Best Anti-Virus Software?

[LifeDeathRebirth]

In your opinion, what is the best anti-virus software? I've tried a few in the past and haven't really been happy with any of them.

[Haylum]

AVG without a doubt. There's a completely free version and it doesn't flood you with stupid warning messages every time you want to connect to something.

[faticeira]

Avast. And it is free.

[tazzyface]

Yep, the AVG free version gets a vote for me too.

I wouldn't bother with Norton at all...

[candycovered]

I say AVG too.

agreed, Norton is crap

[MrsEss]

Avast. And it is free.

AVAST RULES!!!!!!!!!!

free is always a bonus

(my OH is a PC geek & he won't use anything but AVAST)

[Miffy]

I use ClamWin and after trying numerous anti-virus software (including Avast, which didn't work for me at all) I find this the best and most effective one. It's free too.

[sammu]

Every time I go past it, I want to BURN DOWN THE MCAFEE BUILDING.

Seriously, it's a space-eater. I hate it. It blocks EVERYTHING. When you turn it off, it comes back on again and slows the pc down and absorbs all the virtual memory. *explode*

I had AVG on the last pc, it was great... no problems here!

[Midnight]

Another vote here for AVG! Its free, which is the best bit, but its also really good, and easy to use! Mine automatically updates for me and runs a scan daily! Which is great for me as i would just forget!

[deadteddys]

Another vote for AVG free!

[Criss]

My fiance and I run a computer repair shop, we have seen and tried everything.

Grisoft AVG is what we recommend to our clients, and its what we use ourselves.
http://free.avg.com/. Windows defender is also good for anti-spyware you can get it directly from Microsoft, we also always recommend having a hardware firewall(a router) between your computer and the internet.

Best of luck!

[Pallidity]

I disliked AVG. Why? It started with my computer (could not change it to do something else) and would scan BEFORE I could log on to my profile (which meant I sat and waited at the blue screen with my icon), and really slowed everything down (not very laptop or low RAM friendly). I use Spybot Search And Destroy now, which I'm much happier with. It's not as intrusive as AVG and is a lot more thorough. It's something most of the nerds have suggested to me in varying online communities (specifically CNet) and was the only thing that saved my computer from a MAJOR crash not long ago.

[Spooki]

kapersky (i think that's how it's spelled) is time after time after time rated number 1 anti-virus. it's expensive though. last year it was tested against other top AVs and found the highest percentage of threats. if i could afford to pay for AV i would be using this.

for freeware avast is often top rated. i use this myself and i can attest to the fact that it works very well. it's MUCH better than the free AGV. it allows you to abort your internet connection when a threat is detected to prevent malware from getting installed. avast can be kind of hard to use but as far as protection goes it's great. it's freeware that can compete with pay version AV.

at work (air force IT) we use symantec end point protection. it's pretty good but one thing i do not like is it is not really active protection, it's mostly reactive. it will let you know of a threat AFTER you've been infected not while it's trying to infect you like avast does.

[kezerb]

I agree with avast but I find it terribly consuming of power which is why I don't use it anymore
Otherwise I use AVG

[CancerHybrid]

i vote AVG
my bf is a big nerd and thats what he puts on all our computers

[Spooki]

I agree with avast but I find it terribly consuming of power which is why I don't use it anymore
Otherwise I use AVG

my avast uses less than 30,000 K memory... that's nothing compared to what symantec uses (which was nothing compared to what norton and mccaffe use). it's about the same as what aim 6 uses and less than yahoo messenger.

in general the more services (read: protection) the program offers the more memory it eats up. it's the price you pay.

[kezerb]

Yes deffinitly but my poor pc is on her last legs

[Spooki]

Yes deffinitly but my poor pc is on her last legs

i know how that feels... my old laptop got so bad that it would over heat in 10 minutes of just surfing the web. i put the damn thing on top of huge bags of ice until i had enough money to buy a new one.

[Pallidity]

Really, any laptop that isn't super new has rough memory issues unless you add memory. I luff my laptop (about 2 years old) and the only complaint I really have is the lack of RAM.