Free Virus software

[Dan n Nic]

please recommend...

just for an old laptop im trying to get running.

ta.

[justalex81]

avast is top of the free bunch i believe

[bobbarley]

AVG - http://free.avg.com/gb-en/homepage

Most popular free AV around.

[Jay]

It depends on who you ask, I'd say Microsofts Security essentials as it doesn't come with all the bloat the others do or if you don't mind a one off £15 or £20 fee Malwarebytes paid for is pretty good. Always keep your computer up to date with the operating system updates as well as Adobe Flash/Reader and Java - these three are the top attack vectors for most OS's.

[The Mighty Elvi]

I have been a long time user of AVG anti virus.  If you know where to look you can get the serial key to upgrade from free to the pro version. 


It was good, but did eat up a lot of memory and hogged the CPU, so whilst it worked fine on my new i3 laptop, my old 8 year old PC was very very slow.

I have recently installed Avast onto said PC and it uses a lot less memory and CPU time, so I can recommend Avast for your old laptop.

[Diamond Hell]

I've run Avast for years and it's been rock-solid.

[Bandit127]

+1 for Microsoft Essentials. It's usually quick with new definitions and it doesn't get in the way. AVG is good and I used that for many years, but I prefer Essentials. Do not pay for anti virus, the benefit is not worth the money over a good free version.

I use Firefox for browsing and use the Noscript add on. This is a very good defense against third party attacks as you have to specifically allow the website it comes from to let it install.

Uninstall Java if you have it. It is the biggest security hole on a Win X computer and it is only needed for one or two websites. (The only time I need it is if I do a Pingtest).

Lastly (unless you are an expert) let Windows and Adobe update automatically.

[Steve30]

avast is top of the free bunch i believe

Dont bother with Avast, I had that on my HP and still got a virus load rubbish

[Jay]

avast is top of the free bunch i believe

Dont bother with Avast, I had that on my HP and still got a virus load rubbish

User error







j/k, AV companies are always playing catch-up because the virus creators release 'new' viruses quicker than AV companies can detect them and release updates, sometimes every hour  So it may have happened no matter the AV program you were using.

[Diamond Hell]

Dont bother with Avast, I had that on my HP and still got a virus load rubbish

Virus or malware?

Remember that your browsing habits (and choice of browser) will effect how many challenges your system has to face.

Before clicking on a link, pause for a moment and think 'what would Jesus do'.  Could save you a lot of time.