lordpuffer
I Was Very Drunk At The Time
Premium
join:2004-09-19
West Hollywood, CA
 ·T-Mobile US
 ·Vonage
 ·RoadRunner Cable
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| The Best Free Antivirus Program?
What would you suggest as the best free antivirus program that uses the least resources and doesn't slow your computer down? I took a look at Avast and it didn't seem to have a setting where you can schedule a scan to run once a week. I would like the program that I use to have this feature. What other suggestions would you have? Thanks. |
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CajunTek
Insane Cajun
Premium,MVM
join:2003-08-08
Arlington, TX | Try this one from Avira »www.free-av.com/
--
da Cajun Darn I hate Malware |
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StraitShoot
Who Loves Ya Baby? - Theo Kojak
Premium
join:2003-02-08
Clinton, MA
| reply to lordpuffer
I've been thinking of the same question because although I run Kaspersky Internet Security 6, I'm a "mature" enough surfer to know how to be careful; besided, my AV, whether it was Avast, KAV, or NOD32 never rang up at all, in spite of the fact that a couple of trojans snuck in there, (with KAV), I don't see the point of paying for AV software anymore.. When my KIS 6 expires I will be taking the freeway.. and I don't mean the one in Los Angeles 
My choices and my impressions..
1. As a Comcast subscriber, I can have the "privilige" of using McAfee Internet Security for free.. »www.comcast.net/security/?CM.src=top Thanks but no thanks...I found it to be a resource hog and it keeps sending me pop ups to be stuff I don't need or want.
The folks at McAfee should read this book here before making such lame attempts to sell their Comcast subscribers more crap...»www.sethgodin.com/permission/
2. Avast. »www.avast.com Not bad, actually. The folks who run this one are great and the program is very good.
3. »www.free-av.com/ Seems to be missing some features... I don't know much about it.
4. »free.grisoft.com/doc/1 Well known AV. Seems a little on the "weak" side, however, I heard it doesn't slow a system down.
5. »www.activevirusshield.com/antivi···dex.adp?
AOL Version of KAV. Very good! However someone at DSLR pointed out you can't exclude a file from being scanned..
Have fun! |
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Kerodo
join:2004-05-08
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
| reply to lordpuffer
Probably the best 3 would be AOL AVS, Avast, and AntiVir. I think I would choose AOL AVS because AntiVir's update servers can be problematic at times, and AVS should give you good protection as it's based on KAV, perhaps a little better than Avast, although Avast users might argue with this.  |
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lordpuffer
I Was Very Drunk At The Time
Premium
join:2004-09-19
West Hollywood, CA | If I use AOL AVS, does it also download other AOL stuff? I don't want any other AOL stuff on my computer. |
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KoRnGtL15
Premium
join:2007-01-04
Grants Pass, OR | Re: The Best Free Antivirus Program?
I can vouch for AVS (active virus shield) myself. Been using it for months. And no it doesnt install aol junk on your pc. Its light weight and a very solid performer. |
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Tuneraider
join:2003-05-21
Mckee, KY | reply to lordpuffer
lordpuffer,
during the AVS installation uncheck the option to install the security toolbar. You should be good to go then. |
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jmorlan
Hmm... That's funny.
Premium
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to lordpuffer
said by lordpuffer  :If I use AOL AVS, does it also download other AOL stuff? I don't want any other AOL stuff on my computer. I've been using it since September 2006 and have never seen so much as a single ad or email from AOL even though they have my email address. That should not be a worry.
The big advantage of AVS is that it uses KAV definitions and you can configure AVS to check for updates as often as you want. For a while I had mine set to every five minutes which is probably overkill. It has fewer features than the real KAV, but the core is the same and it takes less memory and uses fewer resources than KAV.
One downside to AVS (and KAV) in my opinion is that it defaults to enabling the built-in iSwift technology which adds undocumented NTFS-identifiers to your NTFS indexes. It does this to speed up scanning by skipping files that have already been scanned and cleared. However, there appears to be a side-effect of this technology in that some (many?) systems will experience long pauses during or before stage 2 CHKDSK after these NTFS-identifiers have been added. In some cases CHKDSK may not be able to run to completion.
If you remove KAV or AVS, these NTFS-identifiers remain in your file system and there is no way to remove them except heroic measures such as copying your drive to a backup, removing your data and then copying it back. The NTFS-identifiers are not copied, so that's one way to be rid of them. Unfortunately KAV has been unwilling to acknowledge this issue. In my opinion they need to offer a removal tool for the unwanted NTFS-identifiers, but thus far have turned a deaf ear to this issue.
If you use AVS (or KAV) there is an option to turn iSwift off and I recommend that you do (see above screenshot). However, if you run a scan with it on, you will have those NTFS-identifiers forever and there is no going back. However, if your system was clean to begin with, there's really no need to do an initial scan and you will still get AVS's excellent real-time protection should a parasite get downloaded or try to execute on your system. |
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jp10558
Premium
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY | reply to lordpuffer
I'd recommend Avira. |
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La Luna
Surviving Ashraful
Premium
join:2001-07-12
Warwick, NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
·Vonage
| reply to lordpuffer
»AntiVirus Poll 2007
This question has been asked numerous times. There is no "best", everyone has their own opinion based on what works well on their system.
Do a search:
»Why to pay for an av?
»[Need] Best AV software
»Pros/Cons of Free AVG & Avast AV Programs
»Looking for a good free Anti-Virus Program
»What's your preferred free antivirus software?
--
~~"As long as America is an infidel enemy, terrorizing it is a duty." Sayed Imam Abdul-Aziz el-Sheriff~~
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JammerMan79
Premium,VIP
join:2004-05-13
Prince George, BC
1 edit | reply to lordpuffer
I'd also recommend AVIRA (»www.free-av.com)
Been using it for years and it's been top notch.
The update servers can occasionally become overloaded with the free version BUT it will update itself later on... The updates are very frequent, quite often multiple updates during the day.
Never had a virus squeak through either.
--
I may work for, but do not necessarily represent the views and beliefs of TELUS Communications. |
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EUS
Kill cancer
Premium
join:2002-09-10
Montreal, QC
clubs: | reply to lordpuffer
Still no 64 bit release?
For shame. |
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tim_k
Buttons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, Kasey
Premium
join:2002-02-02
Stewartstown, PA | reply to lordpuffer
I recently installed AVS on my cousins computer to try to clean it up. It seems to have wiped out all the bad stuff. Haven't seen a reappearance yet.
--
RIP my baby Buttons 1/15/94-2/9/07 |
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lordpuffer
I Was Very Drunk At The Time
Premium
join:2004-09-19
West Hollywood, CA
·T-Mobile US
·Vonage
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to jmorlan
Thanks jmorlan....I downloaded the AOL AVS program and disabled iSwift before I ran a scan. Can you or somebody answer a question that I cannot figure out? How do you set the program to run a scan on it's own like once a week? I couldn't figure that out. Thanks. |
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jmorlan
Hmm... That's funny.
Premium
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| You can set scheduled scans at the "Run Mode" check box above. Check the box and then click on "change." You can schedule scans daily, weekly, monthly, Wednesdays, whatever you want. There is also a similar setting for scheduling scans of "My Computer" and "Startup Objects." |
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lordpuffer
I Was Very Drunk At The Time
Premium
join:2004-09-19
West Hollywood, CA | Thanks |
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diver196
join:2003-12-09
| reply to lordpuffer
While it may not be a favorite of those posting here, AVG is probably the most widely used free AV program. Its the number one AV program on the AV poll here. Other programs may boast better detection rates and AVG is known to be weak on spyware, but it is very easy to use.
Another alternative, not usually though of as free, is to use whatever your employer or school is authorized to give out. This would most likely include enterprise versions of Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro. Many scoff at the "big 3", but their enterprise versions are free of the annoyances that come with the consumer versions.
Its like what I say about Coffee. Folks will walk past free coffee in a hotel lobby and buy a cup of Starbucks across the street. The hotel coffee isn't what they want. AV's are the same way. You really don't have to pay for one unless you insist.
--
Only those defenses are good, certain and durable, which depend on yourself alone and your own ability. -The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli. |
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hpguru
Curb Your Dogma
Premium
join:2002-04-12 | reply to jmorlan
No issues with iSwift here. Works great. |
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dantz
join:2005-05-09
Honolulu, HI
·Hawaiian Telcom
| said by hpguru :No issues with iSwift here. Works great. If you run at least one full scan of Drive C with iSwift enabled then the so-called NTFS identifiers will be permanently added to your filesystem indexes. (Uninstalling KAV or AVS won't remove them). After this happens, try running CHKDSK on Drive C and see if your system experiences a noticeable delay at the beginning of Phase 2 (or "Stage" 2, if you scheduled CHKDSK to run after a reboot). If you are lucky this is all that will happen, but some people experience worse symptoms.
If you have not yet run a full scan of Drive C and you want to try this, I strongly recommend that you save a fresh image before you do so, as the NTFS identifiers are very difficult to remove from the partition containing the OS. In fact, the simplest way to "remove" them is to restore from a previous image. |
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