Which AV for Vista ?
 

Hay,

I've currently fixing up 3 laptops that my cousins have filled with crap i.e Virus, trojans, spyware etc etc. I want to install a Anti-virus program for them all but they don't have the money at the moment to buy a premium one so can anyone tell me whats the best free AV for Vista atm ?

I currenlty use norton (I know what some people think of it but I like it and it does the job for me very well) so have not had need to look into it before. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

I use AVG free with my Vista Home Premium. AVG Free version 2011

Never had any problems with it

I scan every weekend with AVG free, Malware bytes and Spybot. As of yet i have picked up no nasties

andrewlutonuk

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

I'm happily using the free version of Avast 5 on my desktop PC which is running Vista Business and on my laptop which is running XP Pro, plus I use the free version of SuperAntiSpyware on both machines.

Both seem to be running satisfactorily although Avast seems to slow start-up, but OK once up and running.

I gave up on AVG when I had some annoying conflicts on a machine running Windows 2000 Pro a few years ago, and I gave up on SpyBot following a nasty run in with a false positive that damaged the OS necessitating a re-install. Googling and going into forums I found these were known issues on both AVG and SpyBot!!!

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

Avira all the way

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

Avasts newest version did well in a recent test WHICH did. Avira is great but the last time I tried the free version I got sick of the nag screens

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

I just use the Microsfot Security Essential's and have had no problem's with it since I started using it.

Won't to the bloatware that is avg anymore as it is to hungry and also every little keygen is picked up as a trojan and deleted straight away, even if they are clean as a whistle.

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

I switched from MSE because in the same tests mentioned in WHICH magazine Avira was top iirc and Avast was second MSE was second from bottom

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

http://www.av-comparatives.org/image...ynamic2010.pdf

worth looking at this too

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

AVs are like underwear.

Some like thongs, g-strings, boxers, passion killers & some go commando


I have avast, on my 3 laptops & Netbook

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

My vote goes for Avast.

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

Avira for detection, with a couple of back up scanners (mbam + SAS). Trouble is AV software is a 20 year old technology which just doesn`t cut it any more...

Malware writers have access to VirusTotal, Jotti, etc.

Maybe put a behaviour blocker like Threatfire on them http://www.threatfire.com/

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

Comodo Firewall, Avast Anti-Virus, and Spybot S&D on Vista Ultimate (I use Comodo 4 which has firewall and A/V on the family laptops, which run on XP and Win7).

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

I use avast, found it to be the most lightweight which is good if you are a gamer or if resources are at a premium. Also seems to give the fewest false positives/negatives out of all the AV I have used.

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

Thanks for all the reply's everyone. Still trying to clean them up. Been working on them most of the day. I always tell people "Dont install anything if you dont know what it is" but as usual they never listen and carry on filling their systems with crap.

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

I share your pain - last weekend I had to bring my lad's PC back from Uni, and make multiple passes with Spybot, Comodo, and MalWareBytes to remove a trojan he had got on his PC (which of course had corrupted most of the apps such as iTunes, Office, etc etc, so they had to be re-installed).

He has now been educated in the magic of "right click and scan"....

Re: Which AV for Vista ?
 

If it's not a suite, then augment it with a good firewall/hips that will cover a lot of possible malware intrusion points.
http://www.matousec.com/matousec/blo...._real_malware_ - How their tests relate to some real malware

http://www.matousec.com/projects/pro...ge/results.php
NB. You're probabloy better off with Comodo's free firewall and another antivirus, than using their suite, as unless it has improved a lot, the antivirus is one of the poorer ones