Need a new anti-virus

[Wozza63]

I'm looking for a new free anti-virus that is completely non-intrusive.

I used to use AVG but it got progressively worse and was regularly told my PC was performing poorly and that they could fix it -.-

Then I started using Avast and it gives me multiple notifications per day, often recommending me crappy articles and I'm unable to disable it.

So does anyone have any better AVs that don't keep popping up and just leave me alone?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Highly recommend BitDefender free, it's like Security Essentials in the way you never know it's there, but more like AVG in protection ability...

http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/solutions/free.html

 

[Androcles]

yeah I'm in the same boat, I've used AVG for as long as I can remember, but over the last year or so it's gradually started adding more and more crap like system checkers and such that I don't want and now they've forced the security toolbar on you which can acts like malware and can only be uninstalled with either another AV or by using a special AVG tool which probably puts god knows what on your system. So I changed to Avast, which was doing great until recently and it started bringing up all sorts of notifications including a "groupons" style toolbar when you go to some websites that uses certain systems as shop fronts (pizza hut is one of them), that suggests ways of getting their product cheaper using groupons, so I'm looking for something better too.

 

[Zach]

I gave up on AVG way back simply because it didn't cut the mustard. I have Comodo CIS (Firewall & AV) and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware...they stay in the background and do the job.

 

[policematrix]

i use Malwarebytes I have ever since norton and some others gave me the all clear so i tried this and found everything highly recomended

 

[Androcles]

i use Malwarebytes I have ever since norton and some others gave me the all clear so i tried this and found everything highly recomended

Malwarebytes is good, but it's NOT an anti virus, it's a Malware detector and remover, an anti virus is a different kettle of fish and does different things, it is highly recommended to use Malwarebytes along side a virus protector and not instead of one.

 

[ubuysa]

Malwarebytes is good, but it's NOT an anti virus, it's a Malware detector and remover, an anti virus is a different kettle of fish and does different things, it is highly recommended to use Malwarebytes along side a virus protector and not instead of one.

That's true of the free scanner, but if you pay for the Pro version of Malwarebytes you get a real-time anti-malware engine too.

 

[ubuysa]

I gave up on AVG way back simply because it didn't cut the mustard. I have Comodo CIS (Firewall & AV) and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware...they stay in the background and do the job.

I'm a long term CIS user too, it's a truly excellent product.

 

[Pagey]

And here's me using Windows Defender. XD

 

[mrducking]

And here's me using Windows Defender. XD

same here, and not a single virus in more than 3 years surfing the net and torrenting

 

[ubuysa]

And here's me using Windows Defender. XD

Defender and Microsfot Security Essentials are very good at what they do, as is the Windows firewall, but the type of Internet security you need depends a great deal on what you do on the Internet and how you use your PC.

I'm a experimenter, I like to mess around, I'll download and experiment with software, I like to explore problems and investigate issues. That puts me at huge risk online and so I need a security system that is as near bullet-proof as you can get. That's why I use CIS, it's much more than a firewall and antivirus tool (though they are both excellent components of CIS, especially the firewall which is much more configurable than Windows firewall). CIS really does implement "default deny" security, which is a real pain in the nether regions when you first start using it, because anything it doesn't know about gets sandboxed, which means the program appears to function but nothing it does gets written to the real machine. And even those programs that you elect not to sandbox are managed by the CIS Host intrusion Protection System (HIPS) which basically guards access to critical system features. Again, it's a pain when you first start using it because almost everything generates an alert (although CIS does have a training mode to hep you get up to speed).

What all this means is that I now have a security system where everything I know, trust and use, is specifically allowed access (but even then HIPS ensures the programs only get access to resources and features they need). Everything else is sandboxed or locked out by HIPS, my Internet access is via a robust and very configurable firewall and, for the malware already known about, the real-time antivirus is on hand to stop those infections. So I'm as safe as I can be whilst experimenting, playing, messing about, and testing software. My wife, who does none of that stuff and is your average type of Internet user uses the Windows firewall and Microsoft Security Essentials, that's plenty good enough for what she does.