[llanita]

I have Vista Home Basics and I use McAfee.

Are there any free virus scanners similar to McAfee that I can use and that are effective?

I know there are a lot of great free programs that cover virus protection, so just because I'm paying for a virus protection does it mean that the ones you pay for are the best ones?

Thanks

[Phantom010]

IMHO, anything BUT McAfee and Norton is a good alternative.

Again, IMHO, I prefer paid virus protection. They are better to catch malware at the gate before it gets installed on your computer. You'll have a lot more definition updates and a better technical support. I've been recommending ESET Smart Security (NOD32) for a long time for many reasons.

But, if you must go free, I would recommend Avira Antivir.

[TOGG]

There is no 'right' answer to your question because it depends on every individuals' perception of risk. No antivirus program is 100% effective against everything and, no matter how much you pay, you won't escape trouble if you routinely download 'cracked' software or porn, use fileshare software or open messages and pictures from new 'friends' you have made on the 'social' sites.

Many people here use the free programs, I choose not to because I don't think the cost of a good program (NOD32 in my case), is unreasonable and don't want to take whatever risk there might be in using a free program.

To put it into perspective, I have just renewed NOD for another two years for less that £18 per year.. When you consider that I spend about £12 per week on booze and newspapers alone, my antivirus costs are insignificant.

[1002richards]

As stated by Phantom & TOGG - what's best is what suits your needs (sorry to be vague!!).

I made my selection for Vista from link below (freeware) & went for Sandboxie, Comodo & Avast.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

Richard

[llanita]

Ok, thanks very much

[flavallee]

llanita:

Don't just focus on an antivirus program for combating viruses.

You also need to focus on 1 or 2 good antispyware programs for combating spyware, malware, browser hijackers, adware tracking cookies, etc..

Viruses use to be the main problem, but it appears to be the other way around now.

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As TOGG said, there's no "right" answer to your question.

The degree of risk that you take(which includes unsafe and dangerous browsing and downloading habits) has a lot to do with what you install and run in your computer.

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[llanita]

I have Malwarebytes anti-malware also, and SpywareBlaster. I'm normally pretty cautious with what I download and which websites I visit, so it's rare for me to get bad infections.
Thank you all very much for your responses.

[Blackmirror]

Well you are in safe hands with Malwarebytes

I have not had an infection since i installed it

[Davec]

Originally Posted by TOGG

To put it into perspective, I have just renewed NOD for another two years for less that £18 per year.. When you consider that I spend about £12 per week on booze and newspapers alone, my antivirus costs are insignificant.

So you're saying if you drink and browse, get paid.

[Blackmirror]

Originally Posted by Davec

So you're saying if you drink and browse, get paid.

I dont