Recommendations for a free antivirus program for 2012?

[Steve A.]

I've been using Avast! for the past few years and was happy with it. But the new version 7.0 is a real pain in the neck, blocking actions that I want to do on-line or off-line and if I turn off some of the new "features" it will nag me to reactivate them. I liked the lean and mean interface of the older versions which also did not use as much RAM.

Steve Ahola

P.S. Recommendations for paid programs would also be appreciated.

[JoeM]

I had a major problem with Avast and I'll never use it again.

[Zipslack]

Microsoft Security Essentials - it's okay (not great), free, and light on resources. It's actually not bad and mostly unobtrusive. I'm still using Avast, but I'm thinking of changing over because of the bloat and annoyances - if I wanted that, I would have stuck with AVG.

[JoeM]

Microsoft Security Essentials - it's okay (not great), free, and light on resources. It's actually not bad and mostly unobtrusive. I'm still using Avast, but I'm thinking of changing over because of the bloat and annoyances - if I wanted that, I would have stuck with AVG.

A client of mine who works with this kind of stuff recommended MSE too. Avast gave me 'false positives' and the software I use for work wouldn't load. Just about panicked with that happening.

[cjlectronics]

I like AVG and I've used the free version of AVG and liked the results. I liked it so much I ended up buying a license for it. Now, all of the computers in my home have AVG.

[DrGonz78]

In addition to any antivirus software I always have spybot installed and have SD Resident running to blacklist processes that could run. I find that SD Resident detects many changes that occur and only when I accept the changes will the processes work. I built this computer in 2003 and originally ran windows 2000. I am now running XP (since 2006) and find that spybot is still my choice as a companion to any antivirus. I have never had a virus in almost a decade. I thought I had one at one point but it turned out to be a faulty power supply that I caught just in the nick of time!!

I am only running 26 processes and that is the key to a fast computer. How many processes is your computer running?

[defaced]

None. I use a software firewall (Outpost) and the NAT hardware firewall in my router. That keeps random things out. That coupled with smart computer usage (don't download things from suspect locations, email, etc), and I have been virus free for a long long time; measured in years.

[Steve A.]

That coupled with smart computer usage (don't download things from suspect locations, email, etc), and I have been virus free for a long long time; measured in years.

Yeah, but that takes all of the fun out of computing!

Steve Ahola

P.S. I checked around and ended up paying $20.99 for a one year subscription for Avira (no not Alvira!). Funny thing- if you went to the site and clicked on Buy the price was $29.99. But if you clicked to download the free version you were then given a choice between that and the discounted price of $20.99 for the premium. Yes, I am a sucker for bargains- they get me every time with that crap!

One complaint: the download is only a loader that will install the program from the website (or an FTP site- I dunno.) I had already uninstalled Avast! and had turned off my connection to the internet (there is a standby button on the top of my Motorola gateway which I discovered by accident one night when I thought that the internet was down.) I did save the temporary install folder in case I need to reinstall it later.

[big_teee]

Yeah, but that takes all of the fun out of computing!

Steve Ahola

P.S. I checked around and ended up paying $20.99 for a one year subscription for Avira (no not Alvira!). Funny thing- if you went to the site and clicked on Buy the price was $29.99. But if you clicked to download the free version you were then given a choice between that and the discounted price of $20.99 for the premium. Yes, I am a sucker for bargains- they get me every time with that crap!

One complaint: the download is only a loader that will install the program from the website (or an FTP site- I dunno.) I had already uninstalled Avast! and had turned off my connection to the internet (there is a standby button on the top of my Motorola gateway which I discovered by accident one night when I thought that the internet was down.) I did save the temporary install folder in case I need to reinstall it later.

For Anti Spyware, I still like the SUPERAntiSpyware, the free version.
It works great and be sure to do the check for updates right before you run it each time.
It downloads the latest Dat file when you do that.
The other thing I do, is run Firefox, with the AddBlock Plus addon.
I also run the Do not Track Addon.
Good Luck,
B_T

[g-one]

I was going to recommend the Avira free, so you did even better . The problem with the free is the pop up nag/ad that shows up everyday after the definition update. The paid does not have this problem.
The program itself is fairly easy to configure and use. There may be a few glitches, such as autoblock warnings, but they can be turned off. Also, you may get occasional false positives. Those I don't mind, better safe than sorry, and you can submit them for analysis anyway.

[sprocket]

For Anti Spyware, I still like the SUPERAntiSpyware, the free version.
It works great and be sure to do the check for updates right before you run it each time.
It downloads the latest Dat file when you do that.
The other thing I do, is run Firefox, with the AddBlock Plus addon.
I also run the Do not Track Addon.
Good Luck,

B_T

To these , one can add MalwareBytes Anti-Malware too .

[JoeM]

To these , one can add MalwareBytes Anti-Malware too .

+1

That program has worked well for me too.

[sprocket]

+1

That program has worked well for me too.

Check Google too , have a look : Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on Download Page , also google Opt Out Plugin . http://tools.google.com/dlpage/optou....html?hl=en_US

Hope it will help some in here .

[Steve A.]

So is anybody here using FF 11.0? Version 10.0.0 was the buggiest program I have seen in a long time (I understand that the problems had something to do with Flash and plugin-container.exe.) Tech support at Mozilla recommended downgrading to an earlier version (3.5.10.)

[sprocket]

So is anybody here using FF 11.0? Version 10.0.0 was the buggiest program I have seen in a long time (I understand that the problems had something to do with Flash and plugin-container.exe.) Tech support at Mozilla recommended downgrading to an earlier version (3.5.10.)

Yep , I have FF 11 on right now , & it regularly shutdown , very annoying to say the least . I have IE9 too , so this one s more stable .

[sprocket]

Yep , I have FF 11 on right now , & it regularly shutdown , very annoying to say the least . I have IE9 too , so this one s more stable .

Might have a look @ this link buddy : Firefox crashes | Troubleshooting | Firefox Help

[big_teee]

So is anybody here using FF 11.0? Version 10.0.0 was the buggiest program I have seen in a long time (I understand that the problems had something to do with Flash and plugin-container.exe.) Tech support at Mozilla recommended downgrading to an earlier version (3.5.10.)

I'm running FF-10.0.
I had trouble with FF-9.
I let 10 come out for a while, and it has been real stable on this machine.
T

[sprocket]

Gee , love these computors , had to talk about it in order for FF-11 not to crash ,unbeleivable ... but I removed & reinstalled all Flash & such , it might have help .

[Steve A.]

Yep , I have FF 11 on right now , & it regularly shutdown , very annoying to say the least.

It is very strange how it crashes- you could blink and it'd be gone. When you restart it all of your windows pop right back up, some with the contents of forum posts you are composing (except for Facebook.) I have a link to the FTP site for FF 3.5.10 but I don't know how to download the files.

ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/3.5.10/

Can anyone can tell me how to download those files in Windows 7? I used to use FTP Explorer from 1999 (if not earlier) but was told that was no longer necessary with the newer versions of Windows.

Steve Ahola

Windows 7, Visitors 35

[sprocket]

Gee , love these computors , had to talk about it in order for FF-11 not to crash ,unbeleivable ... but I removed & reinstalled all Flash & such , it might have help .

Well , FF-11 crashed again , gotta use IE9 from now on . Never had problems like these before with FF up to FF-11

[big_teee]

Well , FF-11 crashed again , gotta use IE9 from now on . Never had problems like these before with FF up to FF-11

You can remove the Firefox 11 then you can install any old version you wish here.
Old Version of Firefox Download - OldApps.com
T

[sprocket]

You can remove the Firefox 11 then you can install any old version you wish here.
Old Version of Firefox Download - OldApps.com
T

Thanx , appreciate that buddy , but after installed , it uodates/upgrades itself! , major issue here , don t know how to not update/upgrade

[big_teee]

Thanx , appreciate that buddy , but after installed , it uodates/upgrades itself! , major issue here , don t know how to not update/upgrade

Download the new, or old FF to your Hard drive.
Remove the FF 11.
Before you load the FF10 or which ever.
Disable your internet.
Load the FF10 or whichever, from your hard drive.
Open the Firefox.
Go to options, and Advanced Tab.
Disable auto updates.
Then turn Your Internet connection back on.
You should be in Bizz!
T

[Steve A.]

You can remove the Firefox 11 then you can install any old version you wish here.
Old Version of Firefox Download - OldApps.com
T

Thanks! The Mozilla site was really pissing me off- like we all know how to download from FTP sites (normally it is very transparent- it seems like a regular HTTP download, unless the website chooses to make it difficult!) And you almost had to be a programmer to customize the program at all (rather than just have menus and choices like a *real* program.)

One more gripe- when are they going to bring Thunderbird into the 21st Century? They might do patches under the hood but the program hasn't changed much since the days of Netscape. (I do like it that the Thunderbird Mail folders are backwards compatible with all of the older versions and with those in Netscape.) I guess my main gripe is the very limited search function. The ONLY change I have seen in the past 10 years is that "Match all of the following" is now the default choice rather than "Match any of the following."

Steve Ahola

[soundguruman]

NEVER use a free antivirus. Use a professional all in one antivirus. DO NOT load free software from the internet, you have been warned.
NEVER load multiple mismatched security programs, especially free ones. They will conflict with each other.
As I have fixed many infected computers, almost all of them had "free" antivirus installed, and it was worthless.

NEVER load programs into your computer that promise to "fix" "repair" "clean" "sweep" or "speed up" your computer. Pretty much ALL of these are a SCAM.
The idea is to give you something for "free." Then you are loaded with spyware and all kinds of other CRAP.
Don't be an idiot.

[soundguruman]

If FF is shutting down, it's NOT firefox that's doing it.
You have OTHER problems that is causing it, most likely the security you installed.

[big_teee]

We use what we can afford.
There are some good free Softwares.
We go through this same old thing everytime someone has a little Glitch.
It will all blow over tomorrow!
Peace, tone , and Volume.
Keep Rockin!
B_T

[Steve Conner]

A colleague at work just got the "Smart Fortress 2012" virus, in spite of the Mcafee Enterprise AV that gets remotely installed on all of our machines.

We rebooted his machine in safe mode and removed it with Malwarebytes.

Flash and Java are full of security holes and cause more trouble than you would believe. It is very important to make sure that both are updated regularly, so you get the latest security patches. Likewise for Microsoft/Apple's own automatic updates for the OS itself. They don't release these for fun, they are to fix real security issues.

Adblock Plus is very useful in this respect because it limits your exposure to Flash. The less ads you view, the less chance you have of viewing an infected one.

I've been running Firefox the last 4-5 years and let it update itself. I also have the updates turned on for Flash Player and Java. Never had any serious problems.

[sprocket]

Download the new, or old FF to your Hard drive.
Remove the FF 11.
Before you load the FF10 or which ever.
Disable your internet.
Load the FF10 or whichever, from your hard drive.
Open the Firefox.
Go to options, and Advanced Tab.
Disable auto updates.
Then turn Your Internet connection back on.
You should be in Bizz!
T

Thanx for the tip Big_teee , but I dout I ll put it back in , gives me too many problems ...lol , & it s not my computor , so I wont install it right now , or have my father use IE9 for now , till that FF-11 shit get resolved

[sprocket]

A colleague at work just got the "Smart Fortress 2012" virus, in spite of the Mcafee Enterprise AV that gets remotely installed on all of our machines.

We rebooted his machine in safe mode and removed it with Malwarebytes.

Flash and Java are full of security holes and cause more trouble than you would believe. It is very important to make sure that both are updated regularly, so you get the latest security patches. Likewise for Microsoft/Apple's own automatic updates for the OS itself. They don't release these for fun, they are to fix real security issues.

Adblock Plus is very useful in this respect because it limits your exposure to Flash. The less ads you view, the less chance you have of viewing an infected one.

I've been running Firefox the last 4-5 years and let it update itself. I also have the updates turned on for Flash Player and Java. Never had any serious problems.

Cool , I do have all the latest Flash & Java & FF-11 keeps crashing . Only have 2 plugins too on FF-11 , & use Secunia PSI in order to have the latest updates to all software installs , it just crashed after upgrading on FF-11 , which never crashed before in FF installed in years , so it might / must be FF-11 the issue , hope it helps a bit , but I told him not to use FF for now to be sure .

Lets see what it will do , put FF to factory specs , kind of ...lol

[sprocket]

If FF is shutting down, it's NOT firefox that's doing it.
You have OTHER problems that is causing it, most likely the security you installed.

I understand your point here buddy , their s Microsoft Security Essentials installed , ( free , so I m an idiot then ) thanx to you sir , always on , MalwareBytes for scanning only , & yes SuperAntiSpyware too , as refered by Maximum PC & PCWorld & some other well known magazines as well .

It did the crashes ONLY after FF-11 updates/ upgrades , whatever it is , never did that before , every single software s updated/upgraded . so it s FF-11 the problem I guess , & I m not alone / that too .

[soundguruman]

I understand your point here buddy , their s Microsoft Security Essentials installed , ( free , so I m an idiot then ) thanx to you sir , always on , MalwareBytes for scanning only , & yes SuperAntiSpyware too , as refered by Maximum PC & PCWorld & some other well known magazines as well .

It did the crashes ONLY after FF-11 updates/ upgrades , whatever it is , never did that before , every single software s updated/upgraded . so it s FF-11 the problem I guess , & I m not alone / that too .

Quite often it is better to save your files, reformat the drive completely, and load a fresh OS, rather than relying on "fix it" software.
As far as free anti virus, you are making a huge mistake.
It has become popular to download "free" security, but it won't protect you. Rather, it infects you.
Why do you think they are giving it to you for "free?" It's a scam, that's why. They are stealing your personal information, and able to monitor everything you are using the computer for.
If you have already loaded this crap into your system, too late. It probably won't delete, and it will probably prevent any real anti virus from installing or working. (suckers)

[Steve A.]

If FF is shutting down, it's NOT firefox that's doing it.
You have OTHER problems that is causing it, most likely the security you installed.

That may be true in general as a rule of thumb but I don't believe that is the case with the current problems with FF and neither does their tech support.

NEVER use a free antivirus. Use a professional all in one antivirus. DO NOT load free software from the internet, you have been warned.
NEVER load multiple mismatched security programs, especially free ones. They will conflict with each other.
As I have fixed many infected computers, almost all of them had "free" antivirus installed, and it was worthless.

Many people find the popular security suites to be extremely bloated and restrictive. (Norton prevented me from installing SP3 for WinXP.) While it is true that you shouldn't run more than one anti-virus, you can install different anti-spyware programs like SpyBot as long as you use them one at a time for scans; if they are resident in memory they could conflict with other programs.

NEVER load programs into your computer that promise to "fix" "repair" "clean" "sweep" or "speed up" your computer. Pretty much ALL of these are a SCAM.

I must admit that I was suckered in by one of these programs that was advertised on an infomercial late at night. ("It was on TV- how can they sell an infected program on TV???" ) It was after dl'ing and installing the free version that I decided to read the reviews. Bad choice.
I already had some crap on my computer that the free version of AVG couldn't handle so I was looking for something better. I ended up getting a program at BestBuy in a DVD case (I'll look for the name later) and it took about 2 weeks of exchanging emails and me sending them dumps for them to finally get rid of the crap on my computer. I did like the personal service; I could never expect something like that from Norton or the other big boys.

The idea is to give you something for "free." Then you are loaded with spyware and all kinds of other CRAP.
Don't be an idiot.

In the past the free version of Avast! had been recommended very highly and was used as part of a free "security suite" installed by some shops that disinfected computers (along with SpyBot and Malwarebytes.) The "catch" with the free version of Avast! was that they hoped that you were impressed enough with the free product that you would upgrade to the premium version at home and at work. My complaint about the latest version (the reason I was looking for another AV) was that it was too vigilant and would nag you if you turned off any of its features.

Just my opinions on these things...

Steve Ahola

[Steve A.]

Quite often it is better to save your files, reformat the drive completely, and load a fresh OS, rather than relying on "fix it" software.

Agreed! Some malware will damage critical OS files and can also install themselves in the boot sector so you really do need to bite the bullet and start over on a fresh slate.

I'd also recommend saving an image of your boot drive once you have installed Windows and the main programs you will be using. Norton Ghost is one and Acronis sells one, too. As long as your hardware hasn't changed (the hardware that the Windows install program examines) restoring a disk image can take minutes compared to hours for reinstalling Windows and all of your programs.
For that scheme to work you want to keep the files on your boot drive to a minimum by keeping data files on a separate drive (or partition) and back them up religiously. However Windows will make every attempt to store files on the boot drive (I could figure out how to deflect that behavior with WinXP but not Windows 7.)

Steve Ahola

[sprocket]

Quite often it is better to save your files, reformat the drive completely, and load a fresh OS, rather than relying on "fix it" software.
As far as free anti virus, you are making a huge mistake.
It has become popular to download "free" security, but it won't protect you. Rather, it infects you.
Why do you think they are giving it to you for "free?" It's a scam, that's why. They are stealing your personal information, and able to monitor everything you are using the computer for.
If you have already loaded this crap into your system, too late. It probably won't delete, and it will probably prevent any real anti virus from installing or working. (suckers)

Ok , if I m to believe you , then Microsoft Security Essentials s a scam , I might be wrong , or is it the other ones that you wrote before .

Cool , you might be right on these , so why s it s Mozilla itself that writs that both MalwareBytes & SuperAntiSpyware that they recommend for virus-removals or whatever else , are they (Mozilla) scams too ,

It s easy to call people idiots or suckers after it s done or whatever , when you re in the know or something alike , I would like to know if you re a IT or whatever that is , or some kind of PC wizz kid or such , so the way I understand you tha PC magazines refere people with scams too , or I misunderstood , you re the pro here , I m not .

By the way I m a truck driver going @ shitty places , & some paid me in order to backup their trucks &/or trailers , I never called them idiots or suckers or whaterver because they weren t able to backup in shitty places , nice of you there , I might be wrong , but it tells allot