What is the best (most comprehensive, user-friendly and effective) free anti-virus software?

Answer 1

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/spyware_protection_download.shtml

Answer 2

Free Anti-Virus Protection - Active Virus Shield
Free Active Virus Shield offers comprehensive anti-virus protection for your computer. Active Virus Shield detects, stops and protects your PC from Viruses ...
www.activevirusshield.com/

Answer 3

AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.

Answer 4

have a look

Do all this

Clean Up Computer
===============
Download and run superantispyware. I was put onto this program because of an annoying popup (XP)

http://www.superantispyware.com
Superantispyware is a good program and remember to update it before scanning. A scan may take 45mins.

afterwards clean up the registry with this
Clean up pc and IE
==============
To clean up run this Microsoft’s windows live program. It does registry, spyware , virus , disk clean up and defrag

it takes 2 hours or more so once it starts to scan (go to bed etc)

XP Users http://onecare.live.com/site/en-ca/defau...

Vista Users http://onecare.live.com/site/en-ca/cente...

Run the full scanner, then at the end of the scan it asks you to set it running full time.

Think twice about setting it to run in the background as it could be another thing to slow you down. However, it may be worth while if you have no other security programs running.

Consider the following options:
I personally run Norton 360 which is full internet security and run superantispyware when I want to.

So if you don’t have a decent internet security program then perhaps run the superantispyware with your antivirus in the background.

If you sick of antivirus programs that don’t work perhaps run onecare full time and run superantispyware whenever..

Answer 5

Everyday in the morning first turn on my AVG free updates and I know I have another virus free day ahead of me it has been that way for the last 4 years ~~

Answer 6

Take a look at the following website:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

There's a section there on anti-virus products with a review of the best ones.

Answer 7

You are going to get lots of different answers - why don't you try a few for yourself and see which you prefer. A word of caution - only have one running at a time because they may conflict with one another:

Anti Virus
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
http://www.avira.com
http://free.grisoft.com
http://www.free-av.com

wdw

Answer 8

Antivir PE or Avast

Answer 9

yes. AVG!

i use it and i have noooo problems. & they DO update free and daily.

Answer 10

Don't connect to the internet or share files and you will not need antivirus/antispyware/firewall. User friendly and 100% effective.
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In addition to a firewall you must have full time (active) virus protection and full time (active) spyware protection.

All the following programs are free.
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Full Time (Active) Virus Protection
Run a full scan.
If you do not have active virus protection, install only one. All are excellent.

AVG Antivirus 7.5 Free Edition
Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5
http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10669237.html?tag=lst-0-1
or
Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition
Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
or
Avira AntiVir Personal Edition Classic
Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista
http://www.free-av.com/
http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?tg=dl-20&qt=Avira&tag=srch
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Full Time (Active) spyware protection

Run a full scan. If you do not have active spyware protection, install:

Windows Defender (Included with Vista) XP SP2, Vista
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
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Install the following four programs and run weekly or at least monthly. You need all four. They are not a substitute for full time spyware and virus protection. They will greatly increase your protection. Spybot Search & Destroy and SpywareBlaster immunize your computer against over 47,000 threats Install and run now.

Ad-Aware SE Personal (update + full scan)
Windows 2000 (Pro and Server), Windows Server 2003, Windows XP (Home and Pro), Windows Vista (32-bit)
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php

Spybot Search & Destroy (update + immunize + scan)
Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista
Do not enable Tea Timer and SDHelper
After installation: update + scan + immunize
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

SpywareBlaster 3.51: Update then open and click “enable all protection”.
Windows All
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Popup-Ad-Spyware-Blockers/SpywareBlaster.shtml

SUPERAntiSpyware free version: (update + scan)
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
http://www.superantispyware.com/
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Install:

CCleaner:
Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
http://www.ccleaner.com/
Do not install optional toolbar.
Removes tracking cookies, unneeded files, history
In options.
Set to run when computer starts.
Place cookies you want to keep in save list
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Install either one not both:
Helps protect you from all kinds of Web-based security threats including spyware, adware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, and online scams. I use McAfee Site Advisor.

McAfee Site Advisor: Internet Explorer and Firefox
IE: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista (XP recommended)
Firefox: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista, Linux and Mac OS X
http://us.mcafee.com/root/product.asp?productid=sa

TrendProtect™
XP SP2, XP ProX64 SP1, Win 2000 SP4, Vista
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/free_security_tools/trendprotect.php
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Note if a scan detects a problem but is unable to remove, start the computer in safe mode with the internet line disconnected and run a full scan.

In severe cases your system restore files will also be infected. In these cases you will need to turn off system restore to prevent malware hiding in the system restore files and reinfecting the computer during removal or during a future system restore. Turning off system restore deletes the system restore files.

Right click on "my computer"> Properties > System Restore Tab > Check box turn of system restore

After the malware is removed turn on system restore.
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Run this time and monthly:

Microsoft Update:
Run in "Custom Mode". Install everything, reboot and repeat until nothing is left to install.
http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us

Microsoft OneCare Live Safety Scan, run “full service scan”
Updates windows, virus and spyware scan, disk cleanup, disk fragmentation (if needed), backs up registry and then cleans registry, and checks for open firewall ports
Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2003, or Windows 2000
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
Safety Scan for Windows Vista
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/center/whatsnew.htm

Malicious Software Removal Tool (run “full scan”)
Vista, XP, Win 2000, and Server 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
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Rootkit Removers
Pick any 2 install and run one each month.

AVG Anti-Rootkit
MS Windows 2000 (32-Bit) or MS Windows XP (32-Bit)
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-rootkit/us/frt/0

F-Secure BlackLight
Windows 2000, XP (32 and 64-bit), 2003 Server (32 and 64-bit) and Vista (32-bit only)
http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight/

Panda Anti-Rootkit
Windows 2000/XP
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/downloads/register?Tipo=1&CodigoProducto=39&Idioma=2&TipoUsuario=1&sec=down&Country=US-en&TipoLead=2&Ref=WWEN-ROOTK-DES&track=36355
http://www.download.com/Panda-Anti-Rootkit/3000-2239_4-10717197.html?tag=lst-0-1

Sophos Anti-Rootkit
Win NT 4.0 (SP 6a with IE 4.0), Win 2000 , XP, Server 2003
http://www.sophos.com/products/free-tools/sophos-anti-rootkit.html
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Online Free Scanners:
Run Trend Micro, Kaspersky, and Panda Scan now.
Run a different one each month.

BitDefender Online Scanner
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
CA eTrust® PestScan
http://pestpatrol.com/pestscan/index.htm
ESET Nod32 Online Scanner
Win 98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Vista
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/index.php
ewido anti-spyware
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/
eTrust Antivirus Web Scanner
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
F-Secure Online Virus Scanner
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
Kaspersky - Free Online Virus Scan
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
McAfee - Free Scan
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs
Panda Software - ActiveScan
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/?
Symantec (norton) - Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp
Trend Micro™ HouseCall
http://www.trendmicro.com/hc_intro/default.asp