Need a Recommendation

I use Windows XP and have a cable modem. Can someone recommend a FREE antivirus program? Thank you.

 

I am using Avira AntiVir Personal.

http://www.free-av.com/en/download/index.html

 

The usual suspects are Avira Personal, Avast Home, AVG free.

And i would follow that order. Avira has a nag screen, but it can be disabled. (if you ask in this forum, people will tell you).

 

How tho disable the nag screen:

http://www.elitekiller.com/files/disable_antivir_nag.htm

 

First of all your question is general question and you are about to get a lot of answers which i am not sure are going to help. But there are some out there.

Avast Home edition
Avg free lacks rootkit protection
Avira free also lacks in spyware
Rising free is a nice Antivirus
Comodo Internet Security also has antivirus protection and is free but you have to understand that its antivirus is not a as good as the above av-s

Pc Tools antivirus Free lacks spyware protection
Now you need a Firewall and one or two backup malware scanners

PCTOOLS firewall free
Comodo Firewall free
Rising Firewall free
Ashampoo free Firewall

Malware scanners

SUPERANTISPYWARE FREE
MALWAREBYTES FREE

All are free and keep in mind that you must install one Antivirus and one Firewall only.

 

This is a nice start, and easy, since they all begin with "A".

I've used AVG for some years, but it's gotten bigger and bloated. They've added Spyware protection and I cannot disable it. I prefer to run just the antivirus program, and then run weekly spyware and malware checks.

So I'm looking for the "lightest" antivirus program.

 

A "custom" install of Avast may just fill the bill. Only install the shields that your usage requires.

Avira users can help you out with suggestions concerning it`s install options.

 

Rising Antivirus does not have entry in context menu of files and folders (shortcut such as "Scan with Rising antivirus") in Free Commander, a very popular free file commander software. It is a big limitation for me. Do not know does the same limitation exist with Total Commander, for example.

 

I'd go for Avast!, but you should know it is an Antivirus+Antispyware program. The only program I can think of that is strictly Antivirus only is Avira Antivir.
FREE version doesn't offer anti-spyware protection.

 

It is official Avira statement but, in fact, a solid portion of malware which is recognized by some great antivirus+antispyware software as spyware/adware type of malware will be recognized by Avira Antivirus Free as some kind of malware (usually as trojans). So, IMO, Avira Free has some level of antispyware protection.

 

+1 for Avast. The spyware detection is incorporated into the main scanner, AFAIK, so doesn't run as an extra module. There is also an antirootkit scan that occurs (silently) 8 min after startup. (Silent, unless anything is found, that is.)
Haven't noticed any performance issues with these aspects of the program. Occasionally the auto-updater slows things down a bit for maybe a minute, while updates are being applied. This does not seem to affect all users, though. The updates are typically quite small and usually download and install in about 10-20 seconds. The forum is one of the best. Last but not least, there have been quite a number of ex-AVG users switching to Avast, so you would not be alone.
Avira also has an excellent reputation, and (mainly) satisfied users.

 

well i did his advise but when there is an upgrade to the program the nag screen comes back and you have to disable it all over again.

robin

 

avast for sure,

although if you wish to have a hips and firewall, comodo should keep you protected, even with its mediocre antivirus detection.

 

Gery has explained a lot.

He forgot to mention Online Armor as free (and good) firewall.

My vote goes to Avast!

 

Avast for sure and my reasons why its free and it runs well.It updates effortless with No nag screens.It is well rounded that covers all the areas that a stand alone antivirus should and it has a boot scan to help make it easer to remove some variants Also it has changeable skins for download if you do not like how it looks you can change it.

 

You can find a complete list of free antivirus available on this thread:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=212597

 

AntiVir free (scan when writing, not reading) is the lightest on my computer.

 

This would be Avast.

also, you can always get your second opinions from Drweb's CureIt, its free, requires [no installation] and has the same scanner features as Drweb's Paid version, in short... its awesome

also, if your looking into the free firewall range, its got to be Online Armor

 

Heres the list of all free firewalls
Free Firewalls

I know u want only AV prog but just in case......

 

Avira is lighter than avast and has way better detection but Avast is more full fledged as it has Antispyware as well.

 

for someone who obviously takes av-comparatives word as gospel, you obviously only read what you want to read, they tested av performances too.

so AVAST is lighter, offers more features, offers spyware/adware detections and a better removal with no splash screens she has to work-around, hmm.... *LOL*

of course, if you trust the testings of av-comparatives, lol .

 

Ift would be nice if u had an disk imaging program for trial and see for yourself as each PC is different.
If not there is at least one Performance test that i know from a respectable source.You can see here the results
But since in the free version category there are not many ,and the final contendants are Avast &Avira ,i think you can't go wrong with neither.
The main difference between them has been explained by members here (Avira lacks spyware protection).
Other differences are not important .

 

Antivir

 

yes i thought i left something out but couldn't recall it. thank you for refreshing the list.