What's a good free anti virus software for XP?

[Peter Mount]

Hi

I know somebody who's asking for a good free anti virus program for Windows XP. They need to watch their money for a few months (after that they might pay for one). What do people recomend?

Thanks

[derjames]

Try Avast which is free for non-commercial usage...

http://www.avast.com

[seshomaru samma]

AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/)

[enopepsoo]

avast is good and also panda.

I don't think you really need a virus scanner on xp if you have a firewall and browse / email safely. Better back up those files to be sure.](*,)

[Peter Mount]

Thanks for the replies

Have fun

[steven8]

I use Avast, and the firewall that comes with SP2. No virus' at all.

[derjames]

I use Avast, and the firewall that comes with SP2. No virus' at all.

yeap, Windows Firewall and Avast... there is no need to pay for Norton or McAfee...

[Circus-Killer]

avast + zonealarm makes for a good combo. ;)

[marklid]

AVG antiviris and Comodo firewall

[NikoC]

Same as most of you people I use Avast and windows XP SP2 firewall on my windows box.

[Sef]

AVG and Avast both have good reps. Also check out Clamwin (http://http://www.clamwin.com/).

[AndrewB]

Avast and XP's firewall

[Henry Rayker]

I just use Comodo's antivirus and firewall. I know the firewall is one of the best around, so I figure the anti-virus must be reasonable at least.

[Rhubarb]

No one here has recommended open source AV yet? (except for Sef's recommendation of clamwin above - thanks!)
Shame on you all.

Anyway, when I rarely come in contact with windows (except @ work), I use clamwin
http://www.clamwin.com/

If you want a nice firewall and the ability to scan every file you open / run, try winpooch with clamwin
http://winpooch.free.fr/

And only log in as administrator if you're doing admin tasks.
For day-to-day use, use a locked down account (a guest account).

[smoker]

I know somebody who's asking for a good free anti virus program for Windows XP. They need to watch their money for a few months (after that they might pay for one). What do people recomend?

AVG Free and AVG Antispyware are both free and regularly updated. they don't hog the resources of the computer, and they also don't need any registration.

there is no need to pay for one, there are plenty free alternatives just as good, and better than, any paid AV.:D

[JPMaximilian]

I vote for AVG as well. I've never used avast, but that doesn't mean a lot.

[Sunnz]

No one here has recommended open source AV yet? (except for Sef's recommendation of clamwin above - thanks!)
Shame on you all.

Anyway, when I rarely come in contact with windows (except @ work), I use clamwin
http://www.clamwin.com/

If you want a nice firewall and the ability to scan every file you open / run, try winpooch with clamwin
http://winpooch.free.fr/

And only log in as administrator if you're doing admin tasks.
For day-to-day use, use a locked down account (a guest account).
Ummm... you could clam by itself as a service right?

I thought ClamWin just provides a GUI on top of ClamAV... and without the GUI, it should use even less resources and you can simply forget it. Feel free to correct me though.

[happy-and-lost]

Avast/ZoneAlarm/SpywareBlaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html) (Which patches security holes, does not need to be run at all times) have kept my machines happy for years.

[treecrab]

I have some free (LEGAL) security software for *******. Antivirus and Firewall from Norton and/or Mcafee and a few anti-spyware programs. No registration or payment for any of the programs (by me or the company.) If anyone is interested please let me know by sending a PM or email.

[Frak]

Go open source, ClamWin

[M_the_C]

I've heard that Windows Firewall, whilst good at protecting your pc from threats, lets microsoft programs through unless you specify otherwise.

I use AVG and Zonealarm on Win.

[Frak]

Never use Windows Firewall, it leaves a majority of the ports wide open, just for microsoft programs, and if something can go out, something can come in, not just Microsoft programs come in and out.

[motang]

AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/)

I agree with seshomaru samma I used AVG for years before I switched over to Ubuntu and I still have it installed on the windows partition. Matter of fact I have AVG free on my Ubuntu machine (yes there is a linux version). So I would suggest AVG free, it works great, updated regularly, and it's free.

[Frak]

AVG is only for 6-months, then they force you to pay for it or uninstall.

[smoker]

AVG is only for 6-months, then they force you to pay for it or uninstall.

'avg antivirus', and 'avg free antivirus' are two different products, 'avg free antivirus' has no limitations, i have been using it for years on windows computers, make sure it is the 'avg free antivirus' that you are downloading or you will get a time limited pay for version.:D

[Frak]

'avg antivirus', and 'avg free antivirus' are two different products, 'avg free antivirus' has no limitations, i have been using it for years on windows computers, make sure it is the 'avg free antivirus' that you are downloading or you will get a time limited pay for version.:D
Nope mine says Free edition...

[smoker]

hi, Frak, what version are you using?

from: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

New Free Anti-Virus

"GRISOFT is announcing a new version of the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. This new 7.5 version with improved performance and full compatibility with the latest Windows Vista version is available. Users that are using AVG Free 7.1 will be provided with a specific dialog, within the next few weeks, with the opportunity to choose the right option fulfilling their needs. AVG Free 7.1 version will be discontinued on 18th of Feb 2007."

i believe users of version 7.1 are getting messages saying it is discontinued and to upgrade to a pay version, but version 7.5 is free with no restrictions.

[Frak]

Oh ok, that was the message I was getting, thanks for clearing it up.

[SmiLey497]

Antivir anti-virus (it's free), commodo firewall is good but its so damn naggy, i have to approve everything, zone alarm is cool if its the paid version, the free version is not up to snuff

[wthanna]

I have been an Avast user for years, but recently switched to AntiVir ( www.free-av.com ). Check the antivirus detection and cleaning comparison sites... I'm not at home right now, or I would post a few.. sorry! AntiVir has been outperforming the other "free" as well as the paid programs like McAfee and Norton, for several months now. It is also less of a resource hog than Avast. Do some comparing.. and don't be afraid to switch if what you have been using falls behind... oh, and unlike Avast, AntiVir has a scheduler that allows you to run various options on different schedules.

[John T. Monkey]

I have Avira Antivir on my Windows computer, Zone Alarm, Adaware and Spyboy S&D.

All of them are great, but I use the computer so little that it takes about an hour to update it (Windows Updates too) before it's usable... :(

[Siberia]

Definitely Avast! I tried Norton and McAfee to see what they got Avast! didn't and the answer was 112 viruses.

[Frak]

Definitely Avast! I tried Norton and McAfee to see what they got Avast! didn't and the answer was 112 viruses.
Thanks Seberia, Avast is better, it found 3 vir that Norton, AVG, McAfee, and Panda couldn't find!

[LookTJ]

What happens if you use avast and clamwin together?

[Frak]

Shouldn't make much difference since Clamwin and Avast work differently, use Clamwin for manual scans, Avast for the scheduled ones.

[nenyalorien]

i used ClamWin, Avira and BitDefender on Windows. ClamWin allows you to scan your RAM/memory. Avira has a real-time guard. you can use ClamWin and Avira together. both work well and with synergy. i have been able to rescue my system several times because of these two programs. :D

[SendDerek]

Kaspersky has been at the top for quite some time... but you can come to grips with your own conclusion by looking at some AV comparison charts with scores on the top AV programs at:

http://www.av-comparitives.org

(PS. +1 for Avast... it has been out-scoring AVG for quite some time.)

[jclmusic]

when i used windows on the net i used mcafee cos my dad had some cds of it.

don't use norton. it came with my computer and it was completely useless, not to mention impossibl;e to remove.

[karellen]

avast

[Frak]

avast
There is a flaw though in Avast! that I've found.
If you have large log files, about every 30 seconds, your computer will MASSIVELY slow down.
This has been identified as a bug.

[Jhongy]

I actually posted this in the Ubuntu desktop forums...

I (my wife) only run WinXP rarely in a virtual machine... but it does have access to my Linux shares.

I actually paid for Norton AV... man, that used to be good software, but I cannot believe how utterly slow and laggy it is now. A big yellow plastic-looking piece of crap. Big, flashy interface that apparently does very little.

I'm not so bothered about the XP system files, as I can just fall back to an earlier snapshot. However I do want to protect the shared folders as I do release software / we send things to other people, and don't want to compromise them. The wife also uses IE for several Chinese online banking sites. The VM can be slow enough already... so I want speed, speed, speed!!!

Which AV is the fastest? I couldn't care less about a firewall, as I'm behind a NAT router.

[Frak]

Clamwin

[Jhongy]

cool,

And it can do real-time scanning? (in fact, I only really care about scanning at the VM boundary... protecting network shares, etc.

[eltidi]

Follow the advice and use avg or clamwin. Now I prefer nod32 antivirus even if it's not free, it's really fast scanning hard drives and have a very small footprint on your computer.

[karellen]

There is a flaw though in Avast! that I've found.
If you have large log files, about every 30 seconds, your computer will MASSIVELY slow down.
This has been identified as a bug.

I didn't know about that, I used avast last year I think and only for 2 or 3 weeks...but as a free solution it seemed satisfactorily for the average user

[Ownerizer]

I would have to agree with avast being the best. It's been working perfectly for me for four years and counting on my Windows boxes.

[STREETURCHINE]

i use AVG ,mine is a paid version but the free version is still very good,
AVG has managed to keep my windows computer quite safe.
so i would have no difficulty in recommending AVG.

and spybot for spyware also good and free