almost in the same state.

I don't want to know what websites they'd been visiting but whatever antivirus you use (AVG is far from perfect I know), if you ask for it you WILL get infected.