What is the "Best" free antivirus?

Question

I am looking for a very good antivirus. I used to have the one Optimum Online offers for free "E-Trust Ez Armor" But it was very weak and could not detect many viruses at all. It didn't search for ad-ware, spyware etc.

I recently have downloaded the Comodo AntiVirus and FireWall combo. I have heard a lot about the FireWall and PC Magazine has recognized it also.

Though, I hear the A.V. is very young and still cannot detect all viruses. I need something that can protect too (not just scan like the BitDefender Freeware).

Answer 1

In addition to a firewall you must have full time (active) virus protection and full time spyware protection.



All the following programs are free.

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Full Time (Active) Virus Protection

If you do not have active virus protection, install only one. All are excellent.

Try AVG first.



AVG Antivirus 7.5 Free Edition

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10669237.html?tag=lst-0-1

or

Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

or

AOL Active Virus Shield (powered by Kaspersky)

http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp

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Full Time (Active) Spyware Protection



Windows Defender

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

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Install the following five programs and run weekly or at least monthly. You need all five. They will greatly increase your protection. They are not a substitute for full time spyware and virus protection.



Ad-Aware SE Personal (update + full scan)

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php



Spybot Search & Destroy (update + immunize + scan)

Do not enable Tea Timer and SDHelper

After installation: update + scan + immunize

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html



SpywareBlaster: Update then open and click “enable all protection”.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html



SUPERAntiSpyware free version: (update + scan)

http://www.superantispyware.com/



CCleaner: Do not install toolbar option

Removes tracking cookies, unneeded files, history

In options.

Set to run when computer starts.

Place cookies you want to keep in save list

http://www.ccleaner.com/

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Additional run this time and monthly.



Microsoft Update "Custom Mode" install everything

http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us



Microsoft OneCare Live, run “full service scan”

Updates windows, virus and spyware scan, disk cleanup, disk fragmentation (if needed), backs up registry and then cleans registry, and checks for open firewall ports

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm



Malicious Software Removal Tool (run “full scan”)

http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

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Online Free Scanners:

Run Trend Micro, Kaspersky, and Panda Scan now.

Run a different one each month.



Trend Micro: HouseCall Free Scan (removes what it finds)

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

BitDefender Online Scanner http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

Kaspersky Labs Online Scanner http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

McAfee http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp?affid=294

Panda ActiveScan Free Online Scanner http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan?

Symantic Online Scanner http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/ssc_eula.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=ALUFRHYTINMHDKDCWLL&vc_scanstate=2

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

AVG Free is the best anti-virus out there right now. Norton is total junk, uses up a lot of system resources and you have to pay for it. Avast is also a good free anti-virus. You can download AVG from the link below. There is absolutely no spyware and it is completely free.



Kaspersky may detect the most viruses but it isn't the best because it's not very compatible, it doesn't even work with Vista.

Answer 4

Google offers a nice, free pack of software that includes both an antivirus and an antispyware scanner. I had good luck cleaning up my computer and bringing it back to life using these tools. Plus, you can trust it since it comes from Google and not some no-name software company.



http://www.removaladvisor.com/freesoft.html



Good luck!

Answer 5

Kaspersky is good, AVG is good (although their scanner is very bloated), but IMHO Avast is the best!

Answer 6

Kaspersky is the best out there.

It is free for 90 days ....but after that you have to pay. but it is truly the very best all around suite on the market

Answer 7

Have you tried AVG anti-virus 7.5 ?

Its most reliable AV. Search it on download.com

Answer 8

AVG. Free

Answer 9

AVAST home is a good free package.