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  1. #1
    DF VIP Member
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    Default Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Going to reformat and install Win8 on one PC's and Win7 on the other. Last post I can find on PC Antivirus is June 2011. A lot can change in that time. Good security is essential for everyone using the internet so should be in everyone's interests.

    Tried a few over the years. A few years back I used AVG but found it slowed the system down. Changed to Avast but that was slowing my downloads by half because it insisted on scanning every file. Could disable the option but it kept re-enabling itself. Currently have Avira on one machine but it pops up with annoying messages saying it has disabled autorun for security, even though autorun isn't enabled with me anyway. Got Comodo internet security on the other machine which seems fine at the moment... but is it the best. One annoyance is that Comodo won't let me disable the antivirus when I want to.

    Also running Spybot S&D on both machines which I have no complaints about, and also MalwareBytes which is ok but sometimes annoying in blocking websites that I know are not a risk.

    I would assume that quite a few of us here use our PC's for many similar downloading tasks and visit similar web sites. So in your opinion what is the best antivirus which has a good balance between security and not having to put up with annoyances. What else are using alongside the antivirus software. Fine tuning can also make a big difference so what are the preferences you have changed to make it work as you want; because if it works for you it will probably work for a large percentage of other forum members.

    Searching the web it seems that Avast is now highly rated by many review sites. As I said a lot can change in a couple of years so maybe I should give it another chance. Just thought I would ask here first to get an unbiased opinion. (">

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Microsoft Security Essentials + Malawarebytes
    "Where you are is what you eat. When I'm in London I'll have beans on toast for lunch. On holiday � what? Tapas? Go on then I'll have a bit. You eat whatevers in that area"
    Karl Pilkington

    Thanks to Nibb

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  3. #3
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    What he ^ said


    Sent From TapaTalk

    Thanks to littlebilly1

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  4. #4
    DF VIP Member akimba's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Quote Originally Posted by Nibb View Post
    Microsoft Security Essentials
    2nded ;-) AVG is like trying to catch water in a colander

    Thanks to akimba

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  5. #5
    DF Probation macmilm's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Exactly as above.... someone said to me which is true.... M$ should be the best people to try stop virus's on their own OS.. They should know it better than anyone else

    Thanks to macmilm

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  6. #6
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    always gone for avast myself (we use it at work) and had no problems, if you disable the scanning of secure NNTP then your downloads etc. should increase and avast will still catch any problems once the files are extracting

    not saying its the best solution but it works for me
    You know he grew up as a little shitspark from the old shitflint and then he turned into a shitbonfire and driven by the winds of his monumental ignorance he turned into a raging shitfirestorm. If I get to be married to Barb I'll have total control of Sunnyvale and then I can unleash the shitnami tidal wave that will engulf Ricky and extinguish his shitflames forever. And with any luck he'll drown in the undershit of that wave. Shitwaves.

    Thanks to Mystical_2K

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  7. #7
    DF VIP Member elephantsoup's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Quote Originally Posted by Nibb View Post
    Microsoft Security Essentials + Malawarebytes

    Since I stopped using NOD32 this has been my preferred choice.

    Thanks to elephantsoup

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  8. #8
    DF VIP Member
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Was considering Microsoft Security Essentials until I read this below. So would you disagree with this PC Pro review of Microsoft Security Essentials.

    True to its name, Security Essentials covers only the bare basics of malware protection. You might think that means less bloat slowing down your system, but in fact Security Essentials added 13 seconds to boot time and 125MB to our system’s RAM usage, making it heavier than some fully featured suites.

    Security Essentials updates its signature database only once a day, while many paid-for packages run to an hourly schedule. This may partly explain why it stopped only a shocking 67% of zero-day threats in AV-Test’s detection tests, and even missed 10% of more established threats. This isn’t what we’d call peace of mind.

    If you’re looking for free protection, consider Avast Free Antivirus instead: it’s a more lightweight program and provides much better protection.


    Source: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/softw...ity-essentials

    Maybe the review is correct and it's downfall is only with regard to malware protection. In that case running Malwarebytes alongside it makes sense. (">

  9. #9
    DF VIP Member rmj2663's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Quote Originally Posted by elephantsoup View Post
    Since I stopped using NOD32 this has been my preferred choice.
    Same here and never had a problem


    So far!

    Thanks to rmj2663

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  10. #10
    DF VIP Member Mr.James's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Quote Originally Posted by BigBird View Post
    Was considering Microsoft Security Essentials until I read this below. So would you disagree with this PC Pro review of Microsoft Security Essentials.

    "Security Essentials updates its signature database only once a day"
    Yeah, I'll call bullshit ;-)

    The virus definitions for Security Essentials were released to the update servers 3 times daily way, way before MSE was even released. Forefront Client Security, which was only available to Enterprises, used the same updates, and it's replacement, Forefront Endpoint Protection, uses them too.

    I believe that the number of definition updates may also have gone up since then too and may be as many as 10 now.

    Edit: No, just checked, still 3.

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    Last edited by Mr.James; 22nd March 2013 at 05:57 PM.

    Thanks to Mr.James

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  11. #11
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    I've used avast for years and it's never caused me any problems...no issues at all with downloading
    You see, TheThingIs, eventually you'll be all right!

    Thanks to TheThingIs

    BigBird (23rd March 2013)  


  12. #12
    DF Moderator EvilBoB's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    AVG has been redesigned and since then I've not had any problems with performance etc. It's all swings and roundabouts but I use AVG on all my PCs (except my server) and all is good.

    Been tempted to try out a different one for a while. Mainly for my gaming PC but AVG seems to do the trick for me.
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  13. #13
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    I used MSE up until it found my Windows 7 was questionable - it stopped updating and practically crippled my machine.

    Since then, Avast has been serving me well.


  14. #14
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    I'm not sure you can have a one size fits all virus protection. I only use MSE but then I'm unlikely to install random infected files which is my main protection.

  15. #15
    DF VIP Member Copex's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Avast!!

  16. #16
    DF VIP Member AD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Avast for me too

  17. #17
    DF VIP Member Clubber Lang's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    MSE and Spybot

  18. #18
    DF VIP Member Undertaker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Using NOD32

    But as the little one gets older I will add an untangle box to our home network....
    And maybe just have an esxi running with windows as a VM.

    All you need then is just a thin client.

  19. #19
    DF VIP Member consoles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    Microsoft Security Essentials + Malawarebytes + Pest Patrol

    Only in Britain….do we use the word “politics” to describe the process of Government. “Poli” in Latin meaning “many” and “tics” meaning “bloodsucking
    creatures”

  20. #20
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Which is Currently the Best Free Antivirus Available

    MSE has started to piss me off, often gobbles up all the CPU and brings my system to a halt and always finds the same virus at boot, which is also worrying. PC i am using is utter shit so I need something lighter. Will give one of these suggestions a pop.

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