Freeware Or Paidware Anitvirus Program?

[Kushika 0]

People generally say that it's better to buy Antivirus programs instead of using free ones. But personally I find Norton a bit worse then some of the freeware out there. I used to use a priated version of a paid AV which mean I didn't have to pay, but it soon degraded and didn't work as well as the paid version. The most annoying thing is that once I had a problem when I tried to install panda Platinum while Norton was running. The result ended up dreadful and I had to do a system restore. It would be nice to share your opinions on this. Which do you think is better -- freeware or paidwar of AVs? And which do you use? Justa random post of mine....

[silent_ 0]

I think free can be better depending on the antivirus. Paid doesn't always mean better but i like free antiviruses mainly because 1) there free and 2) the ones I download do work and protect my computer from viruses.

[kgd2006 0]

From what I hear an free anti virus program is not as safe, because it dont fully protect your computer from lurking viruses such as some viruses that are embeded in MEDIA PLAYERS or IMAGES itself. The free anti viruses I have seen only protects you from FILES coming to your computer and so forth. But I dont think it protects you from hidden viruses. I would personally go with a INTERNET SECURITY ANTI VIRUS program, and if you find a free one your better off with that than any regular virus program. Catching a virus on the internet is very very annoying. So its better to be safe than sorry...

[carny gal 0]

I'm one who uses both AVG Free and Panda Titanium, which I pay for.I used to use Norton because it came installed on my new computer but I didn't like it because it was hard to configure with my Anti Spyware programs which I also use. And, I just didn't personally find it easy to use.My Panda is the greatest. Has firewall, antispyware and even detects viruses before they are defined.If you pay for 3 years at a time, it is very reasonable as well.

[Asaf 0]

I use Bitdefender with its firewall and everything it's a blast!

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

I use Bitdefender with its firewall and everything it's a blast!

Finally - someone who uses the same AV as me.. I tell you BD is a master blaster. Although it's a paid AV - the subscription is only $24 in an year - which is hardly anything considering the amount of security it provides you.. And now, to top it all - BD Pro 9 AV Scanner engine recently got upgraded to scan/stop Spyware too. It's double security for the price of one - not to forget the cool and extremely easy to use firewall that comes bundled with it.

[Asaf 0]

Finally - someone who uses the same AV as me.. I tell you BD is a master blaster. Although it's a paid AV - the subscription is only $24 in an year - which is hardly anything considering the amount of security it provides you.. And now, to top it all - BD Pro 9 AV Scanner engine recently got upgraded to scan/stop Spyware too. It's double security for the price of one - not to forget the cool and extremely easy to use firewall that comes bundled with it.

Ya! I bought it last year and I have it a year already and my computer hasn't got hacked by anyone and I didn't get any viruses! It even found spyware which my anti spyware programs didn't find!

[iGuest 3]

Guys or gals, could anyone of you please help me download a very good but free anti-virus with anti-spyware and firewall. But there is catch all should be in one unit (i.e. should be one package). Please help me as I am running my computer which is connected to the internet without any kind of defense. I tried panda, but the problem is that it makes my computer's boot speed very slow, and that is the last thing I can compromise.

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Guys or gals, could anyone of you please help me download a very good but free anti-virus with anti-spyware and firewall. But there is catch all should be in one unit (i.e. should be one package). Please help me as I am running my computer which is connected to the internet without any kind of defense. I tried panda, but the problem is that it makes my computer's boot speed very slow, and that is the last thing I can compromise.

 

Oh man - you're asking for a LOT If you were looking only for an AV, I'd recommend AVG Free Edition. But I don't know of any one bundled software that's going to offer all that to you for free. I think your best bet is to install individual free softwares - like AVG Free (Antivirus), Spybot S & D (Antispyware) and ZoneAlarm (Firewall)..

 

But if you're willing to shell out around $24 per year - which converts to about INR 1080 per year, then I highly recommend you to use BitDefender Pro 9 ( http://www.bitdefender.de/ ) - which gives you all three of these in an indomitable bundle Think about it, for about INR 90 per month - you're getting state-of-the-art protection for your computer in every which way. Go for it dude..

[iGuest 3]

Oh man - you're asking for a LOT If you were looking only for an AV, I'd recommend AVG Free Edition. But I don't know of any one bundled software that's going to offer all that to you for free. I think your best bet is to install individual free softwares - like AVG Free (Antivirus), Spybot S & D (Antispyware) and ZoneAlarm (Firewall)..

 

But if you're willing to shell out around $24 per year - which converts to about INR 1080 per year, then I highly recommend you to use BitDefender Pro 9 ( http://www.bitdefender.de/ ) - which gives you all three of these in an indomitable bundle Think about it, for about INR 90 per month - you're getting state-of-the-art protection for your computer in every which way. Go for it dude..

Aaaaaa...thank you sir for your advice I actually went-up, downloaded it and bought it.

Thanks a lot anyway

[kns_87 0]

I use AVG free antivirus, its always being updated and small proggram. I really recommend it, go pick it up over at downloads.com, can't hurt to try, and honestly it's worth money. Always nice to get somethin free tho

[iGuest 3]

I use the free AVG (for Windows) from grisoft too. http://www.avg.com/de-de/free-antivirus-download. It does an acceptional job, and hopefully with the merge/aquisition of ewido, it'd help remove spyware too, though I never like ewido that much and prefer alternative spyware programs.

The only reason you would possibly go for paid Antivirus programs is for the support, it's not because they are better as in some cases they've been proven to not rate as well as they should for their cost, also they are more likely to be targetted because they seem to be more popular.

I've made people switch to different antiviruses because there protection was not as good as it should be, and because some take up too much resources and can make their computers run slow.

I still think free AVG is quite good, but you can't rely solely on it to protect you, you still have to have common sense. Another thing which is important is that AVG can still run in safe mode, others can't, which is also a big thing.

Cheers,


MC

[finaldesign1405241487 0]

I used AVG and it worked fine. But I found that Avast is pretty good also. Im running it on 4 computers at office, and really have no problems with them.The only thing that left's is to clean the spyware that users collects while browsing the web... Avast has free home eddition, that updates daily, with newest virus definitions.. (https://www.avast.com/de-de/index)

[Hraefn 0]

Paidware? Is that even a word? Well, I guess it is. =^^=

 

Anyway, I personally disagree with the statement that because a software is commercial, it has to be better that the alternative. I get the impression that some people think that the programmers who work on freeware just aren't as skilled or as dedicated as those who are paid to develop software. On the contrary! Frankly, there are a lot of freeware and opensource software floating around that are just as good as (or in a few cases, even better than) their commercial counterparts. Case in point: Linux vs Windows. =^^=

 

Don't mistake me; it's not that I'm saying that there's anything wrong with commercial software. I realize that with commercial programs, what we're actually paying for is the support. Not to mention that some of those programs can look really sexy. But really, a lot of the stuff we get for our money is just fluff â pretty, but altogether useless. The real appeal of commercial software is, in my opinion, the low learning curve required of them. Most commercial software is aimed at your average point-and-click users, after all. For people who generally have money to burn and can't be bothered to expend extra effort to be a bit more "hands-on", then commercial software is the way to go. =^^=

 

Freeware generally requires a modicum of understanding about your computer and how things work. Hence the somewhat steeper learning curve when compared to most commercial products. Frankly, I think that's a good thing. It's always been my opinion that if you're going to use a computer, you might as well learn as much as you can about it. No sense having to call for tech support for every little hiccup â not unless you have some very deep pockets. Heck, I do my own computer maintenance, for myself and my relatives, and we've saved a lot of money on problems that the average user would have to shell out $$$ for. =^^=

 

Anyway, on the topic of what software I use, well, I use AVG Free Antivirus, Spybot Search & Destroy, Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, Spyware Blaster and ZoneAlarm firewall. I also regularly check my system with HiJackThis! for any stuff that might have gotten through. If something really nasty breaks through that can't be removed by the aforementioned software, I usually just go and remove it manually using whatever specific removal techniques apply. It's never really a big deal for me, because I consider the money I've saved to be well worth the time I spend on maintenance (which really isn't much, considering).

 

By the way, for anyone wanting to know just what other alternative freeware products there are for your PC's security, here's an incomplete list:

 

AntiVirus

AVG Free Edition

a2 Free

AntiVir

Avast Home Edition

BitDefender Free Edition

eTrust EZ Armour

Adware/Spyware Detection & Removal

Lavasoft Ad-Aware

Spybot Search & Destroy

Adware/Spyware Prevention

IE-SPYAD

Javacool Spyware Blaster

Firewalls

Kerio Personal Firewall

Sygate

ZoneAlarm

Miscelleneous

HiJackThis! (Note: HJT is an advanced tool and should only be used with help from someone knowledgeable about system hijackers.)

[Grafitti 0]

Ah, that is a great list. On the freeware list, though, what about ClamAV? i've heard it's good, but not willing to try it out on my system. I use commercial, but that's only because i'm a NOD32 fan. If they were free i'd be real happy but whether or not i'll stick with them. They're more on the high side though, a bit expensive, but IMO worth it. Definitely not Norton. Anything is better than norton. Even Mcafee i'm not so fond of, as it let some things through when i used it. NOD's only downside, is that it doesn't come with a Firewall or Spyware Cleaner. But you can't always have everything you want...