[ralph888]

Could someone reccommend a good free Antivirus Program. I
have Norton 360, it does good,but I hear there are some free ones that do just as good. Any help would be appreciated.

[valis]

Microsoft security essentials is probably at the top of the free list.......you could ask 100 techs and get 80 different answers, but I think that MSE still has the lead in the freeware apps. It's all I use, currently.

[Cheeseball81]

Microsoft Security Essentials gets my vote too.

I suppose a second choice would be Avast.

[dukevyner]

..well now i feel real dumb with these guys throwing a vote for MSE... but ah... have to vote for "avast! Antivirus"(free edition)

[valis]

Like I said, duke; ask 100, get 80 answers.

[darkw1zard]

@valis, I'm currently using McAfee, which I don't like but use it anyway because it comes free with my laptop. On old pcs, i was using Free Avast. I've tried BitDefender which many recommend, but find it too intrusive, it quarantine/remove the threat without notifying first & turn out it was false alarm.

I've now got myself to try Malwarebytes to work along with McAfee, but also find it too intrusive. It blocks my access (which I can't unblock) to some websites I normally visit.

Now pls tell me if Microsoft Security Essentials is less an intruder, the last thing I need is an overly protective software that makes my days worse.

If I were to install MSE, what are the steps to completely safe removal of previous antivirus bcause I sometimes this thing can ruin my system.

Regards,

[Elvandil]

MSE, then Avast.

We're nowhere near 80. But valis didn't say "good" techs, did he? Just "techs". Since we're all good ones in here, the number may be smaller.

[valis]

MBAM shouldn't be blocking anything. it's an on-demand scanner, which means you run it when your other AV thinks it found something. I'm not even sure I have it installed on my rig......if I do, it's woefully out of date.

The trick is just find one you like and run with it. MSE is not very intrusive, but it can be configured that way.

Bottom line? About 95% of AV is common sense. Just don't let the secret out.

[lunarlander]

I'll put in a vote for MS Security Essentials. I use it, but it hasn't found anything yet, and the computer is a work computer, so it does very little surfing, and no users are allowed to download stuff to install.

[sayem3v]

hello there,
If you have registered windows then I advise you to download Microsoft Security essentials, otherwise you download avira personal antivirus. its free & no time limit to use. auto update also available.

[valis]

heyya sayem3v, welcome to TSG. In the future, when you link to software, please use the MFG's original page, as opposed to an unknown third-party page. I've removed the link to the site you provided.

thanks,

v

[sayem3v]

OK, thanks valis for beware me.

[Ent]

Speaking of which, people seem not to have given the links.
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

I personally use Avast on my laptop, but I'd also recommend MSE first. MSE is less resource-hungry, and much more likely to just work with minimal fuss. (I do have my reasons for using Avast, notably the finer degree of control I can exert over it, and the fact that it talks to you )

[tomdkat]

I'm actually going to recommend Avira AntiVir over MSE.

MSE won't "nag" you like just most other free anti-virus applications will but I tend to prefer Avira's detection rates and scanning speed. MSE isn't know for being the fastest anti-virus application out there. Plus, its reporting leaves MUCH to be desired. MSE does show you a history of what it detected, if anything, but other than that you can't find out info about the scans it ran that found nothing.

The free version of AntiVir WILL nag you to purchase it but it's very configurable, has a good reporting system, has GREAT if not excellent detection ability, and doesn't consume much system resources.

Peace...

[valis]

blasphemer!