Computers and Peripherals - Virus protection

Are any of you folks finding the free virus protection
getting more and more difficult

Which one are you using? I was having problems with AVG, so I uninstalled it and switched to Avast and haven't had any problems since, and in fact, I don't have to do anything with Avast, it does it all for me. :thumbup:

there are still plenty of good free programs out there for fixing problems that you find, or being diligint about scanning everything. The one major hole of all Free programs is real-time protection.

That said, I think Panda might still offer one, but I am not sure. There is Avast, Avira and AVG and... hmm, that's all I can recall at the moment and they all seem to start with the letter A for some reason.

Shadeladie - what problems did you have with AVG?
I use it and it runs every morning without me doing anything. Sometimes I have a little trouble updating but I think that is a dial up issue. But then I'm not very pc savy - I might be having problems and too dumb to know it :D:eek::D

Mark, that was the problem I was having with it - couldn't update it and I have DSL. Kept getting error messages. Other people I know were having the same problem and someone suggested Avast, so switched to that. Haven't had any problem updating and no error message. It updates automatically every day and I haven't had to do anything.

sounds like you might have had the conficker worm. It does prevent you from updating anti virus programs. Another thing to check for is if you can update from Microsoft. It prevents that as well.

I use AVG and works great.

I am using PC Tools free edition

I had problems with AVG not updating, so I downloaded and installed a fresh version and it works fine now.

sounds like you might have had the conficker worm
No Nap, my computer is quite safe and virus/worm free, thank you. I'm VERY computer literate. :p
Windows is updated regularly with no problems. I'm able to get into any anti virus site and have not had any problems updating Avast or Spybot. The problem was with AVG.
I had problems with AVG not updating, so I downloaded and installed a fresh version and it works fine now.
Now you tell me, LOL! No problems with Avast, so I'm just gonna stick with that.

I have noticed that with AVG it sometimes doesn't update. I think that the reason is because they can only handle so many connections at one time. AVG attempts to connect, then times out. If you click on the update manually, and their server has an opening, then yes you will get the updates.

So far I have had no problems with AVG except that of the update now and then.

The question I have is.... Does Avast use a lot of resources when it is running in the background (similar to Norton and McAfee) or is it like AVG?

I had same problems with AVG it did work great for the longest time

Does Avast use a lot of resources when it is running in the background
I don't really know but it's more like AVG. It's no where near like Norton. I used to use Norton but switched to AVG (originally) because all the clicking and checking and slowness was driving me crazy! GI2 :D

just downloaded Avast to try. I can't address the background operations issue but I can say Avast found several trojan horses that apparently AVG overlooked.

Avast uses less resources in the background than AVG does. This is the primary reason I switched.

Hi.. :wave: Well.. AVG is what I'm using... So as my relatives.. No problem regarding AVG... And it works great.. No difficulties.. :wave:

I'm running Avast! on all of my computers. Works great. Never had a problem with it

just downloaded Avast to try. I can't address the background operations issue but I can say Avast found several trojan horses that apparently AVG overlooked.

I have decided to try Avast. Ran a scan and found nothing that AVG has missed. (Lucky I guess)

One difference with Avast and AVG is that you have to register every year with a new license if you use Avast, where as AVG is automatic.

As far as the background operations both antivirus programs do, I will have to wait that one out to compare the two.

Bottom line is that from what members here say both Avast and AVG are great antivirus programs. Both have a few quirks, and everyone has their own opinion on which they feel is best for them.

I personally find that if there is an antivirus program that doesn't bog the system down with it's background operations, and is kept up to date with the latest threats out there, then that would be the program to use. I have used Norton as well as McAfee. Both bog the system down. Both have great on-line support, but it is the daily use that concerns me. So far, both AVG and Avast have proven their stability.

Personally I use Cyberdefender. I installed it on my sytem and it even found some stuff that AVG didn't. I have been so pleased with Cyberdefender - It's easy to use and it works great!

I now have run Avast & uninstalled my old virus protection
I have run Avast on one of my laptops for 14 months now
only problem is I got a couple more computers I would like to run Avast on but I do not think I can do this..that is with the free version

My avast is installed on a few different computers. I don't have a problem with it

I have been using AVG without problems but it seems that AVG will no longer offer a free version.
Avast appears to get good reviews and I am wondering if this will become the freebie anti-virus of choice?

AVG still has the free version but they make it hard for you to download it :wall: I recently had my hard drive replaced which meant I had to reinstall AVG. I liked to never found the right page to get the free version but once I did - it was a piece of cake.

Here's the link to the free version, but it looks like it doesn't offer as much protection anymore. :thumbdn:
I use Avast and give it a thumbs-up. :thumbup: :D

AVG Free - Download Free Antivirus and Antispyware for Windows 7, Vista and XP (http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage)

I've never run a freebie virus protection, but I guess I'm very leery of anything that's free -- the old saying "you get what you pay for". I'd like to think the $90/year I'm paying for Norton Systemworks Premier is buying me something more than I can get for free. Plus the fact my employer, with all their highly paid IT people, subscribes to Norton for the thousands of computers we have in our agency makes me hope someone did a bit of research before settling on Norton.

One thing that frustrates me about Norton is that the annual renewal fees are much higher than going out and buying the latest version (with the usual rebates) and re-installing it. Why can't they give existing customers a bit of a break? Now I've noticed they're automatically charging my credit card for my renewals so I supposedly don't have to think about making any changes.

I've used Avast for many years now.Works great for me!

Tried AVG,NORTON,and McAfee went back to Avast.

AVG still has the free version but they make it hard for you to download it :wall: I recently had my hard drive replaced which meant I had to reinstall AVG. I liked to never found the right page to get the free version but once I did - it was a piece of cake.

I had the same problem when the update popup appeared. Never did get to the update to 9.0. I uninstalled it and loaded Avast. Works so much better, and in the background as well.

I had the same problem when the update popup appeared. Never did get to the update to 9.0. I uninstalled it and loaded Avast. Works so much better, and in the background as well.

I bought PC Tools Spyware Doctor & anti virus program
bought three copies at about 50 bucks to run on
three computers..so far so good but I do
believe Avast is probably about the best free stuff going today