Free, or Cheap, BUT GOOD Anti-Virus Software recs?

[Heddi]

I use AVG free version on my laptop. it's great but jesus god is it slow to start. At least 10 minutes to update, install, close down. And when it's running I can feel a definite lag in the swiftness of the computer.

Any other suggestions?

[NJmaverick]

1. Avast is another free program, that I have heard good things about

[trof]

2. BitDefender. About 40 bucks a year, but worth it.

I used AVG for years, but the bugs got too sophisticated for it.

[enigmatic]

3. Everything you need is here

http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm

I use most of what's on the page for my station comupter; The NOD32 anti-virus is great.

[Mike 03]

4. Trend Micro has been great for me, although I'm running into difficulties now with some

trojans. For the first time it's having trouble.

I used to have a great program called "Spy Doctor."

I had no luck with the commonly rec'd "Spybot" and "Adaware." You get what you pay for, and free AV, in my experience, is not very good. I can't begin to tell you how many hours I wasted running scans with programs like those two.

Just the other night somebody was screaming at me here at DU to get Spybot because it could solve all the problems that Microsoft, Trend Micro and Norton cannot. Don't fall for it or waste the disk space.

EDIT:

I'm not sure whether you would consider Trend Micro inexpensive or not. I'm not sure what these more advanced programs cost--maybe 30 to 40 bucks a year? But they update every day (lately, three times a day), so they are constantly being updated as new viruses appear.

But as I said, there are some new things emerging on the internet that even Trend Micro, Microsoft and Norton are having trouble fighting.

[Left Is Write]

5. I don't go with free anymore.

My previous computer wound up hosed. So much for free protection (I agree with the poster who said you get what you pay for).

I bought McAfee - full virus protection, quick clean, site advisor, and firewall.

ETA - I get updates automatically and am notified of same, and I can set the scans to go at whatever intervals I prefer.

[DS1]

6. oxymoron, imo

[Heddi]

8. That's fair. What would you reccomend?

I guess I should change the OP because I'm really *not* that interested in Free unless it's super good...something I don't think exists.

I was given RAVE reviews of AVG free version a few years ago and it was good-ish, but lately has just bogged down the 'puter which is otherwise normally speedy without that bloated piece of crapola Anti-Virus.

I guess my concern is that I don't want to pay $80+ for another piece of bloatware...I think a few years ago we had Norton oh god what a waste of resources. And IM-POS-SIBLE to remove when we were finished with it.

Any reccs? We have symantec on the other laptop which works fine, but didn't know if anyone had any other recs

[old mark]

7. COMODO. Started using it several months ago - works great

and is actually free-does not ask for a "donation" before you can download. Google it, get it only from the COMODO site.
I use their Anti Virus and their firewall, both free.

mark

[elocs]

9. Avira. It's highly recommended and I use it myself.

http://download.cnet.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html

[FedUpWithIt All]

10. Avira AntiVir. It has a great free version.

I have been using it for about 7 years without (knock on wood) a single issue.

[TroglodyteScholar]

11. Avast is the best one I've come across, and totally free

It updates frequently, but it will do so automatically without slowing down anything else you're doing. I've been using it for several years and never had any problems.

[Common Sense Party]

12. Avast is working well for me so far.

Much less obnoxious that MacAfee.

[TrogL]

13. Spybot search and destroy, malwarebytes

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. I am happy with Avast.....which I use along with NoScript and Adblock.

on my 2001 XP with Firefox.
I had Spybot and liked the layout, but the real time function was horrible to work with.
Avast realtime " Resident Protection" does not slow things down too much, the program is easy and I have been getting updates several times a week.
I must say that NoScript and careful browsing seem to be a huge help.

And I never ever never ever ever open my IE broswer. Ever.

[Duer 157099]

15. Comodo Internet Suite - AV, Firewall, Anti-Malware

Best I've used so far. And free.

[mwooldri]

16. Who is your Internet Service Provider and do they provide you with anti-virus?

If you're with RoadRunner they supply you with CA Security Suite, which is pretty decent.

AVG is good but slow. Getting as bad as Norton I'm afraid and Norton is just craptastic these days.

Avira Antivir and Avast! are good ones in the "free" variety.

In terms of "cheap" - definition of cheap is yours, but Bitdefender at $30/yr or better at $40/yr - I'd go with them because their product does work well. Kaspersky's works good but is not cheap - $60/yr or more.

If you want another solution check out ubuntu.com and install their flavour of Linux. There won't be any real virus problems to mess with (I dont run antivirus and the one virus I got was an annoyance and easily deleted). Antivirus exists for Linux, yes because they are there. However when deployed they usually go to work in a mixed environment, removing the viruses and worms before they get to a Windows based machine.

Mark

[Critters2]

17. I have Avast on my desktop, and Comodo on my laptop.

Both work well, so far. Avast doesn't let you do two downloads of the free version, hence the Comodo. I like that Comodo has a firewall and malware. But so far, I've had no problem with either program.

[hobbit709]

18. Sounds like the slow part is something else going on

That's more like a bogged down system than the antivirus.