We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Which Virus Protection?

Hi

I have had Norton AntiVirus for about the last 4 years and it's done okay for me, but I was just wondering if there were any cheaper or free versions out there? Any ideas please?
Premier League Baby!
«1345

Comments

  • RichardJW1
    RichardJW1 Posts: 89 Forumite
    I found Norton to slow down the computer so went over to NOD32, have been delighted with it after 2 yrs with no serious infections......also I hear AVG is good
  • aliEnRIK
    aliEnRIK Posts: 17,741 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    AVG is awful

    If your going to pay then buy KASPERSKY (Cheap at ebuyer)

    If free go for AVIRA or AVAST (I use Avira myself)

    Use MALWAREBYTES as a secondary scanner
    :idea:
  • isofa
    isofa Posts: 6,091 Forumite
    NOD32 is very good as is Kaspersky, however free Avira is hard to beat with Avast coming in second, AVG a very lowly third!
  • HappyIdiotTalk
    HappyIdiotTalk Posts: 1,443 Forumite
    My personal preference is Kaspersky. It has a very good looking and easy to use interface, great detection rate and it doesn't pester you every five minutes with irritating warnings and please upgrade me rubbish. Amazon are currently selling a 3 user licence on Kaspersky Internet Security Suite for 18 quid, this includes the antivirus, firewall, adware scanner and email spam protection. Bargain!
    SIMPLE SIMON - Met a pie man going to the fair. Said Simple Simon to the pie man, "What have you got there?" Said the pie man unto Simon, "Pies, you simpleton!"
  • It is the case of pays your money and see what you get. AVG has been regarded as the best "free" version around (Which magazine rate it). The draw back for a free version, is that you will not get the benefit of everything, a paying version can give you. A purchased version may entitle you to support from the manufacture both in terms of virus help (updates and investigations)
  • isofa
    isofa Posts: 6,091 Forumite
    It is the case of pays your money and see what you get. AVG has been regarded as the best "free" version around (Which magazine rate it). The draw back for a free version, is that you will not get the benefit of everything, a paying version can give you. A purchased version may entitle you to support from the manufacture both in terms of virus help (updates and investigations)

    This is a case of not reading Which for technical reviews: AVG was once at the top of the pile of free-scanners, probably 2 years ago, but nowadays it has a poor detection rate, a heavy resource footprint, and doesn't get good reviews in any of the IT press, nor comparative reviews. Avira normally comes out on top, with some saying Avast is better, both are miles ahead of AVG.

    Avira is my choice for freebies, it's fast, small and excellent.

    All of these I mention are free. All the free scanners give full free updates almost daily.
  • fayraz
    fayraz Posts: 625 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Avira or Avast for me!
  • My free McAfee runs out today after free with new dell laptop.
    I have just downloaded Avira after reading this thread. Not very technically minded - do i have to run it myself everyday or does it do something itself ??

    Thanks !
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    Uninstall McAffe. Install Avira. You'll probably have at least one reboot and possibly two. Avira will automatically update the virus database each day.

    I just tried it in place of Avast and it gave a false positive on a program I know to be sound and use daily so I binned it out and went back to Avast but it looked simple enough.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    My free McAfee runs out today after free with new dell laptop.
    I have just downloaded Avira after reading this thread. Not very technically minded - do i have to run it myself everyday or does it do something itself ??

    Thanks !

    You can schedule it to run when you want, daily, weekly etc.
    NB: you must remove McAfee completely before you install Avira, or it will most likely conflict with it. You shouldn't have 2 AV's installed at once.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 616.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.6K Life & Family
  • 253.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.