Which free AV prog is best?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Francis Marsden
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Francis Marsden

Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus programs
is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
 
Francis Marsden a écrit :
Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus programs
is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
Click to expand...

No. Someone else said he prefers AVG, and personally I would choose
AntiVir. So it's best you download them all and see for yourself which
one you like best.

As far as detection rates are concerned, I trust AntiVir more than AVG
and if I remember correctly independent tests reflect this. I don't know
about Avast. There was a time when it was far from fabulous but it may
have changed in the meantime.
 
Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus
programs is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
Click to expand...

I've recently uninstalled Norton on two computers, installing AVG on my
laptop and the Avast on my desktop. I use the laptop much more, but think
I like Avast better; largely though for these reasons:

The AVG license appears to only allow a home owner to use it free on just
one computer, while Avast has no such limitation.

AVG lets you set a time for it to check for virus updates, but if your
machine is not up and running at that specific time, there does not appear
to be any automatic check. Since my laptop display is always shut when not
in use, this seems to pretty much elimidate the auto update. With Avast,
it appears to check each time the desktop is booted.

AVG will only check email attachments for specific email clients, such as
Outlook and OE, while Avast will work with any POP3 email check, which
allows the email check with Pegasus.
 
Francis Marsden said:
Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus programs
is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
Click to expand...
I've used both AVG and Avast for quite a long time for each. I think Avast
is dramatically better and much better written. AVG has always felt like a
real amateur piece of work to me.

Gregg C.
 
Francis Marsden said:
Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus programs
is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
Click to expand...

I don't think so...


....everyone has their favorites, and for their own reasons.

Try 'em ~ hey - they're free, and any one of them is better
than none at all.
 
Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus programs
is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]

Consensus? I doubt it. I used all three for over a year. I
finally chose Avast because I saw the biggest improvement in
it during that time. I nearly dropped AVG altogether, when
they finally re-programmed it and got rid of the huge updates.

I decided to keep AVG as one of my backups to Avast. I also own
EZTrust and have F-Prot for DOS. Everyone should have a DOS AV
handy. Windows AVs, firewalls etc, can be shutdown too easily.
Nothing against AntiVir but I feel four is sufficient, even for
the paranoid. :-)

I update all four AV's daily. An AV that isn't up-to-date isn't
much help. At one time I considered investing in KAV or NOD32 but
I found switching from IE/OE to Mozilla was a more cost effective
and secure alternative.

Safehex first, AV's second.

BoB
 
Tom McCune wrote:
[Snip]
AVG will only check email attachments for specific email clients, such as
Outlook and OE, while Avast will work with any POP3 email check, which
allows the email check with Pegasus.
Click to expand...
I don't believe that's true any longer.
AVG's "Universal" Email Scanner can be used with any POP3 client AFAIK.
I'm currently using it with Netscape mail and have previously configured it for
Eudora. Setup isn't very intuitive, though.

Tom
 
I don't believe that's true any longer.
AVG's "Universal" Email Scanner can be used with any POP3 client
AFAIK. I'm currently using it with Netscape mail and have previously
configured it for Eudora. Setup isn't very intuitive, though.
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to hear how you set it for Netscape/Eudora. I
downloaded AVG on 1/9, and don't see a way to do that. The Help file
states:

"Note: If you use a different e-mail program other than Microsoft
Outlook, the error message on the button will read 'Non-Functional',
because you are using an e-mail client not currently supported by AVG."

I put Avast on my wife's computer yesterday, and am not able to use the
email scanning there, because she uses a mccune.cc email address that is
forwarded to her RoadRunner box. We send email out through RoadRunner
with a From line showing the mccune.cc address, and Avast gives an error
message stating the SMTP server and From address have to match. This is
when incoming email is set to be scanned, even if scanning outgoing email
is disabled.
 
Tom said:
It would be interesting to hear how you set it for Netscape/Eudora. I
downloaded AVG on 1/9, and don't see a way to do that. The Help file
states:

"Note: If you use a different e-mail program other than Microsoft
Outlook, the error message on the button will read 'Non-Functional',
because you are using an e-mail client not currently supported by AVG."
Click to expand...

Tom,

If memory serves me, the universal email scanner is not part of the main
distribution file but rather is a seperate download - a "plug-in" of sorts, if
you will. Once you have obtained and installed this component I'd be glad to
help you configure it. The directions are not very straightforward and setup
can be a bit tricky. I have helped others with their Netscape setup by sending
screenshots of both my AVG and Netscape preference screens. Netscape is the
only email client that I currently have installed so I probably couldn't help
much with other clients. Doubtless someone else here could, though.

Free free to email me.

Tom G.
 
Francis said:
Is there a consensus about which of the following free anti virus programs
is best? : Antivir, AVG and Avast
Click to expand...

Keeps flipping around between the different companies. One might be
"best" by whatever standards you like when you buy it, and dead last 1
month later (or whenever your credit card statement arrives <G>). Any
is better than none, but don't rely on any to keep you safe while you
"click and drool".

Safe hex, dump IE and OE (delete them from your computer, don't just
not use them), and change the bindings per Art's web page (the one
with the "monkey" on it).
 
Tom,

If memory serves me, the universal email scanner is not part of the
main distribution file but rather is a seperate download - a "plug-in"
of sorts, if you will. Once you have obtained and installed this
component I'd be glad to help you configure it. The directions are
not very straightforward and setup can be a bit tricky. I have helped
others with their Netscape setup by sending screenshots of both my AVG
and Netscape preference screens. Netscape is the only email client
that I currently have installed so I probably couldn't help much with
other clients. Doubtless someone else here could, though.

Free free to email me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation. They must have it tucked away somewhere - I
can't find it, but maybe when I try aqain sometime.
 
Tom said:
"tgeer43[AT]yahoo[DOT]com" <"tgeer43[AT]yahoo[DOT]com"> wrote in

Tom,

If memory serves me, the universal email scanner is not part of the
main distribution file but rather is a seperate download - a "plug-in"
of sorts, if you will. Once you have obtained and installed this
component I'd be glad to help you configure it. The directions are
not very straightforward and setup can be a bit tricky. I have helped
others with their Netscape setup by sending screenshots of both my AVG
and Netscape preference screens. Netscape is the only email client
that I currently have installed so I probably couldn't help much with
other clients. Doubtless someone else here could, though.

Free free to email me.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the explanation. They must have it tucked away somewhere - I
can't find it, but maybe when I try aqain sometime.
Click to expand...
Tom,

I couln't find it on their site either but I have a copy of the plug-in archived
on my system. I tried to email it to you but after de-munging your email
address, my mail bounced anyway. Email me with a valid return email address if
you would like me to send the file to you. It's only 709K long.

Tom G.
 
Tom,

I couln't find it on their site either but I have a copy of the
plug-in archived on my system. I tried to email it to you but after
de-munging your email address, my mail bounced anyway. Email me with
a valid return email address if you would like me to send the file to
you. It's only 709K long.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer. I think I'll wait for now because I'm currently
using the free F-Prot (via virscan with Pegasus) for email scanning. Since
the only viruses I ever see, arrive via email, I like having this level of
double AV protection. I am placing Avast on other family machines due to
the AVG license restricting it to just one machine in the family (if my
read of the license is correct).
 
I like Avast or AntiVir but AVG messed my computer up
Click to expand...
I've used AVG from grisoft.com for over a year now on XP Pro. I've never
had a problem with the program, or the updates, & am virus free. It
doesn't slow my computer down, & it works well with all my other
programs.

I've put AVG on other machines that people have had programs that they
have paid for, & found &/or removed virus's.

I'm sold on AVG
 
This is the one I use (the free one.) Oddly it did not pick up the Trojan
dyfica.aa in my WinXP system restore folder when I ran a complete test. I
did however receive pop up messages from AVG saying that I was infected.

I was able to disinfect myself by following the tip posted by
(e-mail address removed)

Anyone remember the name of the software that stops programs from being
loaded in the first place? It began with "Spy."
 
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