best free real-time protection

I originally had AntiVir and it failed on me because it did not detect a virus that was almost literally eating away my computer. I wanted to switch to AVG, but my dial-up will simple get trampled on by the cumulative updates. Aaargh! I even tried the Avast but dont like it's UI, and heard that BitDefender free edition now is greatly improving the detection rates.
I tried it out and believe me, it detected some stuff that I never even knew existed on my computer. Like some wheather bug(not spelled correctly, i think) from the Aol Instant Messenger program.

Sad thing is BitDefender does not have real-time protection. Ewido lasts only 2 weeks. What do you guys suggest I get that works well alongside BitDefender free edition?

much appreciated

 

If you want antivirus realtime protection you are very limited in your choices.

Antivir
Avast
AVG and ewido is not antivirus protection.

 

I still don't get it about what's so damn wrong with avast! GUI !?
They offered skins,people disliked them. They offered skinless interface,people dislike it,they offer Enhanced interface(Ok,it's Pro version only,but anyway),people say it's too complicated.
But on the other hand they like unlogically separated control centers of AVG with their 8bit dithered images

I'm really wondering if it's something wrong with me that i found avast!'s inerface to be easy to use and changeable so you can modify its look globally (Simple interface changes,along with all warning messages,while in other AVs you're limited on only one if you like it or not). But people just say who wants an antivirus with skins!?
Well it's apperantly not that bad if BitDefender also use them and new Kaspersky IS 2006 will also support them. Not in such perfection as avast!,but anyway.

 

Avast GUI is fine,but for those who don't like skins, they have the choice of skinless plain Vanilla interface. The spinning icon on taskbar which some find annoying is a must for me, tells me that it is working, I keep looking at it from time to time. Avast lets the VRDB icon merge with its' regular icon so those who don't like two icons have a choice of single one.

 

Tray icon spinning can be disabled with my avast! External Control (AEC). Same goes for update popups and you can even entirely hide tray icon with AEC.
You can get AEC on www.excessive-software.eu.tt

 

It's unclear from your posts if the problem is a virus, a trojan, a worm, or spyware ... or a combination of all of them.

Free AV's are not good at detecting trojans nor spyware, so separate utilities are needed from each of them.

For free scanners etc that may help you try (you've got the AVs covered)
Ewido (anti-trojan)
A2 (Anti-trojan)
Microsoft Anti-spyware
Spybot S&D (anti-spyware)
Adaware SE (anti-spyware)
Winpatrol (startup and process utility)
SpywareBlaster (anti-spyware utility)
SpywareGuard (don't use if you are using MSAS though)
Proximitron (local proxy - filters web scripts etc)
PrevX home (intrusion prevention system...fairly noisy though. Also dials home IF you are connected to the net and IF there is a detected intrusion)

Of the above programs Proximitron, Prevx Home, Winpatrol, and SpywareBlaster, SpywareGuard don't need much updating.

A firewall would also be good, although it isnt quite as necessary with dialup (it's a must for broadband).

Perhaps your best bet, seeing as you are on dial up without paid protection, is to take some other forms of precautions :

Switch to Mozilla Firefox webrowser
If you must use IE, make use of your Trusted Zone, and beef up the security on your Internet Zone (in Internet Options - Security tab)
Use a HOSTS file (err...I know they work with IE..someone correct me if not needed on firefox)
be careful what you download especially exe's from P2P networks
be careful what sites you visit (eg. porn sites are well known to be often infected...probably because they dont care about anything but profits)


As a side note, free AV's combined with free AT's (most notable Ewido, but no RTS in the free version) give quite good overall detection rates...but of course you have a problem in how long it takes to download the updates.

 

Yeah, I really like the interface too. It's easy and it looks cool. It's actually one of the ONLY programs I skin. Arup makes a good point too. I like knowing when my computer is doing something and that avast! is scanning it.

 

NO antivirus program scores 100%. No, not one! Just check the scores HERE, for instance.

The freebies are AVG, Avast, & AntiVir-PE Classic. Of these, Avast & AntiVir are the stand-outs -- not only among freebies, but among many NON-freebies, as well.

If you want to get closer to 100% protection, you gotta pay for it & get KAV.

 

It's been said before, but why investing in a computer for a steep price and looking for 'the best' protection for free?
Just invest a few dollars, compared to the price of a computer and you will have great security.
I'd go for Dr. Web ($ 33,90) and a renewal is even 30 % less........so forget about the hassle and open up yout money-drawer!!
Easy program, no skin problems.....hahahahaaa, very light, fast and fully automatic. Who wants more?
I am not saying that some freebies are no good, but ....... like Bellgamin said, if you are looking for protection towards the 100%, you indeed have to pay for it.

Good luck!!!!

Putin

 

erikguy, when visiting your site, i get this activeX warning. Seems strange for a site that does HijackThis log cleaning?

 

It depends what you consider most important, the way it looks or how well it works.
Avast is always one of the first free A/V's recommended and I've never had a single virus infection in the 18 months I've been using it.
I don't particularly like the interface but it's simple and it's very clear what everything does (if you turn of the skins at least).
Also the updates are incremental and you don't even notice it's updating til you get the little blue alert telling you it's been updated.

 

Don't forget to drop Internet Explorer and Outlook
Which both help you to get the most malware on your system.
And the two most unsafe applications there are in the world on any platform!

Alternatives enough think about Firefox,Mozilla, Opera (free)
and Thunderbird etc.

And i agree, get informed, and buy a license
There is no free AV that can compete with NOD32/Kaspersky/Sophos or G-data etc etc.

If you want to invest time, just look at Tiny Personal Firewall 2005 Pro
or Processguard,RegRun Gold, Ewido, or A2 all good value for their money.

And be sure to make good backups a good backup program is very important!.

Good luck

 

When everything is taken into account IMO Avast! is the best Free AV, if your going to pay $$ for something then IMO KAV is the best so why mess with anything in between the two ?

Why mess with other AV's ? because in reality Free AV's such as Avast!/Antivir can and do compete with the payed for AV's, the same can be said for the payed vs payed AV's. Not everyone needs all the detection that KAV has, in such cases other things like system impact, stability, GUI and cost play an important roll.

If any of the Free AV's fail to meet your risk level, then the additions of Free Anti-Spy/Anti-Trojan software should go along way in picking up the slack.

 

Anti-virus programs can be like automobiles. They all have seatbelts. But I want one with a five star crash test rating and top protection. You get top protection with KAV. You never need airbags until you have a accident, but wouldn't you rather have them in the car?

 

But on the other hand you won't get ANY free car anywhere... Not even one with 4 stars (like avast! as example)

 

Does Avast uses Skin interface as default? becoz not until i realize there is a Skiness interface i decide to give Avast another try.

Avast Skiness is actually very good. Although the GUI can still be improved. Like Setting the Realtime monitor config screen similar to the default screen. But these are minor minor stuff. Ever since it has a simple Skiness interface i am very happy with it.
Now it need better scanning speed, Better generic detection ( Since developer disagree on Heu ) and proberly less resources usage.

 

If I had been given a free car I might use a free antivirus program. But Having spent a lot of money on a computer system I want the best protection I can get. Even if I don't think I'll ever need it. I think AVAST (paid) is very good by the way.

 

avast Home Edition (free) uses the same engine as Professional version.

 

Yes but does it scan scripts like the paid version? No, according to features comparison on Avast Web site. So paid still best.

 

All,
I use to have a sig. that said, "Cheap is better then free". I think Command AV is still about $20. Good protection at a great price. I recommend it. Not pretty if you want eye candy as Bellgamin so accurately put it. I currently use AVG on my older machine but am considering a switch to Antivir PE I think the frees are all good for frees.

 

There are quite a few free script blockers in case you wish to add, Secure IT for instance.

It is incredible that apart from script blocker and advanced program control, Avast left everything important in its free version, many lesser programs have been known to charge for something trivial.

 

Do not mess with generic blockers for VBS/WSH files and Script Scanners like Script Blocker. Generic blockers (aka "Script Blockers") just ask you for each and every script FILE. avast! Script Blocker is different. It scans every script string submited to Windows Scripting Host (usually issued by WMP,Internet Explorer,Mozilla Suite,Netscape and other Windows programs).
So those are actually blockers,while avast!'s Script Blocker is actually a script scanner.

 

Whoa!! that's definitely no good! Your DNS server must be directing you to the wrong site. I don't get that when clicking my link but try typing it in directly into your web browser.

 

I use AVG and I am on dialup. It's NOT a problem. I get an update almost every day, and most are less than 200 KB in size-- they take no more than a minute or two to download.

You can get fairly decent protection by using multiple free AV programs. I also use F-Prot for DOS, a free scanner that uses the KAV engine (detects but won't remove anything), and occasionally I will download and use AntiVir (without resident protection).

I can understand why you don't like the free version of AntiVir, if that's the one you've been using. It's a real PITA to update over dialup because the updates are almost always quite large.


Phil

 

RejZor, I'm never quite clear of the advantages of script scanning. Is it not true that anything with a .VBS extention will (depending upon the configuration of your AV Guard) be scanned as soon as it is 'written to or read from disc'? So why is a script scanner so much better?

Do you know what the practical consequences of disabling the WHS, and thereby preventing .VBS scripts from running, would be?