New 'Protect Your PC For Free: No-cost Anti-Virus and Other Software' discussion

mbailey

Why no mention of Avast in the latest article?

As I understand it the big 3 (excluding new Microsoft offering) are AVG, Avira and Avast?

Marty_J

mbailey wrote: »

Why no mention of Avast in the latest article?

And there's no mention of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware in the spyware section.

And, the article discusses Mac anti-virus apps briefly, then forgets Macs exist. There's no mention of them at other appropriate places such as the firewall or back-up sections. OS X comes with Apple's Time Machine backup software - recommending its users take advantage of it would seem to be good advice.

Either don't mention them, or do the job properly and follow through. Half-cocked advice can be worse than none at all.

As I understand it the big 3 (excluding new Microsoft offering) are AVG, Avira and Avast?

I would ditch AVG from the list and go with Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira AntiVir, and Avast.

espresso

Marty_J wrote: »

And there's no mention of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware in the spyware section.



I would ditch AVG from the list and go with Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira AntiVir, and Avast.

Based on what?

Marty_J

espresso wrote: »

Based on what?

Based on AV Comparatives tests that show it to have a relatively poor detection rate, and slow scanning speed.

I guess there's room for four in the list if it'll make you happy.

nitr02007

Used AVG years ago - but switched when it was given a big update and became a system hog.

Tried Avira next - excellent - you can hack it to turn off the annoying ad popup - but it stopped updating on one of my Win 7 machines so I had to look for an alternative.

Now using Avast. I've got no issues with it at all. Does its job quietly and efficiently in the background.:T Recommended:T

Marty_J

nitr02007 wrote: »

Tried Avira next - excellent - you can hack it to turn off the annoying ad popup - but it stopped updating on one of my Win 7 machines so I had to look for an alternative.

This seems to be quite a common problem, and is the reason my Windows machines are now running Microsoft Security Essentials.

espresso

Marty_J wrote: »

Based on AV Comparatives tests that show it to have a relatively poor detection rate, and slow scanning speed.

I guess there's room for four in the list if it'll make you happy.

So what do these AV Comparatives tests tell you about Microsoft Security Essentials then? There are many on here who like to knock products that they have never actually used. Most readers on here want something that they can install and forget about, something that regularly updates automatically without problems etc. They are simply not interested in a couple of % points in comparative tests. The MSE webpage about free AV products is aimed at the masses not techies who want to argue the pros and cons of the various options available!

Marty_J

espresso wrote: »

So what do these AV Comparatives tests tell you about Microsoft Security Essentials then? There are many on here who like to knock products that they have never actually used. Most readers on here want something that they can install and forget about, something that regularly updates automatically without problems etc. They are simply not interested in a couple of % points in comparative tests. The MSE webpage about free AV products is aimed at the masses not techies who want to argue the pros and cons of the various options available!

AV Comparatives haven't tested MSE yet, but other reviews are very positive.

I used to use AVG, and I recommend it to others. However, I then switched to Avira to try it out, and it picked up a few things AVG missed. I was happy with Avira, and I then recommended it to people, who then subsequently installed it and found things AVG missed also.

Then, I ran into a problem with Avira whereby it failed to connect to the update servers which meant its definitions were constantly out-of-date. This problem also affected others, so it wasn't just my connection. The free version of Avira uses different update servers than the paid for version, which means its users get second class treatment.

So, I then tried out MSE. It's proven to be lightweight, unobtrusive, and it updates regularly without fail.

stphnstevey

I have a Virgin netgear Router - does anyone know if this has a built in firewall and how to check it's turned on?

Also, does anyone know a free antivirus software that supports Windows Me?

BillScarab

Netgear routers have a built in firewll and it's a good one.

To check it enter 192.168.0.1 into the address bar of you browser. That will take you to the router, the logonid is admin, no idea what the password will be though. t may say on the bottom of the router or in the documentation that came with it.

if you go to the WAN setup section it will have an option for 'disable spi firewall' so long as thatisn't ticked you're firewall is running.