is AV antivirus which can be downloaded for free as good as other antivirus packages such as Norton?

Answer 1

iv'e used avg for years and find it very good

Answer 2

AVG AntiVirus is an excellent program but did not perform as well as other in independent tests conducted last August.

Kaspersky performed the best with a detection and removal of 99.62 % of all the test viruses used. Kaspersky is a program you must purchase.

Active Virus Shield came in second with the same percentage rating as Kaspersky. This may be that AVS uses Kaspersky as its AV program. AVS is a free program offered by AOL. Do not be alarmed or turned off. AVS is a completely free program with no strings attached. AOL almost went bankrupt over those old tactics and have learned their lesson.

AVG only scored in the low 80's percentile.

Here is the site of the Independent testing service and the results.

http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=82&mnu=82

Here is the Active Virus Shield site:

http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp

Answer 3

Nortons Sucks Mcaffe does to,,, Atleast Nortons Works (what that's engaged on in undemanding words god is universal with). That with some thing like CLAM AV should be sturdy. you may installation 3 Nortons, CLAM AV, and AVG loose version,,, would not count number truly, dude basically that's like this each antivirus application keeps a definition database, that's how they know whats a pandemic and whats no longer,,, some agencies have sturdy ones some do not ,,, regardless you want to hide the span of many def information as plausible,, so technically u may have as many AV courses as u want,, basically no longer firewalls thats the position complications start up,,, in undemanding words issues AV's will do is have discrepancies vs one yet another... eg he says that's a pandemic and he says that's no longer,,, so enable the loose AV downloading commense dude,, oh nicely i fu have a gradual computer like MB's for RAM as a pose to possibly a Gb or more beneficial,, ignore about it,, make certain some thing sturdy and slender, as some human beings stated AV's take up CPU/MEM. particularly a mix like nortons and Mcaffe,,, you may take the real time monitoring off of one besides if that decision is provided,,, the reason of having 2 is to strengthen ur virus definitions.

Answer 4

I use the AVG free edition, and used to have Norton before, I work in an office and the computers at work all have the AVG free antivirus as well, no problems to report other than saving money
I have spybot search & destroy as well (For spyware removal)

I dont know about AV but AVG is very good.

Answer 5

Are you talking about AVG or AV Personal? Either way, I have used both at one point and they are great! I now pay extra to use Norton but really don't find it any better than AVG or AV Personal. Why pay when you can get a 1st class service for FREE!!!!!!

Answer 6

AVG is excellent, and nowhere near as resource-heavy as Norton. Contrary to some ideas, it IS free, a new free version (7.5) has just been released.
If you want to remove Norton properly, use Symantec's own removal program at : http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039
A good free firewall is Zone Alarm, and Ad-Aware SE Personal for dealing with malware.

Answer 7

I used Norton for too long and suffered their endless virus updates, and wasted evenings installing or renewing the software every so often . I recently switched to AVG and am perfectly happy. From time to time it briefly and gracefully update the virus definitions, and that's that. The only good thing about Norton is that you can actually call someone and get help. With Grisoft/AVG, as with most online vendors, only e-mails, and don't be foolish enough to expect a reply. My only real complaint is that I got it when it was free, but now apparently it is only free as a 30-dray free trial version. Am I missing anything?

Answer 8

this is all a question of how much you want out of a anti-virus program
free software such as a.v.g and avast4.7 are very good anti-virus programs but they are basic in their uses,but they are quite good enough if you combine them with free anti-spyware programs such as spybot and lavasoft,s adaware
packages like norton,mcafee and panda are more all in one packages,which in some peoples eyes,are a much better way of securing your p.c
all anti-virus programs do a good job,as long as they are identified by the windows security center and reports that they are up to date,then its fine,and to be honest programs such as norton 360 wont register in security center which can put some users off
the best free anti-virus in my opinion is avast(http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html)and if you want to pay for a package then i would go for f-secure anti-virus(http://www.f-secure.com/home_user/)
good luck

Answer 9

I use avast which is free without a problem.

I've heard several horror stories about Norton but these may be urban myths!

Answer 10

Steer clear of norton, it will bog down your system, i have used avg free with no problems ,but now have McCafee which is excellent.

Answer 11

AVG charge now, no more freebies.
avast is the one i am using now
keep off norton.
not had a virus for ages now but i got a router running with nat enabled....this also helps.