which one of the “free” musketeers you guys recommend

[mercurie]

Creature Bellgamin,
Thanks a bunch friend. For your post. I am willing to try Antivir. Often seriuosly considered the change. Is it lighter then AVG 7? My only hesitation is the large downloads. I am on broadband. If I have heard correctly from other posts, they keep loading the entire signature base with each update instead of just building on current signature base. Have I got that right? All comments are welcome.

I switched to Avast when Anti Vir failed to detect a infected system file, Avast scans offline and can repair and detect infected system files with ease, I posted for help at Anti Vir forum and all they told me was to get another program, I did and have never looked back ever since.

No matter how much "I have been using XXX Free for 10 years and it has never missed a virus!" BS you read in forums, never in history has a "free" anti-virus outperformed the likes of KAV, NOD32, DrWeb, etc.

The truism "You get what you pay for!" applies equally to anti-virus programs!

[bellgamin]

Originally Posted by mercurie

Creature Bellgamin,
Thanks a bunch friend. For your post. I am willing to try Antivir. Often seriuosly considered the change. Is it lighter then AVG 7?

Yes.

My only hesitation is the large downloads. I am on broadband. If I have heard correctly from other posts, they keep loading the entire signature base with each update instead of just building on current signature base. Have I got that right?

Again, yes. Another "con" I failed to mention is that AVPEC's server gets VERRRY busy at times. Downloads are best done between 1AM-430AM Germany time. Get a free WorldTime clock HERE.

[JayTee]

1 vote for antivir.

light on resources and surfing is good. use it on my laptop where i don't do dangerous stuff.

had major problems with avast (couldn't update) and it did seem a bit resouce hungry. the spinning 'a' also made me dz ...

[RejZoR]

Originally Posted by fourdots

No matter how much "I have been using XXX Free for 10 years and it has never missed a virus!" BS you read in forums, never in history has a "free" anti-virus outperformed the likes of KAV, NOD32, DrWeb, etc.

The truism "You get what you pay for!" applies equally to anti-virus programs!

I wouldn't agree with that. avast! and AntiVir (also AVG) are actually both payable programs. Their free little brothers are basically the same in terms of detection (engine and definitions wise). It's just a matter of extra features in form of more settings,some extra module like Script Blocking or POP3 scanner etc...
So what payable avast! Pro detects,that will be also detected by avast! Home (Free). Same applies to AntiVir and AVG.

And avast! usually has a better response time for threats than lets say Symantec or McAfee. I agree,free ones lack strong generic engines for Rbots and other similar stuff (but on the other hand,NAV also lacks it).

[The Hammer]

The latest AVAST 4.6 is said to be lighter on resources than previous version.
Perhaps RejZoR would know of other improvements and if I am correct on resource usage.

[FastGame]

I think Avast! is the best of the free AV's, it's also one of the most versatile (free or payed) do to it's layered module system.

My Avast! is setup to use Mail scan and Webshield, my download manager & Firefox are directed to scan all downloads with the on-demand scanner. Using this setup I don't need Standard shield running and that makes Avast! zippy fast, even on an older slow PC

I use Bitdefender online scan or eScan MWAV 4.4.7 too verify that Avast! is doing a great job.

[RejZoR]

avast! will soon gain some nice detection boost.
Alwil team is working hard in these days
They have implimented FSG,MEW and PE_Deminisher unpacker into new avast! beta. They also updated UPX unpacking engine to unpack latest UPX packed executables. Certanly a nice addition which makes avast! even more unique...

[clansman77]

My Avast! is setup to use Mail scan and Webshield, my download manager & Firefox are directed to scan all downloads with the on-demand scanner. Using this setup I don't need Standard shield running and that makes Avast! zippy fast, even on an older slow PC

hi that is a nice suggestion ..gonna try that.will make it even lighter..

[mercurie]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

I wouldn't agree with that. avast! and AntiVir (also AVG) are actually both payable programs. Their free little brothers are basically the same in terms of detection (engine and definitions wise). It's just a matter of extra features in form of more settings,some extra module like Script Blocking or POP3 scanner etc...
So what payable avast! Pro detects,that will be also detected by avast! Home (Free). Same applies to AntiVir and AVG.

And avast! usually has a better response time for threats than lets say Symantec or McAfee. I agree,free ones lack strong generic engines for Rbots and other similar stuff (but on the other hand,NAV also lacks it).

All,
Still doing my homework on these posts, but Rejzor is right a slam on the freebies is not warranted. AV's are close to being a commodity. Freebies are pretty good. Just do not rely on them for total protection. Get a trojan killer too. I recommend BoClean or A2. By the way I have pay on one machine and freebie on the other so I am speaking from some experience.

[RejZoR]

Well from my experience i'd rather rely on avast! than on F-Prot. Review or not,i was very dissapointed with this PAYABLE antivirus(missed loads of stuff that others picked,including avast!). Same goes for Norton and Norman.
Thats why i don't classify free antiviruses as unrealiable,because thats certanly not true. This especially applies to avast! and AntiVir which are very powerful.

[mercurie]

F-Prot is not that the real expensive one?

[mercurie]

Sorry my mistake $29US is not bad. Realtime scanner...