Hey all. After many eons of using AVG as an anti virus it seems they have decided to start charging for it and since im a poor student i want an alternative. Has anybody got any recommendations of free virus scanners?
I'm sure the free version is still available, and supported with updates just as it always has been. See the AVG Free Edition Website. I think they have possibly just hidden it away on their main site so its a bit more difficult to find.
ahhh so it is still free. The description made it out to be a 30 day free trial but i guess thats to try get people to buy it. Cheers for the link. EDIT: However is AVG actually the best free one out there? I havent tried any others as AVG worked first time and ive never had reason to doubt it.
i used to use antivir xp which picked up on things other such as AVG, ad-aware and spybot didnt. Also, try microsoft antispyware, its free and picks up on pretty much anything
I used to use AVG, but moved to avast! antivirus and I'm not going back. Is still free, although requires registration on their site. Can't fault it, finds all sorts and doesn't mind being turned off at service level.
I have to agree with the advise about using microsoft anti spyware. I have been using it for a few months now and havn't picked up one bit of spyware
well thats strange, because ive been using it since it was called giant antispyware and its always done the job for me; although admittedly it doesnt pick up on EVERYTHING, then again what does?
I find it both annoying and amusing that Ms took over Giant's antispyware program and then fudged it up so it would no longer work with Win9x thus giving them one more method of forcing people to their latest OS'. Anyway AVG is still free but their site is poorly laid out and unclear. They do a PRO version you can pay for and it is this that you get on a trial basis, after the trial expires it becomes the basic free version which is all you need anyway. There's no need to register nor supply an email address as was needed on previous versions. The biggest gripe IMHO is that the free version won't update from a downloaded file so if you have more than 1 PC then each has to seperately and wastefully download the same updates. As said Avast and AntiVir are worthy competitors so if AVG began charging there's alternatives so no need to pay.
Yes it will. AVG7 Free asks you when you first install whether you want to update from file or from online. AVG6 didn't.
most clued up academic institutes have licenses for virus scanners that everyone can have a copy off (at reading.ac.uk its macafee). My parents buisness, have Sophos on the 5 pc network, but each memeber of staff has a (cut down, not as easyly managed by the PDC version) copy for their home PCs, the idea been, stop them bringing hte nasties in. So check for things like that you might be intitled to.
I've been using AVG since V6 and have been using the latest V7 since it came out many months ago. It does have the option to update from file but it never seems to work, IIRC it did with V6. I seem to rem reading somewhere you need the PRO variety of V7 in order to update from a file ... or perhaps if you have more than 1 PC?
Ive used avast and it was pretty good and small it wasnt a resource hog like any of the buyers like norton or macfee. Although right now i use ez armor and antivirus as i got it for free from my isp and it works damn nice has everything built in. so i dont have to have 10 processes running to protect my computer. Just 2
