Best AntiVirus Program

I know this has been discussed before.
My Norton subscription has expired on one of my PCs. Before I spend the $$$ and renew it I thought I'd ask what is the best software available. I have always used Norton but I'll change if there is something better out there.
Thanks.

Do a search on VIRUS

Virus Scanners

I had Norton on my very first computer, then McAfee for the rest. Just this year, after my cpu had contracted a nasty rootkit that NOBODY could remove, I installed AVG & Avast on my new cpu. So far so good, although this computer is starting to slow down on occasion, just like all the others do once I get all my files on board ...

I seemed to have more issues with my computers with either Norton or McAfee installed -- lots of unexplained crashes, freeze-ups, slow-downs, etc.. Plus they cost money!

I use the AVAST Pro for 64 bit machines. I went with AVAST because none of the others I was familiar with offered 64 bit support at the time. I still use Norton on my wife's machine but prefer AVAST. It has it's own quirks but is not as annoying or as money hungry as Norton.

If you have XP or Vista (and I assume Windows 7), Microsoft now has a product that's free.

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

A link to where many of the above mentioned are available.

http://filehippo.com/software/antivirus/

I use the free version of AVG. It's worked for me. I get emails from ZDnet, a tech news source. It says the freebie from Microsoft is worth about what you pay for it...nothing!

I've been installing AVG on PCs over the past year or so. It works great, for the price. I just recently started installing Micrsoft Esstentials. Haven't had any problems with it yet, plus it works for Vista and '7' too.

Thanks, WNY, I was being lazy.

I have XP version 2002 service pack 3.

Looks like AVG is the most recommended.

AVG for me, it's free and works. Avast is good too.
Try not to have a bunch of them on your computer at the same time, they tend to fight with each other. Good luck trying to get rid of some of them, Norton is a beeotch.

coaledsweat wrote:Norton is a beeotch.

I believe Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool can now take care of Norton. Yeah, once you got it installed, it acts like a virus itsself!

VERY true! I'm still not 100% sure I removed all of it from my new cpu .....

What's the deal with the popups I keep getting from Avast? Keeps saying Dec.1st there's an upgrade, but it's not free ...... then when I went to their site, I couldn't find the free edition anymore ???

Norton seems to have too much bullshit in it and uses up the CPU's time. I have heard about problems getting rid of Norton. It was good years ago. Both my PC's are old by todays standards but I'm not replacing them anytime soon. I have them set up with a Belkin Flip so I only use one monitor/mouse/keyboard/set of speakers for both PCs, and with the download from the Belkin website I can flip video or audio only or both. Works great and no problems.

We use Trend Micro here. It works well and its not a hog like Norton.

The only reason I still use Norton is because I know it well. Otherwise I'd give it the heave-ho. Good luck digging it out of your system once it is installed. Even Norton itself has a special tool for this. My sister, mom, and brother-in-law use AVG. They seem to be happy with it but it doesn't do all the things the non-free software does. It really depends on who is using your PC and how you use it. If you just use it for email then a freebie should be fine provided you don't open emails/attachments from people/things you don't know or trust. If you download a lot of stuff from the web or usenet then you need something more secure.

SMITTY wrote:VERY true! I'm still not 100% sure I removed all of it from my new cpu .....

What's the deal with the popups I keep getting from Avast? Keeps saying Dec.1st there's an upgrade, but it's not free ...... then when I went to their site, I couldn't find the free edition anymore ???

Just google free avast and download it from Cnet or another site. They have little tricks to get you to buy the upgraded stuff, but generally it is in there in a free version if you look around.