Best pair of free AV?

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by Hyperion, Oct 30, 2003.

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  1. Hyperion

    Hyperion Registered Member

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    Hello.

    I recently dropped my PC Cillin 2002,because strangely made Zone Alarm's true vector to crash at startup and with Outpost couldn't connect to internet.It's a shame because i had about 9 months of updates to go,but the situation was intollerable.I even uninstalled PC Cillin and the problems persisted ,so i had to format the HD and reinstall Windows.Now i run AVG 6 Free that i had used before and never given me conflicts with other programmes.My budget also finds it unacceptable to buy for example NAV for 60 Euros and have only 1 year of virus definitions.

    So here i would like to give me your help.

    I want a second on demand AV,again free AV.I tried AntiVir PE.Till now i noticed it has more frequent updates compared to AVG.Then i think of Avast Home.

    What would you choose if you were me as resident and as on demand (backup-non resident) scanner?Is some of these better against Trojans?

    THank you in advence
     
  2. solarpowered candle

    solarpowered candle Registered Member

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    I would suggest e trust v7 promo as its great free anti virus . Its only hassle for you maybe that as it has two engines ( Vet and Inoculate It ) you would end up with 3 anti virus products . How ever its an excellent choice as a sole anti virus .
    http://etrustantivirus.ca.com/v7/

    or if you choose to register https://www3.ca.com/Register/myCALogin.asp?url=%2fRegister%2fForm.aspx%3fcid%3d41870
     
  3. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    The three products you mentioned (AVG, AntiVir and Avast) are all well-known and considered generally good virus protection products for free. Which ever one works the best (fastest, least conflicts, etc) is probably the one you want as primary and the other(s) as just on-demand. Opinions will vary as to which is better, but they are close enough so as to not make so big a difference.

    Another free product you may want to put on your system is F-Prot for DOS. It is only an on-demand scanner (has no resident capability at all) and it is a very powerful product. (It doesn't even install. You just download the ZIP file containing the scanner, extract the files to an empty folder and run it. The updates also come down in ZIP files which you extract and place in the same folder.)

    See this thread for more on F-Prot for DOS:

    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=14858
     
  4. Hyperion

    Hyperion Registered Member

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    From what i ve read only one is active though at a certain moment right?I hope it's not resource "hungry".I have fast PC,but i like keeping it so :D

    Thank you.I ll read carefully the links.I had tried to use it in the past with no success.I see it uses MS prompt.Better,cause i m in Win XP,so with no native DOS.

    I also read about BitDefender somewhere,and it's supposed to have superior unpacking capabilities.So,now i am really confused.

    I have no problem installing even 3 AV (1 resident,2 on demand),since i am cautious in security issues.But should one of these be my resident AV because "better" as objectively as one can say so?

    Thank you again for the help
     
  5. Hyperion

    Hyperion Registered Member

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    Ehm,LowWaterMark,i used an auto-update installer found here:
    http://www.claymania.com/f-prot.html

    For F-Prot.Apparently worked,but using the DOS GUI,the scan was performed in a second in only 458 files!Is this normal?
     
  6. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Ah, I see just above this last post you said you are using XP, so I am assuming you have an NTFS file system, as well. The F-Prot for DOS scanner does have issues scanning a full disk or a partition that is NTFS.

    It does scan specific folders just fine and on my XP system with NTFS, I simply use F-Prot for DOS to perform on-demand scans of my downloads folder, which is the one place (simply "c:\downloads\") where all my downloaded files pass through prior to being moved to where I'll ultimately use them.
     
  7. Comp01

    Comp01 Registered Member

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    I actually run 3 AV's :doubt: AVG 6.0 (Main AV) AntiVirPE (Backup scanner) and F-Prot for DOS (I usually just run this as extra precaution on files I've downloaded)
     
  8. Hyperion

    Hyperion Registered Member

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    Yes,i have NTFS.

    Becomes a bit tricky for me.I ve downloaded Bit Defender right now.I m curious to see if will have any conflicts.

    Are you satisfied with AVG as resident?Is AntiVir any good?I ve seen that i Virus Bulletin has 0 (!) passes,although usually isn't tested.
     
  9. Comp01

    Comp01 Registered Member

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    I Am more then satisfied with AVG being my resident AV, it goes along well with my newly acquired TrojanHunter3.7, but anyways, AVG has picked all viruses that I've ever come close to (5 or 6) A few email executions, and a few website download executions (I noticed that AVG picks up on a virus download, before it even downloads more then 1% of the file, some how) Plus, AVG has a Universal Email scanner (Works with all configurable Email clients) .AVG Universal Email scanner link: http://www.grisoft.cz/beta/avgemc/avgemc_en.htm also, they have a scanner for the Bat! here: http://www.grisoft.cz/html/cs_avgbat.htm I dont use the bat, so cant say anything about that plugin, I do, however, love the universal scanner (Although, It has not found any viruses, yet) AntvirPE Is ok, I like it, the main feature I like, is AntivirPE does detect SOME trojan horses, and dialers, plus joke programs, etc ... I would use AntiVirPE's resident Shield, though ...
     
  10. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

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    In terms of using very small computer resources while still providing superlative protection with a free AV, I recommend AntiVir PE. Also, AVPE has a fast, friendly, active, knowledgeable forum if you need help.
     
  11. Hyperion

    Hyperion Registered Member

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    Thank you both.I ll keep AVG as resident,Anti Vir as backup and today i ll try also Bit Defender as backup. :D
     
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