Best free antivirus?

[oboe]

What antivirus do you guys use?

I currently have BitDefender on my laptop, which I switched to some time ago after some problem with Security Essentials - something got by it; I don't recall the details now.

Finishing up my new build, wonder what you guys use...

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Your best free antivirus is to install a second OS, linux, to your computer. That is fairly safe to use in everyday browsing, banking etc. activities. You can leave a clean Windows installation with only games on it as a parallel OS.

You then boot into Windows only to play games and do not even touch the internet browser while you're in Windows. This method has kept me completely virus and malware free for years and I don't need to install any AV to eat my computers resources.

Occasionally you can run the Eset online scanner if you feel paranoid. The best thing is that even if your windows manages to pick up something, the most it can do is harvest your online accounts information. Since you don't use Windows for anything, even registrations, having an infection becomes much less of an issue suddenly.

The best part is that once you abandon Windows for daily tasks, it becomes much easier to simply reinstall the whole OS if you expect foul play.

As for the actual 'free' software, there are plenty. AVG and Avira are probably the two best known and AVG has even had some test success. IIRC these 'free' antiviruses will occasionally spam you with ads of their paid version however. And Avira requires you to register periodically.

[BuckShot]

Does linex look and function like windows?

[Bizman]

What MrRipley says about using Windows only for games and using Linux for everyday tasks is probably the safest option. But what if you'd have to download a new patch? Or Alt-Tab to check your squad messages from the BBS because no one of your mates is online? What if a squaddie has linked to some cool video on your squad board, wouldn't you like to watch it immediately instead of rebooting to Linux? Not to mention watching YouTube during the hour long bomb runs...

As you can see, the good advice is for a disciplined mind.

One good and easy way to control what's getting installed is to create one password protected administrator level account and another one with limited rights for normal use. That would allow the normal user to download anything he likes, but any attempt to install anything would pop up a window asking for the administrator's password.

As for free antivirus programs, I've tried them all and seen them in use in the computers of my customers. Somehow I've grown to dislike AVG which I used to like in the past. There was some hassle with false positives in critical Windows files or something like that. Avira has a good reputation but it feels somewhat homespun. As you noticed, MSE may let things through. As a Microsoft spokeswoman said, their goal is not to win reviews, they only want to keep the real nasties out... Currently I'm (again) using Avast but I must agree it has its faults: It tends to find false positives quite aggressively, quarantining even widely known commercial programs. Then again, reverting them from the quarantine and creating and exception is not a big deal.

When installing any program, do a "custom" install instead of the "recommended" "normal" one. Uncheck at least demo features and also those you won't use anyway. Modify the update policy to your likings, manual would interfere online gaming the least. Don't think you'd be safe after installing any anti-xxx program, there's many kinds of malware that do more harm than actual viruses.

[Bizman]

Does linex look and function like windows?

Yes and no. First of all there's all kinds of Linux distributions, starting from a DOS like plain text version up to very sleek GUI desktops. They can look and feel more or less like Windows, with a few exceptions:

• The installing system is different. You can't just download and double click a file to install a new program. There's a whole lot of programs to choose from a feature similar to "Programs and features", but outside of that list you'd have to do some coding. Agreed, the instructions are often quite thorough, though.
• After having something installed it will keep itself up-to-date along the regular updates.
• The file system is somewhat different. Inside your "home" folder it's pretty much alike "My Documents", but navigating to it in the Terminal (the Command Prompt equivalent) isn't as straightforward as in Windows.
• Windows programs can't be installed into Linux with the exception of using Wine which is sort of a virtual Windows inside Linux.
• There's programs for almost any task and the files they create are for the most part compatible with their Windows equivalents. Some Linux originated programs have made their way even to Windows, such as Firefox, OpenOffice, VLC player etc.
• There's even equivalents for Microsoft's programs such as Silverlight!
• There's a bunch of programs and drivers that aren't fully licensed to be free, which must be taken into consideration when using Linux for business.

And much more. Many Linux distros can be run from the installation DVD to test for possible hardware incompatibilities or just to get a feel about it before doing anything irreversible. Try it, it's the only way to tell whether you'd like it or not.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

The best part about linux is that anyone can try it and use it for free.

You can download a linux .iso, burn it on a DVD and then boot your computer directly from the DVD to linux. It lets you try it out without changing anything on your current computer (called a live-dvd). Just note that while the OS runs from the DVD it's considerably slower than what the actual installation will be later.

Try it out.

The most popular linux distribution is Mint, the most 'windows like' distribution is probably Zorin linux. Zorin is maybe a 'soft start' for a windows user: http://zorin-os.com/

[The Fugitive]

I use Avira. It updates regularly and is pretty good. It has saved my wifes computer a few times. It use to have a pop up box that asked you to buy it everyday. They have changed that and now you only get one occasionally.

[Patches1]

ESET has a small footprint for gaming and offers good anti-virus protection. No software will ever protect against poor browsing habits.

I've been using ESET for many years and am satisfied with it's protection.

[Bizman]

ESET has a small footprint for gaming and offers good anti-virus protection. No software will ever protect against poor browsing habits.

I've been using ESET for many years and am satisfied with it's protection.

ESET would be the best choice, it has a reputation of being the least negatively affecting antivirus for gamers. But it's not free, thus it doesn't qualify as an answer to the OP's question.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

ESET would be the best choice, it has a reputation of being the least negatively affecting antivirus for gamers. But it's not free, thus it doesn't qualify as an answer to the OP's question.

The ESET online scanner is free however. I sometimes run it just in case even on computers that already use MSE or the likes. Heck I even scan my macs and linux machines periodically just to see if any files contain windows viruses. But I don't run a background AV.

I haven't had an infection on my personal machine for almost a decade now. Other family members have got malware in a couple of instances (or suspected viral activity) which required nuking the OS and start from scratch. And I do run AVs on their computers since they use Windows even for surfing, unfortunately. I've yet to see the AV catch anything though - and then I've seen the computer infected despite having the AV running. So they're pretty much just a burden for the computer IMHO.

[oboe]

Thanks, I have some familiarity with Linux Mint, so I installed it alongside Win 7.  I like the look and feel of Mint, and maybe I'll learn more about Linux, which would be a good thing IMO.   I have an old laptop that used to run Vista that I put Mint on a couple of years ago.   Still works great, except that I get warnings about Flash being obsolete, and I can't figure out how to upgrade Flash in Linux....

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Thanks, I have some familiarity with Linux Mint, so I installed it alongside Win 7.  I like the look and feel of Mint, and maybe I'll learn more about Linux, which would be a good thing IMO.   I have an old laptop that used to run Vista that I put Mint on a couple of years ago.   Still works great, except that I get warnings about Flash being obsolete, and I can't figure out how to upgrade Flash in Linux....

You have two options to upgrade the flash - either you add a direct software source for the updates (repository) or you update the Mint version on the laptop, that will contain fresh repositories and the flash gets automagically updated in the process.

I just did my biannual service to my mothers Ubuntu laptop because she got nags about the flash as well. Upgraded the Ubuntu to the latest LTS version and nags were gone. The upgrade process was very simple - you open the software updater tool and accept the upgrade to the new version. In Mint it should be pretty much the same.

[guncrasher]

mrripley would you mind posting a link to the latest mint update.  gonna give it another shot.  for some reason cant seem to make it work on my computer.


semp

[MrRiplEy[H]]

mrripley would you mind posting a link to the latest mint update.  gonna give it another shot.  for some reason cant seem to make it work on my computer.


semp

You may simply have incompatible hardware or you have an UEFI motherboard which requires special settings in order to boot linux. Here are the latest downloads: http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

[715]

I use Ubuntu for daily web browsing and it has always automatically updated Flash.  I can't remember how I installed it however; might have been via the "Additional Drivers" icon.  Ubuntu automatically updates itself very often, i.e. several times a week. 

The underlying Linux (i.e. command line) is obtuse in the extreme (grep awk cat blorp etc.; the simple Linux Bible I bought is 816 pages and weighs 3 lbs) but if all you want to do is browse, check email, and run software it's pretty much just like Windows, you just click an icon on the desktop (i.e. with Ubuntu the Launcher toolbar on the left) and go.  Ubuntu even comes with substitutes for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint that I have found to work just fine with my previous files.  Through the repository I also added Gimp (photo and bitmap editing), Inkscape (vector graphics), Blender (3D modeling and rendering), Audacity (sound editing), Qsynth (MIDI), and Stellarium (planetarium software) all for free.  Well, not free for me exactly since I donated $120, but then you don't have to donate anything.