Hey all, I'm building a new rig and with ofcourse I'll need to pick up a anti-virus. So I'm wondering what the best free anti-virus is. I use AVG at the moment on my current PC nothing has got through it etc, but I'm told AVG is now out dated and I should move onto something else. So what would you guys recommend for a free anti-virus? Thanks in advance.
no totally best anti virus, current most recommended are Avast, Avira or MSE, i personally use Avast as i dont like the pop ups on Avira and MSE has recently had a few bad results on AV comparatives (this is the only site i have found which is funded by a government (Australian) and not by the Anti virus company 'business partners', so i believe it is pretty independant) although the big note on this is that AV comparatives latest tests have been done on Avast 5 and not the latest version Avast 6, so this could change if Avast 6 ends up being a duff release when tested properly
+1 for Avast. I was in the same position as you re AVG (after using it for many years). Had a look and tried a few different ones before settling on Avast. I would suggest trying a few before making your final decision.
I switched to Avast when AVG got bloated and annoying a while back. I tried Avira briefly but preferred Avast, but they both seem pretty good.
MSE. Having tried all of the above and had minor issues with them I have switched backed to MSE. Reasonable detection rate and FPs and doesn't ever ever interupt gaming unlike others can.
Used to use AVG, but it seemed to go downhill after it went to 9, or something Then tried a couple, am using avira antivir atm, tis good, popups can be annoying, but I don't tend to really notice them. Tried avast for a while aswell, very good, haven't tried MSE
Thanks for those responses. I'll look into both Avast and MSE, and decide which I want from there. Thanks all for your input.
Has Avast still got the jingle and Stephen Hawking voice telling you that you're updated? I can live with Avira's popups, especially when they advertise the special deals for Xmas/Anniversaries. Once you've bought it you only get the smaller popups telling you the update's happened or blocking dodgyware. On an offer I paid 13 quid or so for a family (3) licence, so that's it now, every PC is done. I did give MSE a go back when I still had Vista, it was reasonable but went back to what I knew on my main PC.
Started using MSE and havent used anything else since that. Its very light weight and never bothers you. There is even 64 bit version. I would rather run no AV than using something that slows my rig up.
Another vote for MSE here. I think it came out on top of a group test of even commercial, paid for apps recently. Oh, here we are: http://lifehacker.com/5401453/stop-...ity-microsofts-security-tools-are-good-enough
Well if the others take more room etc and slow down my PC speed, I'll take up the MSE. I do hate it when AVG scans, and it slows my entire PC down.
This topic's been coming up sooo often lately... + for MSE. I've abandonned everything else, there's just no need.
Another one for Avast! here. Just switch it on Silent/Gaming Mode and it takes care of itself. You also get an Avast! screen saver, which does a virus scan when the computer is idle...not much use to me, but maybe for some. I also found switching Avast! off while gaming improved performance a reasonable amount. Just remember and turn it back on after.
Another anti-virus thread? Well, MSE is the one for me. I used to use AVG, but it grew into bloatware. Microsoft designed and coded Windows, surely they know what the potential pitfalls are? MSE is light, fast and silent.
