I need a new Antivirus program.

[Blackrat]

Could someone recommend some good an preferably free AV program please?

My current one is soon running out of it's subscription and I am not pleased with it's performance so I really don't want to pay for another year again. I know there are good ones that are completely free, but being somewhat inexperienced with them, I'd like some suggestions.

The gripe I have with my current one is that it uses a lot of my computer's capabilities. I mean A LOT. It tends to slow the 'puter down pretty badly every 20 mins or so.

EDIT: So I've been looking at Avast... Could someone tell me how is it? Does it have that problem above? Does it actually do what it's supposed to?

 

[Evilusion]

Yes Avast works well. From what I can tell unless you are doing a full scan avast uses very little in the way of system resources. The one thing that did bother me was even though it is a free version you still have to register the program.

You can also try Free antivirus - Avira AntiVir , I have not used it personally but have heard good things about it.

Evilusion

 

[fba827]

I am using AVG AVG Free - Download antivirus and antispyware software for Windows XP and Vista
Admittedly, I liked the older version (from a year or so ago) of it better (it is more bloated now). Also, the free version is less real time active scanning and more 'daily scheduled scan' ( at which point the computer can be slow depending on what priority you give the scan) and also does scan on demand.
Having said all that, it works fine for me as I just have the scheduled scan happen during hours I'm not using it. And I really don't do much on my computer to warrant the need for more active scans.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Avast is what I put on many of the PCs I fix or put together, sometimes for money, and sometimes not, in the latter cases because they're friends or family.

So yeah, I'd recommend it. It doesn't seem to be particularly resource-hungry, though nor is it the least so. Having a dual core (or quad core) setup is nice, if you want to do a full scan and a few other things simultaneously.

The resident scanner modules and updating service seem to take up a total of less than 30MB, on the machine I'm currently using, and that's with settings typically aggressive and defensive (so to speak) for active internet use. I tend to dial things down when I'm either actually, or effectively, offline. So I guess even less memory and CPU attention would be taken up at those times.

Plus, the interface is nicer than those of most free AV apps. And hey - pirates! 'Nuff said.

Oh yeah, CPU usage: looks like the handful of modules idle at 0%, which is healthy and proper. When loading web pages, the web scanning module ticks over to 1%. Still pretty healthy, I'd say.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

After getting the Windows XP Antivirus malware on my computer, my more computer-savvy friend recommended Avast! for me. It has worked really well since then, and doesn't seem to slow my computer down much like certain other non-free antivirus programs (*cough* Norton *cough*). So, another recommendation for it.

 

[Zulithe]

I am a huge fan of Comodo personal firewall, and they recently launched their new Comodo Internet Security product, which includes Antivirus, Anti-malware and Firewall, all-in-one. All free of course (pay version is available, too.) I've been pleased with it so far. But I very very rarely get viruses, so YMMV

 

[Jan van Leyden]

You can also try Free antivirus - Avira AntiVir , I have not used it personally but have heard good things about it.

We have been running Avira for 5 years now on two different machines. In this time, we've had one false alarm which was corrected with an update within 3 hours. We had no virus coming through in this time, with some 100 viruses detected.

The automatic update procedure works reliably; the only annoying thing being the ad screen for the paid version, which is displayed after each update.

According tho the admittedly few tests I've read Avira's detection rate is very good.

 

[Blackrat]

Cool. Thanks guys. I think I'll indeed go for avast then.

 

[Psionicist]

Being the chief support guy for family and friends, I've become quite good at removing that "Antivirus 2009" malware. The SysInternals tools are invaluable, especially ProcessExplorer, RootkitRevealer, and Autoruns. I also like MalwareBytes Antimalware and Spybot S&D for cleaning up the computer, once the rogue processes and drivers have been killed.

These programs are of course mostly useful to remove the bad programs once they are installed, and not for proactive defense. Of the non-free programs, I've had quite good success with Kaspersky.

Of course, the best defense is to remove the common attack vectors, such as old browser plugins that may be exploitable.

 

[mps42]

I have used Avir and Avast and much prefer Avast. I even prefer it to AVG. So, another vote for Avast!