Ask the readers: Inexpensive anti-virus software?

Linnea wrote:

I was wondering if your readers have any recommendations on anti-virus/anti-spyware/firewall software.  I'm looking for something that works, but is inexpensive as well.

Since I'm not that knowledgeable about this I'm very interested in hearing what other people use and like.  My current subscription is up in early September so I'd like to do some research before then. Hope you can help!

Anyone have tips, suggestions, ideas, or input? Fire away and tell us all about your experiences and recommendations!

Comments

[jrh613]

http://www.trendmicro.com

Has a free online scanner. Its the same as the scanner they sell except that you have to go online an start the scan yourself every time you want to scan.

Many IT people I know prefer Trend Micro over Norton and McAfee.

The truth is that you shouldn't have to run a scanner very often as long as you stay away from questionable/adult websites.

-Jim

[Stef]

Check with your local cable company. If you get high speed internet they sometimes offer it for free. Otherwise I have used AVG - it is great.

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?hhTest=1

[eunice]

a friend of ours is in the computer business, and he recommended avg's free home version to us. you can download it from avg's website http://free.avg.com We've been using it for almost 1 yr, and been totally satisfied. doesn't bog down our computer like norton used to, and it's way cheaper....FREE! :-)

~eunice

[sumpteretc]

I use AVG Free Edition, and it seems to work quite well for anti-virus. I rely on Windows for Firewall purposes. I don't currenty use any spyware program, but Spybot Search and Destroy has at least a free limited program which works well.

[Andrea]

I know nothing about it myself, but I can extend the highest recommendation to my friend Jared Ingold. Email him at jared@jaredingold.com

[Kristine]

Check out www.wantnot.net for a post she just did about this. Tons of suggestions in the comments there. My recommendation is Avira - http://www.free-av.com/ My DH is a computer science prof, in network and security, and it's his choice for all our computers. Free and uses less resources than McAfee and Norton. We've not had any problems!

[sara]

I use AVG, it's completely free. Just download it from their site.

[Trevor]

Forget about inexpensive; there are good, *free* anti-viruses available.

I use a Mac now, but my favorite when I used Windows was Avast!.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
It requires registration, but it *is* free, even when registered.

AVG Free is also very well-regarded.
http://free.avg.com/

[Jody]

My Dad's a computer tech, and he swears by Zone Alarm (which we have on both of our computers here at home). The free version is just a firewall, but it does a great job!

[Rebecca]

I use AVG which you can download free off of the Internet. A friend of mine who works with computers for a living. It's worked great for me so far!

[Tiffany]

I second AVG, it is free and great and recommended by my IT DH and his techie friends.

[Trevor]

This recent Lifehacker post links to a free software bundle that looks promising: http://lifehacker.com/400412/anti+malware-toolkit-builds-a-quick-computer-cleaning-toolbox

[Dawn]

I'm another fan of AVG Free edition. My husband set it up on our computer 2 years ago, and we haven't had a problem yet! (We used to have McAfee, and we had 2 viruses in less than a year.)

[Wendy]

We also use AVG Free. It's worked great for us for over two years.

[cignatiou]

I've used Avast anti-virus home edition for years. It's superb protection for free.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

[Michelle Pendergrass]

Yep, use AVG free as well. Best I've found.

[Tim Owens]

The combination of AVG with Windows Defender will match many of the popular paid programs and it's completely free. So yeah, I'll definitely be the 4th...5th...whatever to recommend you download the free edition of AVG and save the money for another day!

[Kathie]

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[Kathie]

Just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for an award on my blog at http://ourdailycrumb.blogspot.com/2008/08/b.html. Please come on over and pick it up :)

[Lea]

Clamwin is a free virus/spyware/malware protection and scanning program, McAfee has some free products as well including firewall. I have used both in the past and have found them both to be helpful. You can check on the MSN website to find more possible free software of this type. Good luck!

[Mandi]

avast is also free. We've switched to that in the last year and been really happy with it.
I'd also recommend using mozilla and gmail for email. They have almost completely eliminated pop-ups and spam for me!
HUGE time saver

[One Mom, Five Kids]

I use AVG and have never had problems - it's free and it works great for me.

Personally I would stay away from Norton. I had it pre installed when I bought my new computer a few years ago and it drove me bonkers.

[Helene]

I've used the AVG free for several years and also Spybot. Both free and has worked great for me.

[amanda]

Mir at wantnot.net had a post about this exact thing today. Check it out.

[Heather]

I usually wait for the beginning of the year when you can get the norton software free with the purchase of tax software. Usually we end up getting it at Staples. I also have spysweeper on my computer and am able to get that for free at the same time. That being said, I've already had to uninstall and reinstall norton 2 times this year because it wasn't working correctly. The first time the norton software people helped me at no charge and the second I was able to do on my own. I'm not sure I'll return to Norton after this. I might see what other anti-virus software titles I can get for free this winter.
I also had trouble getting my rebates. Luckily I had copies of everything and the store manager was able to get them for me.

[Melissa]

I use SuperAntiSpyware. It is great. I had a subscribtion to McAfee virus software but SuperAntiSpyware found things McAfee didn't. http://www.superantispyware.com/

[Melynda]

Newegg.com has Panda Internet Security 2008 for $40 with a $40 mail in rebate. I don't know much about it but there are reviews on the webpage.
I wouldn't pay money for antivirus software. There are so many out there for free or free after rebate you should be able to find something that will work for you without shelling out any money.

[Jessica]

We use AVG and ZoneAlarm, which are both free. Also you may be interested that home routers offer hardware protection against internet attacks.

[Dona]

We were using avg and then we had some issues--my techi husband could explain better than I--anyhoo, we switched to free avast. So far no buggy issues :)

[Mary Jane]

You can go online and get a free subscription to Avast for a year or 14 months. It's a great program and FREE at that! A instructor that teaches electronics and does alot on the internet told me about this site. He said never pay for an anti-virus protection, I work with at a college. So go and check out this site: www.avast.com

[Melodie]

We use AVG per recommendations of my brother-in-law who is a computer tech for the airport. He also set us up with COMODO Firewall protection. He thinks highly of both and we haven't had a problem with either thus far.

[Lacey]

I also recommend AVG!

[Tara]

My husband has read good things about bitdefender. Zone alarm is a free firewall program.

Hope that helps!

[Dona]

We were using avg and then we had some issues--my techi husband could explain better than I--anyhoo, we switched to free avast. So far no buggy issues :)

[Colleen Stoller]

I stumbled across this website the day after I purchased Norton AntiVirus which is very expensive. So, next time, I will probably try one of these free ones!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2260070,00.asp

[LadyCiani]

My husband and resident computer geek/expert recommends:

ZoneAlarm (free software firewall)
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

and

AVG Antivirus
http://free.avg.com/ww.download#avg-anti-virus-free

Caution: They may have newer versions that require you to pay, but we have been using the free versions for quite some time and they are very effective.

Also recommended for spyware and malware:

Spybot Search and Destroy (also finds viruses, but mainly for spyware which will slow your system down over time)
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

[Shruti]

Google Pack has anti-virus and anti-spyware software

[Aaron Eidinger]

I will start off by saying NOT to get the following:
Norton/Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro.
All three suffer from feature bloat to the point where the products will bog down your system greatly.

There are three free antivirus programs which have already been mentioned (Avast, Avira, and AVG, I don't count ClamWin as it's open source and not for the "not that knowledgeable" user). My experience is that Avast is best for most users. AVG has become more bloated recently and I've found is not as effective in assisting the user in removing bad things found. Avira's product is excellent and very light-weight, but it will pop up a reminder daily that they have products they want you to buy. Avast provides a lighter product than AVG, and one that I find more effective while being less annoying than Avira. Avast only requires you to re-register once every 14 months (although they'll try to get you to buy at that time).

Big word of caution: COMPLETELY REMOVE YOUR EXISTING SECURITY SOFTWARE BEFORE CHANGING TO A DIFFERENT BRAND.

A combination of Avast, Spybot, Windows Defender (free from Microsoft for XP and included with Vista) and the Windows firewall (especially when used behind a hardware router) will be very effective in keeping your system safe. However, if you get infected with something, you should seriously consider backing up your data, reformatting your computer, and reinstalling all software. Malware has become so sophisticated that it is unlikely that any removal utility is going to get rid of it all once you've become infected.

[Julie]

I just switched from Norton to Avast (http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html). I'm impressed with how often (every couple of days?) it updates itself.

[TheAngelForever]

My DH is a webmaster and secures our computers and network using the free versions of Avast and Zone Alarm. Both are fabulous protecting our computers.

[Lorie]

I also highly recommend AVG. We have used it for years and love it!

[Colleen]

Zonealarm and AVG are what I swear by -- add spybot search and destroy and Lavasofts ad-aware for spyware, and you should be set.

Whenever I need new software, I always check Kim Komando's website -- http://www.komando.com/. She has a techie radio show that is nationally syndicated, and she vetts a lot of freeware programs, which I think is awesome, because then I know what to trust!

[Lois]

I highly recommend (free) Avast! and I also use free versions of Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-aware. The latter two you have to activate (download updates first) for the free versions, but it's not that troublesome.

[Karen]

My hubs works for Dell and he and all of his friends use and suggest AVG Free. We have used this for years with no issues!

[Amy]

I use spybot search and destroy. Google it. It rocks. And it's free.

[My Boaz's RUth]

AVG, the free edition, works fine.

[My Boaz's RUth]

AVG, the free edition, works fine.

[greenwillow]

I recommend either AVG or Avast! as mentioned above. Both are free - I use both (on different computers) but my son who is in IT recommends Avast! over AVG. They both have worked fine for me!

[Heather B]

I am familiar with the AVG Anti-virus and I can tell you that it can identify a problem, but when it comes to a virus it is not capable of removing it. You will have to purchase something like Norton Anti-Virus for around $39.95 and sometimes it's on sale for $29.95. There is also Kaspersky for around $39.95 (http://www.soft82.com/download/windows/kaspersky-anti-virus/) and also one called Panda Security (https://shop.pandasoftware.com/producto.aspx?idProducto=L08&categoria=Particulares(CatalogoPanda)&pais=63&idioma=en-us&track=55402) for $39.95. I would recommend that you purchase the full Internet Security instead of only the Anti-Virus. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

[Melanie @ NotebookLearning]

Another recommendation here for AVG. You'll have to get the newest version (8) from Download.com because it's not on the Grisoft site - at least, it wasn't there a week or two when my son went to download the newest free version. All we could find on the site was the paid version.

Also, a lot of people swear by a new one on the scene, I think the name is SuperAntiSpyware. It's free also, although it's mostly for spyware, even though it will help with some viruses as well.