Free anti-virus for Vista?

Hi all,
currently running AVG on this machine but the updates have gotten themselves
messed up. Anyone else got a decent free anti-virus solution they`d
recommend?

Thanks!

 

Avast! or try re-installing AVG, as it's not a bad one.

ClamWin's good but not for the faint hearted, there's no on-access
scanner, only full scan and email scanning.

Kaspersky's reportedly good, I haven't tried it myself for many years
though so my comments on that might not be valid today.

 

SOPHOS on our work systems was coming pretty close to Norton a few
months ago. SOPHOS gave us a client which would virtually kill the PC as
soon as an update occurred or a scan was initiated but that didn't
matter as they released an update which killed all clients on the
network anyway.

 

Spybot is hold hat now, it wont clear up anything like enough of the
spyware. For spyware, use avg anti spyware or superantispyware, in
association with spyware blaster.

Gaz

 

The best product produced by Symantec at the moment is their 'norton removal
tool' I have found every computer i installed it on, resulted in a massive
improvement in speed and usablilty. On older machines the difference can be
in the 1000%+ (yes, seriously).

Gaz

 

yes I agree and I didn't mean to say otherwise. Norton is a hog and I
stopped using it a few years ago when a sub ran out and I looked about
for free scanners. All my clients who have Norton on from new stop using
it and have gone to AVG Free edition.

 

In <>

I tried asking for recommendations in an anti-malware newsgroup a while
ago and had the same problem as here:- too many different things being
recommended with no clear "winner". I'm not a fan of AVG, and Avast has
a dreadful GUI.

One of the recommendations was for Comodo BoClean, which seems quite
good; it just sits there without being intrusive, but obviously does
work to at least some extent, because when I opened a folder with an
infected archive in, it immediately alerted me.

I also quite like Active Virus Shield which is a version of Kapersky
that AOL used to give away to anyone (not just AOL users), but sadly
they've swapped to McAfee. AVS still seems to be supported for existing
users so I'll keep that on the machine I've installed it on for as long
as it still works.

I've also tried Spyware Terminator which I liked the look of because it
can use the Clam engine to protect from viruses as well as spyware, but
I found it too intrusive, hogging system resources to build indexes etc.

 

I`m thinking about going back to XP actually Either that or a clean
install of Vista without the Dell junk on it, because something is slowing
this machine down. dual core and 3 gig of ram shouldn`t be slow

 

The message <>

But have you tried installing SpyBot S&D and running a scan recently?

 

I have never had spyware on a computer, ever. I have never had a virus
on my PC ever. That's ever as in 17 years.

At the most, Spybot will flag up some tracking cookies but IMO, if a
program needs to resort to flagging up legitimate tracking cookies as
malware just ot prove it works, I don't think I'll bother thankyou.

--
Conor

As a Brit I'd like to thank the Americans for their help in the war
against terror because if they'd not funded the IRA for 30 years, we
wouldn't know how to deal with terrorists.

 

Not if Dell Ubuntu PC prices are anything to go by. A Dell with Ubuntu
on is £30 more than one with Vista on.

 

hehe yep.

or is there bundled support? They anticipate more people phoning up with a
Linux related question than a Windows one? Generally Linux users have
installed it themselves or have a family member do it and get most support
through that channel. But for someone who's never used let alone installed
it... especially if they're used to the Windows way of doing things.

 

I`ve got the Vista anytime upgrade DVD, and am wondering if I can do a clean
install of Vista using my Dell serial code from this, rather than doing a
restore with all Dell`s junk on. Anyone know?

 

Yes the Anytime Upgrade DVD is the same as any other Vista DVD except the
differences between 32/64bit versions and there is no such thing as Retail
and OEM DVDs with Vista. As long as your Dell code is a valid one, then you
will be able to activate it after installing Vista from the Anytime Upgrade
DVD.

 

Cheers. Managed to clear off a 400 gig internal drive, so will unplug the
current installation and install onto the new drive and check everything
works. Worst case is formatting the drive and going back to what i`ve got
now. But at least it gives me a nice easy fall back position.

Fingers crossed!

 

so how much extra do they charge for 'bare metal', or can't you even buy
them that way?