Anti-Virus: Purchase or Free?

[Zartan]

I've been looking at a few free anti-virus programs available like Avira and they read good, but how good are they? I've also read about Microsoft Security Essentials being a good all around. How are these programs "free" Basic is free, but you pay for more advanced features?

It's just for surfing and I use my old desktop for the pron. I want ad-blocking/pop up blocking, background intrusion scanning and a cleaning utility of sorts.

Suggestions/input?

Win 7

[RitcheyRch]

AVG Free is good

[neouser]

It's just for surfing and I use my old desktop for the pron. I want ad-blocking/pop up blocking, background intrusion scanning and a cleaning utility of sorts.

I'm not sure about AV programs, but I love your brutal honesty.

I'm also interested in the answer to this.

[sd_shooter]

- AVG Free (resident)
- Super Anti Spyware Free (run occasionally)
- MalwareBytes Free (run occasionally)

Firefox:
- AdBlock Plus
- FlashBlock

[CSACANNONEER]

tagged

[JaeFern]

AVG for free
Nod32 for paid

[Peter.Steele]

For anti-virus by itself, just get Microsoft Security Essentials, and pair that with Malwarebytes on occasion.

MS Security Essentials is free, and it's actually part of Windows. It has probably the lowest requirements of any AV software as far as overhead goes.

[the86d]

...MS Security Essentials is free, and it's actually part of Windows. It has probably the lowest requirements of any AV software as far as overhead goes.

...and the most infected.

Skip any M$ product that is supposed to protect you. SE is like their 3rd attempt at an AV, and still fails more than 3rd party free AVs.

I use Avast free(, used to use AVG until they started hijacking browser searches), Clam for my Windows server (not public-IP accessible).

[sholling]

Pay for quality. I like Eset and Webroot both of which are cheap if you catch a sale and have minimal overhead. I also suggest running Adblock Plus to help prevent banner inserted malware.

http://www.av-test.org/en/home/

[The War Wagon]

Norton 360 and fuhgedaboutit...

It's not the memory hog it was a decade ago, and I've never had a virus get through it yet.

[JaeFern]

Pay for quality. I like Eset and Webroot both of which are cheap if you catch a sale and have minimal overhead. I also suggest running Adblock Plus to help prevent banner inserted malware.

http://www.av-test.org/en/home/

Yup. ESET Nod32

[NytWolf]

...and the most infected.

Skip any M$ product that is supposed to protect you. SE is like their 3rd attempt at an AV, and still fails more than 3rd party free AVs.

I use Avast free(, used to use AVG until they started hijacking browser searches), Clam for my Windows server (not public-IP accessible).

Wow ... that is pretty ignorant advice. If you have Windows 7 or 8, MS's own Security Essentials is probably THE best anti-malware available for the OS. I'd like to see proof where third-party AV software alone is better than MS SE. MS SE will stop most of all direct attacks against the MS OS -- that's what it was made to do, duh. Besides, it's already there with your OS and it's essentially free. Use it, just add another anti-malware software.

Norton 360 and fuhgedaboutit...

It's not the memory hog it was a decade ago, and I've never had a virus get through it yet.

At least that you know of, right? Norton has become bottom of the heap AV. Like McAfee they have moved onto enterprise level appliances and software.

No one anti-malware software is going to protect any device any longer. Even if you have more than one anti-malware software at any given time, it still depends on YOU, the operator of the machine.

[gogohopper]

I've been looking at a few free anti-virus programs available like Avira and they read good, but how good are they? I've also read about Microsoft Security Essentials being a good all around. How are these programs "free" Basic is free, but you pay for more advanced features?

It's just for surfing and I use my old desktop for the pron. I want ad-blocking/pop up blocking, background intrusion scanning and a cleaning utility of sorts.

Suggestions/input?

paid eset NOD32 for me

as for your pron cleaning utility.......try

[Ricky-Ray]

I was using AVG for almost 10 years and then when Windows 7 came out I moved to Microsoft Security Essentials and have been happy with them ever since.

I also use Spywareblaster and Spybot in addition to MSE and have very little to no problems with viruses, spyware, and malware.

[ElDub1950]

The only free one I would use is MS Security Essentials. I prefer Mcaffee.

The simple question is .... if a large company invests millions developing and maintaining their AV software can you expect it to be better than free software put together by a few guys who make a few bucks off advertising and from including bloatware in the free stuff.

I'll trust a company who's success depends on the quality and effectiveness of their product. In MS's case, even though it's free, they created it to protect their other products and did a pretty good job.