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Where can I get a free antivirus for my computer?

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Hi Leo,
What kind of problems were you encountering with Firefox? I've been using AVG Free for almost a year and I don't see any problems so far, but maybe I'm just missing them?
Thx.
Jon @ Wordout

Posted by: Jon at May 27, 2008 7:17 PM

I've heard both good and bad things about AVG. It works okay being free but now I run ESET Smart Security and it is excellent.

Posted by: Matt at May 27, 2008 8:22 PM

Hi Leo,
I think AVG suite 8.0 is a headache. I was happy with AVG anti-virus 7.5, before they merged both the anti virus and spyware programs together. I downloaded 8 because the auto update kept bugging me to.
I'm not sure if I had to manually uninstall v7.5 before installing v8.0, but I didn't do so, as I assumed the setup would do that for me (isn't this to be expected these days?). Halfway through install setup: blue screen!
It took me a day to fix the hard drive errors I kept encountering, "NTLDR is not found during bootup", I had to run the repair function from the XP install CD.
Ever since then I have had random Cyclic Redundancy Check failures from individual files within archived files, install files, downloaded files, and the like. Not all the time, but enough to drive me nuts.
I may be compelled to format once again. I tried re-installing AVG 8 suite again, but couldn't complete setup due to install errors. Right now it's only half installed, and I have tried installing Kaspersky anti virus as well, but have realised it is only a trial, so right now I have 2 anti virus programs half-installed on my PC.
Time for a format! Luckily I've kept my old AVG anti-virus 7.5 install file. Why change a good thing?
May I also add, I use Spybot 1.5.2 as my choice of anti-spyware program, and I must say it works quite well.

Posted by: Jason at May 27, 2008 8:28 PM

Jason it sounds like you have a defective hard drive more than a problem specific to AVG or any other software.

I have installed Anti-Vir on my computer, it is also free but generally I don't use it very much. I prefer to avoid having anti-virus software running in the background because it slows down the computer an awful lot and I don't see how a virus could get into my computer. Yes theoretically of course it could - with no security software running it is very easy to see how it could, I just don't believe it will. And I have done so for 5 years without any problem I believe the practical chance of getting infected by viruses, malware etc is decreasing.

Posted by: Eli Coten at May 28, 2008 4:44 AM

I've used AVG Free for 3 years now. I updated to 8.0 from 7.5 without uninstalling with no errors whatsoever, and have not had a problem with firefox either.

While the free version can seem limiting, I just remind myself it's free. And I can't argue with the results. AVG has caught viruses in testing that both Norton and McAfee missed.

Posted by: Ziggie at May 28, 2008 6:24 AM

AVG Free can be installed without the LinkScanner module. The procedure is outlined here:

http://free.grisoft.com/ww.faq.num-1241

This command line can be done to an existing installation and it will remove only the unwanted portion of the free version.

Posted by: Murray McNeill at May 28, 2008 7:08 AM

I have been using AVG 7.5 for a long while with no problems. The new version 8 was advertised and finally I rec'd a message that 7.5 would no longer be supported after June 1st/08. I downloaded and installed on 3 XP computers at home and had no problems. It removed 7.5 during install, and said that if I wanted to go back to 7.5, I would have to uninstall 8 and then reinstall 7.5. Why would I if they will no longer support it in a few days? I used to pay for Computer Associates but that started to cost major $ for 3 home computers, so after a lot of net research, decided on AVG and couldn't be happier! Runs great and I have have not been infected since using it, touch wood! I don't use a software firewall as my router is supposed to do that for me. Tried Zone Alarm and Comodo, they worked for a while, but after a reinstall of XP on 2 of 3 machines, I couldn't get my home network to run. So I removed them from all 3 computers and the network seems to work OK. Bottom line, I like AVG

Posted by: Ralph at May 28, 2008 7:05 PM

Go for AVG 8.0. It requires little amount of your system resources. Very fine with IE7. Any problem with the installation ? Do disk cleanup first, then defrag the HD. To test, do a full-scan. But as Leo said, "it's worth checking out and evaluating for yourself".

Posted by: mat at May 28, 2008 8:08 PM

I have to chime in for Avast here. I've run both avg and avast and I find the interface a little less complicated that AVG and I've had better luck removing viruses and, using active scanning, preventing them, in the first place with Avast.

Posted by: Mark at May 28, 2008 10:03 PM

And what about Avira AntiVir
http://www.free-av.com/en/products/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html

Posted by: James at May 29, 2008 6:54 AM
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