[lazymatt]

Just a quick question to see what the consensus is. What is the best free anti-virus software to install on a windows based machine?

[leroys1000]

http://free.avg.com/download-avg-ant...s-free-edition

[lazymatt]

This is the current AV im using and have had no problems with it, but after reading many posts in this forum, it is clear that some members prefer Avast or Avira. I was hoping for the pros and cons of these alternatives, sorry i should have made this clear in my origninal post.

[lunarlander]

Antivirus programs generally rely on virus signatures to identify threats. That means the firm would have had to have captured, analysed and work out a signature for all viruses - which is near impossible. A firm called Secunia recently did a test of antivirus programs by preloading test machines with viruses. The top contender was Symantec, because it found 64 out of 300 exploits. Yes, the best one found only 64 !

That said, some of the competitors says the test wasn't fair because by preloading viruses and then installing antivirus programs, the test by passes the active protection that some programs have, usually some form of behavioral detection.

But the fact remains that a single signature driven antivirus program cannot be relied on solely to secure a PC. If you suspect that a program could be a virus, you can upload that file to VirusTotal and let them scan it. Virus Total uses approximately 39 antivirus products to scan the file and gives you the results.

[Blackmirror]

I am using Avast for one reason
Avg refused to reinstall

[Jason08]

Avira or Avast are generally recommended here.

[perfume]

Dear lazymatt,
I agree with Jason08. Since you have restricted us to opine on freeware A-Vs alone,Avira should be a good choice. Additionally, Avira has the pro-active capability, I.E "stop at the gate" function.

In one of the previous posts in this thread,there was a problem uninstalling AVG. I too faced a similar sit. and used three methods to send it packing totally.1) used level four of Revo-uninstaller.2) Used the AVG removal tool.3) Entered the word"AVG"in the search box, to look for (and remove any remnants of AVG). Lastly rebooted twice. I had to do all this since KIS2009 was refusing to install,saying that AVG ("another A-V is running") is on my pc! Only after i went thru' the above steps,did KIS got installed.

[hrlow2]

I just have to add my vote for Avira AntiVir.

[lazymatt]

Thanks for all the advice. I think that im going to try out Avira because of the interest in it in this thread, and ditch AVG. Thanks again for all the advice.

Matt