Freeware Or Paidware Anitvirus Program?

[doudou 0]

The thing about freeware is that you can’t have all you need (anti-virus, spyware removal and firewall) in one software. Most freeware offers a component of their service for free. Personally I’ve had AVG, Spysweeper and Zonealarm that covered all bases for over three years now and haven’t had any problems yet. If you don’t want the hassle of downloading and installing three separate software and don’t mind spending a few dollars a month, by all means purchase a software.

[XIII 0]

The thing about freeware is that you can’t have all you need (anti-virus, spyware removal and firewall) in one software. Most freeware offers a component of their service for free. Personally I’ve had AVG, Spysweeper and Zonealarm that covered all bases for over three years now and haven’t had any problems yet. If you don’t want the hassle of downloading and installing three separate software and don’t mind spending a few dollars a month, by all means purchase a software.

 

Yeah, freeware doesn't give you the maximum power, some just scans and tell you to buy thier software in order to remove the infected files "a cheat which i hate", even they don't do that, they will not give you the power you need.

Personally when i use microsoft holes "windows at past" i use Zone Alarm Security Suite, it's the best one i think, gives you an anti-virus, anti-spyware and a very good firewall, it's not so expensive and it gives you the maximum power to control the contents which get into or out from your pc, i really prefer it to any other software, it doesn't require you to make a new subscription every year like Norton which makes you unable to update your defentions till you pay more money, i prefer paid solutions, but i hate those who force you to pay.

[manofgames 0]

I don't use paid antivirus.I use AVG FREE.It does the job, gets it done, no hassle.they don't charge me and I haven't had any Virs'.Whereas when I had Norton.... IT wasm't as good, kept pestering all the tinme, telling me that stuff id downloaded (which was reputible) was actually a virus!!!When my subscription to them Expired, I changed over to Grissoft.Go Grissoft

Edited October 11, 2006 by manofgames (see edit history)

[Lee-Programmer 0]

That list above is beatiful. Just beautiful.Anyways, I'd agree to AVG Free Edition. It's free and light weight (i.e. not taking up much system memory). It is nice and the restrictions to it (Just the scheduler which is complete in Professional Version) does not bother me much. It does not nag me much at all (reminding me to get paid editions). It's virus detection is good and responsive. The only disadvantage I'd say is that it is not really as fast as Norton, which would be a pain if you have a large HDD. Otherwise, I like it.Paidware, Freeware, what really matters is it's overall aspect. That's more important.

[foolakadugie 0]

I have been using the free Avast anitivirus and it seems to be working fine.Before I used Norton, but then it expired and I didn't want to pay the money to update it. Not only that, but norton was large and hogged my resources. I barely notice avast. It doesn't hog my memory and it seems to work just fine. It catches things before they are even downloaded much of the time. Also it does not have annoying notifications about buying their paid software. It's worked great. It has audio event notifications (updating, found virus, etc) that are a little annoying cheesy but that can easily be changed.Before I got avast I tried Avira and it went crazy! I would crash my computer upon loading windows. It flooded me with notifications continually until my computer crashed. So, I can't reccomend that one to anyone. It was a mess. It caused more problems than it solved.

[sparkx 0]

I use freeware and I kill viruses. (along with my own not published anti-virus programs I have also noticed some quit nice free ones). To set up you computer to find and kill virus's NEVER buy some anti-hack thing. You get better results with Ad-aware SE personal than you get from norton. And its way faster! If you still have viruses just get windows defender beta 2. And if you think your computer is just dead for life, get Stinger, it "KILLS" and I mean terminates the 55+ most common trojans, worms and other stuff (all of which have a danger rating of 10/10 from Ad-aware. Don't believe me? Try them out if you want.

Ad-Aware SE Personal
URL: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
Maker: Lavasoft
Free: Yes with some pay options

Windows Defender 2
URL: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/default.aspx
Maker: Microsoft
Free: Yes but its just a beta

Stinger
URL: http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/stinger.aspx
Maker: McAfee
Free: Yes

[iGuest 3]

I got year of bitdefender with my computer, so im usin it at the moment.But if that year ends im gonna use freeware.

[Netwalker 0]

I use the free version of AVG at the moment. I'm quite happy with it (dutch guy + free & good AV = happy dutch guy ).

Edited February 18, 2007 by Netwalker (see edit history)

[delivi 0]

I use AVG 7.5 Anti Virus Free Edition, this is the best anti virus I've come across. It has all the features we need and consumes less resources.I've also used Avast Free edition and Norton Anti virus OEM

[iGuest 3]

I use avast anti-virus . It has all features like a paid one . Moreover its real time protection is very nice . It also updates automatically . Registration for home use is a simple process . Just give your name + some information and your email . You will receive a email with license key . It will be valid for a year . Within that year you get all program updates + av updates , then no problem register again after a year and get a new license key . Also it doesn't slow OS start up speed .

I am getting all the features that paid ones offer the why should I go for a paid one .

[.:Brian:. 0]

Well I have tried a number of different Antivirus programs....I have used Norton, avg, and McAfee products...Of all of them, I have to say that I used to be impressed with Norton due to its ability to keep the system relatively stable (from a resource standpoint), in that it didn't use a ton of system resources. However, in their newest version I have found that it appears to use up more resources than I would like (particularly at system startup). Going from taking 30 seconds to start my computer to 5 minutes isn't exactly what I had in mind. But once the system is started, it seems to keep resource usage to a minimum.McAfee I have found to be very intrusive at times, especially with its insistence on automatic updates. When you have it installed on an older system (400Mhz) the constant checks for updates bring the computer to a crawl for a couple minutes at a time. Yet, the system can't seem to let you disable them (as soon as you do, they seem to enable themselves again).AVG I found to be ok, however it didn't exactly have the nicest looking interface. Other than that it was ok, although I am more likely to trust a company such as McAfee or Symantec with their reputation, than AVG.

[issdiscovery04 0]

I personally like using Avast, PC Chillin, ZA, or AVG pro. Right now i'm using AVG pro. (It's great to know people who have unused 100% legal keys for software.)As for Symantec, Symantec has arguably the one of the worst track records in the antivirus market. I've tested all sorts of antivirus programs in the past and all Norton did was install a bunch of other utilities and detect only about half of the viruses i intentionally introduced to my system. AVG and ZA caught all of the viruses.

[Grafitti 0]

Right now i switched to Bitdefender 10. It's not a huge hog, and quite efficient at catching stuff. I was a huge fan of NOD32 because of their detection rate, miniscule memory footprint and blazing speed, but it failed me on two recent ones. The Ravmon.E virus, which even the free AVG caught, and the Brontok.C worm, which again, AVG free caught, and NOD32 didn't notice a thing. So after those two viruses infected my entire network, I decided to switch to something else.

[Adam Roethburg 0]

I use AVG Free (Antivirus), Spybot S & D (Antispyware) and ZoneAlarm (Firewall).. and IT ROCKS!