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Is there a free virus scan for Vista?

If you are running Vista64 then Avast is your only choice as far as I know.

Last time I checked you could not get the AVG Vista64 for free.
 
AVG works fine.
Click to expand...

Not on 64-Bit Vistas
That's a pity as I've used avg free for years...

Avast works fine, but it keeps aking for re-activation too often
 
If you just want the funcationaly of an occasional "scanner," check out Microsoft's Live OneCare saftey scanner. It's free and includes other things like a registry cleaner, etc. I've used it a couple times to confirm I continue to manage to avoid getting viruses and trojans and was pleased with it. Overall not a bad option for a scanner to use if you don't want to run resident software or need another option.

I can imagine it being handy in a situation where you're at someone else's house and they have no decent scanner installed and you need a scanner to troubleshoot.

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/whatsnew.htm <--- it requires an activex control.
 
Originally posted by: nerp
If you just want the funcationaly of an occasional "scanner," check out Microsoft's Live OneCare saftey scanner. It's free and includes other things like a registry cleaner, etc. I've used it a couple times to confirm I continue to manage to avoid getting viruses and trojans and was pleased with it. Overall not a bad option for a scanner to use if you don't want to run resident software or need another option.

I can imagine it being handy in a situation where you're at someone else's house and they have no decent scanner installed and you need a scanner to troubleshoot.

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/whatsnew.htm <--- it requires an activex control.
Click to expand...

Don't want to trash your post, but Live OneCare actually had some poor results when compared to other scanners. It is, however, still better than nothing.

EDIT:

Here we go, a resource link:

www.av-comparatives.org
 
I have Trend Micro PC-Cillen and it is by far the best antivirus I have ever used. I would look into getting that if I were you.
 
RE: OneCare.

True, those numbers indicate MS still has a ways to go before their OneCare suite is as effective as other solutions, apparently. MS has come out to address the issue and indicated they're working on it. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes some time for them to catch up, but if they manage to make OneCare among the most effective programs, I wouldn't be surprised.
 
In the latest issue of PC World magazine, the Vista compatible FREE AV programs were rated - Ed. Choice was Avast.
 
A free AV with inferior detection rates could cost you in the long run. What is your time worth? If AVG or Avast! allow a nice rustock trojan to slip past (which they do), don't you think your time and data integrity is worth a mere $20-$50 for a quality AV and or AS application? How about their detection of the recent ANI exploit?
http://www.pcwelt.de/news/sicherheit/76097/index.html

Avast! 45.83%
AVG 86.11%

I am not bashing all free security software, but AVG and Avast! give you a false sense of security IMHO. While no security app is capable of detecting 100% of the garbage out there, some companies have faster response times to exploits and they are quick to react to submitted samples. Take NOD32 for example. It's arguably one of the best AV's on the market, but their response times to the aforementioned issues are lousy IMHO. Here's an example:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=170563

Right now Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 is only $18.95 with a 3 year subscription. Exceptional detection rates, their engine is used in other leading AV software, hourly updates, low resource usage, has one of the best software firewalls, amazing support, and the price extremely attractive. Look for my post at the bottom of the thread.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=2016206

Am I a Kaspersky fanboi? Maybe, but I use NOD32 on one rig and Kaspersky IS 6.0 on my other 2 rigs. I also use both of them when cleaning malware from my customer's pc's.
 
BTW, John - ZoneAlarms newest suite has a good AV (finally!) - it is by Kaspersky. 🙂

My first AV line of defense is my ISP under Nationwide using Postini. Viruses just don't get through.
 
Originally posted by: erickj92
i just tryed mcafee and it did not work...
Click to expand...
You could try a 30-day trial of Kaspersky Antivirus 6 if you need something to tide you over. At some point, the free-for-home-users version is supposed to be available, maybe by the time your 30-day trialware expires. link to trialware

It uninstalls cleanly, too. Just right-click the tray icon, choose Exit, and uninstall from Add/Remove Programs. No sticky residue 😀

 
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