Best free Anti-Virus

[minimarko]

Hey everyone, happy new year.

I've recently decided I"ve had enough with Norton Anti-Virus's subscription prices (costs almost the same to renew your subscription for virus updates as it does to pay for the program), and have decided to look somewhere else.

Now I realize "Using Norton Anti-Virus, you suck!", but that's not the point now is it.

So, I'm looking into free anti-virus because from what I've read they are just as good, if not better then alot of the pay-for-programs.

I just need some opinions: What is the best free Anti-Virus program? So far I've read that Nod32, AVG Free, Avast, and AntiVir Personal are the top rated.

[Auggie2k]

Absolutely go with NOD32. It's a great program, very quick and reliable, easy to understand and NOT a memory hog like Norton.

[mountain_rage]

Nod32 is the leader, but its not technically free. If you want free virus scanner I would say go with avg and after that avast.

[lifehacker]

NOD32 is by far the best

[Andrew110]

I use the free Avast and it hasn't let me down yet.

[Potato]

I went through hell and back with Nod32, but maybe it was just me.

[tackdaddy]

avast is really good, here is a link..........http://www.avast.com/
download the free home version.

[Malakai1911]

Wow this is the first time in a long time I've seen a thread where everyone agrees.

Best AV: Nod32
Best free AV: Avast!

You can get nod32 for free by getting the 30 day trial and finding "nod32fix" (search google).

[shawners]

I use norton.. Download***** and it has a kEYGEN, a serial if you will. ITS FREE.. and you get over 2200 days.. ANd upgrade til new release comes out in 3 years. =)
Why do people miss the obvious? Its a file sharing site, free stuff is scattered through the whole web.



Shame on you, Shawners!!

[Excrement_Cranium]

I haven't even heard of NOD32... I use AVG... and used to use Anti-Vir.

AVG has kept me clean for about a year.

[mcovey]

I use AVG as well. Works great!

[Omyn]

AVG is good, but I give credit where credit is due...

I put down hard cash for my 1 Yr subscription for NOD32 just because it wipes the floor with anything out there, no AV is better than it.

[condorloco]

Clamwin free antivirus in my opinion is the best and is absolutely free. Daily updates too
http://www.clamwin.com/

[RACKnRAIL]

Clamwin free antivirus in my opinion is the best and is absolutely free. Daily updates too
http://www.clamwin.com/

I have never heard of this anti-virus called clamwin.

I have used Symantec's CE anti-virus which never expires. I know it's not really free, but like mentioned, it can be acquired. It hasn't failed me. I find Norton's regular version to be very hard on system resources.

I really like nod32, I still use it on one stand alone puter of mine. No problems.

I always recommend AVG as the very best in free software, especially since V.7.

I personally haven't used Avast. It did let my friend down and I only have his opinion to provide.

[Malakai1911]

www.av-comparatives.org (http://www.av-comparatives.org/index.html?http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/comparatives.html) is currently, in my opinion, the best independent testing site on the internet for AntiVirus software right now.

There are two different tests, so check on both the "On-demand" and the "Retrospective/ProActive" test.

Nod32, in my view, looks like the best scanner tested.
Avast! clearly beasts AVG in both tests by a sizable amount.


Regarding ClamWin... ClamAV is a nice free solution for linux, and on mailservers, but for the time being I would be leery of using it as my desktop scanner.

[MorphineInduced]

well i wouldnt pay for any of those or any other for that matter ...... if yall want that i can get you it free or any other kind for that matter.......its all on where you look ....... but iv hurd the pros and cons on all of them and i have a hard time agreeing that nod32 is the best when the top 5 that are out there are pretty much all coded the same....... what ever mod32 doesnt pick up one of the other top 5 will pick up and vice versa..... if you are looking for the best protection then get rid of windows.......

[kokanezub]

avg and malaki1991's avatar go great

[pimpinaman]

I have to go with clamwin + winpooch. I've never tried NOD32, but I have used avg and avast!. I liked both of them but I chose open source.

[minimarko]

Hey, thanks alot everyone, this will make the job a bit easier. I just couldn't believe that Symantec would charge me $39 canadian a year for virus subscription, when you can buy a new version of the same terrible program for about $10 more.

Thanks

[Lehk]

i wouldn'y use NAV if symantec PAID ME $39/year to do so.

I use anti-vir and it is quite good, i've heard great things about AVG and NOD32.

Macaffe sucks even worse than NAV, i had massive slowdowns with it's realtime scanner and couldn't play games with it running

[grab_grab_the_haddock]

If you use even a moderate amount of common sense when running your PC you just don't need a virus scanner. Period.

You certainly don't need an on-access scanner, which eats up shitloads of resources. An on demand scanner might be useful if you're not sure about certain files, but you can find these online.

If you do decide to bog your system down with an on access scanner you should just go with the one which eats up less system resources. Differences in heuristics etc are insignificant and won't be noticed by the average home user.