Recommendation for free anti-virus For WIN-XP?

[uberman]

Could somebody recommend a free year of anti-virus that going around. My friend doesn't understand that those things expire and such and I'm going to his place today. He just had a hardware piece repaired (pulled out powercord). So I want to get something on there for his protection. Is AVG running a freebee? Anybody else?

Thank you for your suggestions in advance.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

There are three free Anti-Viruses: Avast, AVG, and Avira. Funny how they all start with A. I have used AVG for awhile but I hear its actually not that great, not sure about the other two. I'm also interested in other peoples' opinion on this.

 

[MustISO]

I like Avira, you can also get BitDefender free for a year.

 

[balloonshark]

Forget AVG, get either Avira or Avast. Avira has great detection rates and Avast is the most complete of the free versions. I like both of these AV's.

With Avast you have 60 days to register after installing and then you will have re-register in one year and it should be free.

Get Avira here (ignore the trial pay stuff): http://www.free-av.de/en/trial...l__free_antivirus.html

Get Avast here: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

 

[RebateMonger]

I've been using Avast! the past six months on several PCs and have been happy with it. AVG over the last year was very troublesome. I had to re-install AVG on several PCs when AVG quit working or, even worse, interfered with the function of the PC.

 

[BW86]

Avira Antivir

 

[KeithP]

Another vote for Avira Antivir.

-KeithP

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: KeithP
Another vote for Avira Antivir.

-KeithP

Been using it for years now. I'd pay for it if I had to.

 

[uberman]

Thank you guys. Avira seems good. Anandtech is always the best source for computer info.

 

[sonoma1993]

i use avast on my computers. it works great for me.

 

[Scouzer]

Avira has better detection rates and a better GUI than Avast. AVG has awful detection rates is a total pig. There's only one winner.

 

[Lemon law]

Ha ha ha, I get two votes, I put avast on my wife's computer because it has better prescanning of incoming email she is addicted to, and I use avira personal free on my computer.

That plus a multilayered security system that relies on HIPS and Host files prevention has kept malware away from both computers for more years than I can count.

A good AV is only one part of a computer security system.

 

[spikespiegal]

Tell you what:

I'll take two test machines; one with Avast and Avira installed, and let half a dozen teenagers lose on it for a month.

The other machine will have no AV or Anti-spyware software installed, and I'll let the same group of teens on it for the same amount of time. Difference is, this box *won't* give local admin rights to any of the teens.

After a month I'll bet you any amount of cash that the non-AV, non-Admin rights box is cleaner.

 

[Lemon law]

Can't disagree with ole spike, especially if we are talking about an OS sub variety that allows a full software restriction policy with the limited account.

But I wish Spike lotsa luck with his experiment, unless Spike picks unusually dumb teens, the first thing they will do is switch to an administrative account and then any computer without a excellent security system will become infested with malware at near the speed of light.

 

[slappomatt]

ok I gave up on nod32 after having good luck with it for about a year then I started getting virus now I am using Avira and for some odd reason everytime I reboot the antivirus is deactivaded. WTH?

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: slappomatt
ok I gave up on nod32 after having good luck with it for about a year then I started getting virus now I am using Avira and for some odd reason everytime I reboot the antivirus is deactivaded. WTH?

Try running a product update by clicking on the Update tab on top. If it updates, but still won't start activated, I'd try a uninstall/reinstall and see if that fixes it. I've seen that problem a lot with AVG, but never with Avira.

 

[jadinolf]

I have avast! installed on 5 computers (XP and Vista) and have nothing but good things to say about it.

At least give it a try.

 

[ZanatosFox]

A vote here for Avast. I used to use AVG, wasn't too impressed. About a year ago I started using Avast! and I've been very happy with it. Haven't had any problems with it running on all of my PC's and my Parents' and Sisters' (probably 6 total machines).

Haven't tried Avira, so can't comment on that one.

 

[tzdk]

Avast 5 is looking promising btw. http://blog.avast.com/2009/07/...vast-5-is-coming-soon/

Reason Ive used Avast since W98 is mostly because it is stable, always updated over and over which is a good thing. Dont actually use it anymore but is still first choice for free AV. Funny GUI can be fixed in options so it becomes generic and less Winamp. Tons of options, like sending email to "Admin" when something is caught. If I remember correctly Avast was also among the first to scan 7z files - while others still struggled with rar files. Has always been easy to pick Avast - regardless of detection rates in tests. Pros outweighs cons. A con could be Avast is not the fastest scanner around - there is a reason version 5 is brand-new from what I understand. 4 is a veteran by now.

Also company has big ears and know marketing - like not using popups and/or major limitations compared to paid version. Clever and seem to have worked. A different and more user-friendly attitude to the question on how to succeed in this market. Make it way easier to "recommend" Avast because usually installation/setup is plug&play. I hope they survive MSE "attack"

 

[pcslookout]

VIPRE. It is not free but the best part about it is there are no slow downs. Not sure how good the scan rate is though. http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/home-home-office/vipre/

I am really impressed with it. Even when it is scanning in the background I don't even notice my pc slowing down one bit. It is quite amazing.

 

[imported_Imp]

I used Avast Antivir, and it may be better than AVG according to others, but it sure as hell isn't flawless. It let a huge virus slip through on Saturday, and now I have to reformat the entire machine. It did catch 2 before getting raped itself though; that is, before the virus got through, turned off the firewall and turned off the antivirus program.

The even worse news is that even after I got Anti-vir up and running in both safemode and a new Windows install on my second partition, it still didn't detect anything. If I need something cleaned out, I use Malwarebytes. Best free scanner out there. However, you have to pay for the premium version with active protection. Might be worth it.