Purrrfect_Chaos Posted February 16, 2010 ID:201144 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I have a brand new hard drive and need to get it protected asap! What is the best free antivirus software available? I had avast on my old one but still somehow got infected with something that eventually took the machine down permanently. Im deperately trying to prevent this from happening again. I plan on getting some sort of paid protection asap but until then, what should I go with?Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
liljj2010 Posted February 16, 2010 ID:201147 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Free: I would suggest Microsoft Security Essentials ( http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ ) or Avira Free( http://free-av.com/en/download/index.html )Paid: I would suggest Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 ( http://www.kaspersky.com/ ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted February 16, 2010 ID:201176 Share Posted February 16, 2010 If your looking for a free Antivirus, I'd say you go for Avira or Panda CloudAvira: http://free-av.com/en/download/index.html (as lilji2010 stated above)Panda Cloud: http://www.cloudantivirus.com/en/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSnakeKobra Posted February 16, 2010 ID:201183 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Yes Microsoft Security Essentials does very well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintree16 Posted February 16, 2010 ID:201192 Share Posted February 16, 2010 The following are my recommendations for antivirus protection along with links to downloads for them (free trials for those that require a purchase so you can try them before deciding): Kaspersky (free 30 day trial) The official support forum for this product can be found here Avira Antivir (free for home use) The official support forum for this product can be found here ESET NOD32 (free 30 day trial) The official support forum for this product can be found here Microsoft Security Essentials (free for home use) The official support forum for this product can be found here Avast! (free for home use) The official support forum for this product can be found hereNote: If you decide to use one of the trial versions of one of the paid antiviruses then you will either need to purchase it or uninstall it completely and install a replacement antivirus before the trial expires so that your PC is not left unprotected.MSE Downloads:MSE for XP 32 bitMSE for Vista and Windows 7 32 bitMSE for Vista and Windows 7 64 bitDefinitions Installers:Note: if installing the definitions in Windows Vista or Windows 7 you MUST right click the definitions installer and select Run as administrator and click Continue at the User Account Control prompt.32 bit Definitions Installer64 bit Definitions Installer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201334 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Nice post mountaintree16 !Personally I do not like MSE very much, but Avira is certainly a good choice for a free antivirus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purrrfect_Chaos Posted February 17, 2010 Author ID:201335 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Thanks to you all! And what about Adware, Malware, and Spyware protection? Anything for free available for that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201338 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Hi, the way I see it Adware Spyware etc all falls under the term 'Malware'.Antiviruses like Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, .... Will also protect you against these threats.You can try SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes (free). For an extra layer of protection you can buy either MBAM or SAS . (includes realtime protection)A neat free program that has more of a 'watchdog' function is WinPatrol: http://www.winpatrol.com/Hope this helps . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purrrfect_Chaos Posted February 17, 2010 Author ID:201340 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Hi ,So Ive never really understood the term realtime protection...What does it mean excatly? It blocks and protects from Malware that is currently trying to infect the comp?And by watchdog, Im assuming you mean the same realtime type concept?Do I even get it at all? Haha. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201342 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Realtime means it blocks the infections before they reach your computer. Example: Malwarebytes IP protection module.This also goes for Panda Cloud, for example, or Avira.The free version of MBAM or SAS do not protect you realtime, but should you've been infected, they can clean it afterwards.Winpatrol:WinPatrol takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge.For example, if malware adds a startup entry, Winpatrol will notify you about this event.My (personal) suggestion is you use (free) Avira or Panda Cloud, then buy Malwarebytes full version. This will be a powerful combination .Hope this was clear enough . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoKenny1 Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201343 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Please read Real-time protection, on-access scanning, background guard, resident shield, autoprotect, and other synonyms refer to the automatic protection provided by most antivirus, antispyware, and other antimalware programs, which is arguably their most important feature. This monitors computer systems for suspicious activity such as computer viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious objects in 'real-time', in other words while data is coming into the computer (for example when inserting a CD, opening an email, or browsing the web) or when a file already on the computer is opened or executed, in other words loaded into the computer's active memory.[1] This means all data in files already on the computer is analysed each time that the user attempts to access the files. This can prevent infection by not yet activated malware that entered the computer unrecognised before the antivirus received an update. Real-time protection and its synonyms are used in contrast to the expression "on-demand scan" or similar expressions that mean a user-activated scan of part or all of a computer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_protectionMy watchdog is WinPatrolWinPatrol takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge. WinPatrol was the pioneer in using a heuristic behavioral approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment. It continues to be one of the most powerful system monitors while staying a single small program. http://www.winpatrol.comWinPatrol Free vs PLUShttp://www.winpatrol.com/compare.htmlI do not use AVG but I do like avast! V5 and gave up on Avira due to its invasive Full page advertisement that pops up whenever the definitions are updated in the Free version several time a day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintree16 Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201435 Share Posted February 17, 2010 @ BlazeThanks It's from Exile, but I recommend all of those too, and those are the exact links I would use, so. I've gotten Avira onto three machines so far, and it blocked a nasty rogue on a friends computer. Didn't totally block something on my family's computer, but Mbam cleaned up the rest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSnakeKobra Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201472 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I've gotten Avira onto three machines so far, and it blocked a nasty rogue on a friends computer. Didn't totally block something on my family's computer, but Mbam cleaned up the rest I've heard Avira does a very well job too. The detection rate is supposed to be very high. Also does very well in testing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibrad Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201474 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Avira is nice, but the popup ad is what made me change from it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serious Posted February 17, 2010 ID:201490 Share Posted February 17, 2010 AVG or AVAST + ThreatFire Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSnakeKobra Posted February 18, 2010 ID:201709 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I'm not sure I would recommend threatfire as it's bad on performance like spyware doctor. Although I was thinking about it for my spare computer which will host a website. A wanted something a little quieter that hopefully doesn't need as much attention. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibrad Posted February 18, 2010 ID:201973 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I'm not sure I would recommend threatfire as it's bad on performance like spyware doctor. Although I was thinking about it for my spare computer which will host a website. A wanted something a little quieter that hopefully doesn't need as much attention. I use Threatfire on my spare machine and I have not noticed any loss in speed. It is very very light on my machine. Also it has only shown one alert on my spare machine and it was just Defensewall installing. I have installed about 10 av programs with Threatfire installed and not one alert so it's very good at being silent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted February 18, 2010 ID:201978 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hello,you can try a first look on, a-squared Free 4.5 ---> http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/MAM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted February 18, 2010 ID:202069 Share Posted February 18, 2010 ...you can also read this, http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=39772 The Cat spin a round, and bites herself in his own tail And that is painfull MAM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
control Posted February 18, 2010 ID:202081 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Avast or AVG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSnakeKobra Posted February 19, 2010 ID:202267 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I use Threatfire on my spare machine and I have not noticed any loss in speed. It is very very light on my machine. Also it has only shown one alert on my spare machine and it was just Defensewall installing. I have installed about 10 av programs with Threatfire installed and not one alert so it's very good at being silent.Good to know. The last time I used threatfire it seemed bloated and slowed everything down. Although it's been a quite a few months.Edit: I'm currently trying threatfire and seems slow, but hopefully it's just needs to get used to everything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noknojon Posted February 19, 2010 ID:202396 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Personally I do not like MSE very much, but Avira is certainly a good choice for a free antivirus.MSE is 100% active and running - Avira and some of the others are scanners and not 100% background running - Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSnakeKobra Posted February 19, 2010 ID:202438 Share Posted February 19, 2010 MSE is 100% active and running - Avira and some of the others are scanners and not 100% background running -I'm a little confused here. So are you saying avira doesn't monitor in the background? Or is it just very poorly? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintree16 Posted February 19, 2010 ID:202490 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I've personally seen Avira free block rogue (most likely trojan) threats in the background Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSnakeKobra Posted February 19, 2010 ID:202549 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I've personally seen Avira free block rogue (most likely trojan) threats in the background If the guard is functional then it should be monitoring 100% of the time. If not then why include the guard if it doesn't do anything? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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