Anti virus alternatives

stefano

I have been gifted a Dell Inspiron Mini 10v, which waas preloaded with McAfee free for3 months. It has now come to an end, and I was debating whether to install AVG or Avast.
Which would be the best for a Windows XP Home?
And will I have to uninstall McAfee first?

Your technical expertise is greatly appreciated.

The_Grandmaster

Don't use AVG (even the one months free trial of internet security). I had tried and the google checking thing didn't work thus catching a few Trojan horses and to top it off AVG could do nothing.

I don't know about Avast personally but I'm using Avira at the moment and I'm more than happy with it especially as it removed the trojan AVG couldn't!

However do ask others for their opinions too - I'm contemplating buying norton internet security as it's all in one security - although it does slow the computer down....

You need to unistall the mcaffee: from the control panel and as it still leaves bits behind so make sure it doesn't by downloading this http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe and the link is from the website: http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507.

Also I think malwarebytes is worth adding too as a spware scanner. What are people's thoughts on Lava-Soft? (I think it's called) or are there better?

Sput2001

There are hundreds of threads about this.

For anti-virus then MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) is probably as good as it gets for a freebie, and it outperforms some paid-for versions, too. Avira and Avast are generally well-regarded, and AVG is much better than it was a couple of years ago.

Malwarebytes is essential.

home_alone

Avast is the better, I had Avg for many years but a recent update caused problems so I changed to Avast. Avast is better at catching bugs and updates itself daily. Just my opinion

tweeter

I use Avast and A-squared which is free when I have to use Windows, which is not very often. My friend pays for F-Secure, and his computer sprang back to life when I ran A-squared, deleting a couple of Trojans along the way.

stefano

The_Grandmaster wrote: »

... I'm using Avira ... as it removed the trojan AVG couldn't!

Is Avira free to download?
And can Avast and A-squared run together?

aliEnRIK

AVIRA and AVAST are the main 2 id recommend (Both free ~ look on FILE HIPPO)

I wouldnt bother with a squared myself. use MALWAREBYTES as a secondary scanner

marleyboy

Was going to suggest Avira myself, it has to be one the best FREE apps I have come across.
I would strongly recommend you completely uninstall Mcafee first before you install another Virus scanner.

stefano

Will Avira update automatically, as AVG and Avast used to do, or will I need to update manually?
And what about scanning? Manual or automatic?

sillygoose

I have used Avira for a long time and its always kept me clean. The free version does updates automatically at the small cost of a nag (advert) screen popping up once a day when it does.

You used to be able to 'knobble' the actual nag screen program but recent updates have made it difficult, as if Avira thinks its been messed with it will repair itself and nag you to keep rebooting.

I found a simple solution, a small free program called ClickOff that sits in your tray, when the nag screen next appears just select it and press ctrl-alt-D and ClickOff will close it and learn to close it automatically from then on so you can forget about it.

The program can also be used to close any other windows that annoy you on other programs in the same way. Screenshot on authors site is German but program has English option during install.

Sublime_2

Avast. MSE is good too.