Best virus programs for windows 7

[dickpow1128]

Recently ungraded,,, was using Live Onecare, Can't use fro #7

 

[tomvertommen]

AVG Free has done a good job for me till now.

AVG Free

 

[The_Prophecy]

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good, free antivirus solution.

 

[dextermat]

+1 for Microsoft Security Essentials is a good, free antivirus solution.

it is very good and not too heavy on computer.

antivir / avast are very good and free

 

[isamuelson]

A question I have is, what types of protection does Microsoft Security Essentials provide? Does it scan and clean email, archives (zips, etc)? And, does it spot the viruses in files BEFORE you have to run it? I know with my current suite (Kaspersky), it's pretty good at finding and cleaning issues. However, I do find that it does seem to slow the system down somewhat, at least on boot up and log in.

What about monitoring web traffic? Kaspersky again can do this.

If MSE and some other "free" security software (such as firewalls, spyware, etc) work well, I might just have to make the switch.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

antivirus-avira free
malware / spyware remover-malwarebytes
firewall-pctools firewall plus

all are free ,the make a great security suite!

 

[isamuelson]

Area51, is avira proactive in it's defense? What about scheduling times to do scans and such?

Also, do you know if Microsoft Security Essentials is any better than what you've listed?

Thanks!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

no! security essentials can't touch this combo!yes avira is proactive,but malwarebytes is an on demand scanner,but is unbelieveable at removing infections!essentials is decent and free!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://free-av.com/en/products/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html

avira personal description!i use the premium and it is awesome!

another great free antivirus is avast 5.0!

 

[daft]

avast is great, love its boot time scan
avg i suggest the most due to its GUI
spybot search and destroy is useful for its passive protection. ive had little luck with its resident shield and scans.
avira is probably the best for overall
NOD32 is, from what ive heard, a good one.
Norton, from my experience, is the absolute best, but they tend to slow the computer down along with being expensive

 

[isamuelson]

Well, I'm running MSE right now and as much as I loved Kaspersky's suite, the damned thing slowed down everything, from logging in to launch email programs and web browsers.

Now, I can see a definite increase in speed. As it is, I'm pretty careful about where I surf and such, but since the computer is used by my wife and my kids, you can never be too safe.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Since installing MSE I've had less malware issues than I had when using the paid-for version of Trend Micro. Much less resource-intensive too. I highly recommend it, especially since Windows 7 is more secure than previous version. Thus you *probably* don't need the protection of a commercial suite.

 

[saran008]

Avira Antivir!
Always the best!

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Avira free version. Malwarebytes and Spybot Search and Destroy. I do not use Spybots proactive Tea Timer or SD Helper as I find them a little intrusive but it is still a great spyware remover.

I dual boot 7 and XP Pro at least for a little while longer and I have used Kaspersky for years on XP. I have to say that even though Kaspersky never missed a virus it seems to have developed some bugs here in the past year or so.

I installed Avira on Windows 7 after reading a comparison in one of the computer magazines I get.......PC World I think it was. You have to deal with 1 pop up a day but its worth it to get such a solid program for free.

 

[saran008]

Download & Install the following 3 freewares. It forms a free complete security suite for your system!
1. Avira Anvivir - http://www.free-av.com/en/download/index.html .
Avira has very good internet security, real time updates, great overall protection.

2. Malwarebytes - http://www.malwarebytes.org/ .
Malwarebytes is one of the best malware scanners.

3. Ccleaner - http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download .
Ccleaner is a great all purpose tool. The most useful tool is probably the registry cleaner.

The Best Security combo for all types of systems.

 

[lucuis]

I've had good luck with AVG Free, I disabled Windows Defender/Firewall etc to cut down on processes. I periodically scan with Malwarebytes as well to great effect. I recommend Ccleaner as well, wonderful program for cleaning out junk.

 

[buwish]

I concur with a few others, as AVG Free has never done me wrong and is what I currently use. I used Avira for awhile, but it seemed a bit "itchy" to be honest, i.e. too many false alarms, but decent.

 

[isamuelson]

Well I decided to go with Avast. It got pretty good ratings plus the free version does email scanning while downloading. I know Avira free doesn't, but it will still catch the issues once you open it. However, from what I read, Avira Free has some nag screens, but I could be wrong. I do know this - my wife absolutely HATES when dialogs pop up from the task bar and such. I keep telling her it's part of the notification of windows, but I know that a NAG screen coming up would drive her insane and I'd NEVER hear the end of it. Gotta keep her happy, you know?

But, I will say that Kaspersky is gone. MSE as well as Avast have allowed my machine to run so much faster, especially when launching browsers, email clients as well as logging in and out. Boot time has increased as well. I think I've shaved over 10-15 seconds off logging in alone when I got rid of Kaspersky.

 

[foody]

My favorite anti-virus software has always been ESET Nod32. I'll list a few reasons why.

1. It doesn't bother you with useless warnings and information, only serious threats.

2. It is a relatively light program and doesn't take much from your system resources.

3. It is very effective and does an excellent job of protecting your computer.

4. It is very customizable. The options give you control over just about anything you might want to do.

The only downside is that it does cost money (unless of course you like to torrent).

If you want a free anti-virus, I would strongly recommend AVG Free Edition or Microsoft Security Essentials. I don't much care for Avast as I found it to be quite annoying after incessantly bothering me withhttp://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/biggrin.gif all sorts of information of little importance.

I know you didn't ask but, you might want to pair your anti-virus with something like CCleaner or Tune-Up Utilities. Improper care your registry and other sections of your system can be every bit as bad as some viruses.