Anti-virus

Hi to all,
This is my first forum and my second post. I just asked a question on the 'other firewall' board. Why im posting is explained there also. Im looking for a free anti-virus for my son, who is about to get on line for the first time. Ive always had Norton anti-virus so i dont know about any free anti-virus programs. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!

 

Hi Enigma,

Have a look here for some possibilities;

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,7439793~root=security,1~mode=flat

In addition you can have a look at EtrustAV v7 which a number of people here have tried and liked.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=9672

Give some of them a try, and see how they affect your system. Ease of use, virus detection abilities and speed of updates are important points to look for.

Avast for example, may not be a good choice for low spec systems.

You could also try the free on-line scanners from KAV, RAV, Trend and Panda to supplement your free primary scanner.

However, take into account that most teenagers visit sites which can contain a lot more malware than average.

Therefore, sometime in the future, I would strongly recommend thinking about a commercial AV which in general are obviously much better products.

Of the free ones, BitDefender and Etrust look good possibilities.

Good Luck.

- Fixed link to DSLR

 

If you want strictly "free" but good, I'd go with Avast! 4 Home Edition. It has automatic updates for a year, e-mail protection, etc. Regarding low-spec systems--Avast will do okay on a Pentium 2 300Mhz w/48 mgs of RAM. That's the "slowest" machine I've had it on.

If you want "cheap" but good, I'd go with eXtendia AVK (Wal-Mart), or ezAV from Computer Associates (online).

 

Hi to Blackcat (again) & JimIT.
Thanks for the links. Again, alot to chose from, but i will look into all that was suggested at both links. This is very much appreciated!!!!

 

Hi to Blackcat (again) and JimIT,
I bought my son Norton Anti-virus and loaded it on his machine yesterday. It was a birthday present, otherwise he wouldnt take it. Too Darned independent! Oh well Thanks for the links and the suggestions. It was much appreciated! I also installed Ad-Aware 6.181 Personel (free).
I use the Pro Ad-Aware.
Again, thanks to all!

 

Hi enigma


Glad to hear you sorted out your AV dilemma.

Norton is a much better choice than any free AV available and I used it on my daughter's laptop for over 2 years with no problems whatsoever. Easy to setup so it ran in the background without any input from her.

More importantly it caught several viruses and trojans from the usual teenager download sites and kept her machine malware free.

With AdAware your son's machine should have a good level of protection.

Now did you get that firewall sorted out?

 

I'm on board with the Cat's comments. I too have used Norton in the past, and it never let me down. It's used also where I work, and we have no problems with it.

Good choices!