guys, good free antivirus?

[Chocofreak13]

we compared notes on antivirus software in the antivirus-tans thread, but i thought i'd make a seperate topic rather than necro post, and in the correct section of forums.

since speedy's back online (and on the way to becoming my main computer) it's only natural that she should be protected.

i'd like reccomends on free antivirus (can't afford to pay). i took the repair shop's advice and took a look at AVG, but the free version really skimps on protection in contrast to the one that you pay for.

i remember vondaab talking about comodo (or something like that) as a good antivirus, but i'd like everyone's opinion. .____.;

plz post. ^^;

[Red-Machine]

Well, I use Microsoft Security Essentials.  Small footprint, unobtrusive reminders to scan and update (however, updates normally come in on a Windows Update cycle if you select them) and intergrates well into Windows.  Only downside I've found is sometimes when it detects a virus and you try to clear it out it will stop in the middle of doing it, but won't tell you.  Juct do a reboot and scan for it again adn everythin'll be okay.

[NejinOniwa]

Using Rising Antivirus here. Has just about everything you want, including an optional cloud function (I'm not using that, though), and integrates very neatly into windows - it even shows up in the logon screen. Slows down logon slightly (at least on LAMBDA), but other than that things roll on like usual at the same speeds. Like most clothing, it's Made In China, but other than the sometimes slightly odd english (which is never anything unintelligible, just weird), it's very nice stuff.

[Dr. Kraus]

Microsoft Security Essentials has served me well since its release

[Chocofreak13]

........how do they stack up against AVG with spybot? my friend reccomended it to me :\

[Lt. Surge]

Avast!

http://www.avast.com/index

[NejinOniwa]

Avast, I have to say, is the most annoying piece of AV software ever produced. _-_

[coldReactive]

I use COMODO Internet Security.

[Lt. Surge]

Everyone's a critic

[Pitkin]

I used to have AVG for a very long time, but it felt extremely heavy and slow for me compared to Microsoft Security Essentials, and AVG also deemed my Diablo 2 exe file as a virus and removed it once during a routine scan. xP

MSE worked great for a while, being fast and feeling light, but then an automatic update made my computer unable to boot every time it was installed, and the only way to boot was via System Recovery. Since there was no fix made for it within five or so days, I got bored and went back to AVG, until I grew tired of Vista altogether and returned (further back) to Fedora.

The only other AV softwares I've had any experience with were Norton and F-Secure, both of which made AVG feel like a feather, and neither of them seemed to do anything nice except giving me trouble. That was many years ago, but I still wouldn't touch those two even if they were totally free. >.<

[Chocofreak13]

@pitkin: so what do you use now?

[Pitkin]

I don't use any. ._. *hides*

I just... I just try to be careful, and... and... v.v
-trust that there are very few viruses written for my OS,
-never use root account for anything else but updates,
-try to stick to signed repositories,
-pray (to an interesting deity).

I'm not at all an authority to tell those things would keep me safe, but those are things I've heard, and so far I've had no problems.

[NejinOniwa]

Well, if one is careful and using adblock during browsing, it's not like you ever get any viruses in the first place. Hell, LAMBDA hasn't had a single hit since the 7 install, aside from false alarms on a few cracks...

[Pitkin]

That's what I forgot to mention, indeed: I use AdBlock and NoScript. They help quite a lot too. ^^

[NejinOniwa]

NoScript usually causes more problems than it's worth for me, but AdBlock is probably the best invention since the B-29.