Where can i find free and temporary anti virus / anti spyware software online?

Question

Am paranoid because my Norton trial has ended and i need to wait for my next paycheck to actually go buy the proper pack. Also, if you dont mind Which Norton pack do you recommend i buy? I think they have three and i know nothing about IT, so whichever is most effective for a person with limited knowledge of all the techie stuff. Thanks.

Answer 1

Why only on a temporary basis? Most home computer users, have 100 % free A-V and A-S solutions and have as good if not better protection then Norton provides! And without Norton's infamous "bloat" to slow ones computer down!

Here's some ideas to "roll ya own" Internet Security Suite for free. Free is always the best.
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1. For your Anti-Virus......(Always use only 1 A-V...You must NEVER use more than one anti-virus)

For your anti-virus needs, I would suggest Avira AntiVir® PersonalEdition Classic. It has excellent heuristics, a virus detection rate that is better than many of "paid-for" anti-virus programs and is light on using your computer's resources. And did I mention that it's free!

Download here:
http://www.free-av.com/

Avoid an anti-virus called AVG (free version). It is wildly popular but has poor virus detection rates.

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2. For your Anti-Adware and Anti-Spyware needs...............(use 2)

Pick and choose, 2 anti-spywares from the list below and alternate scanning with them on a regular basis. New spywares are created literally hourly, so no single anti-spyware can really detect all malware. Have at least 2 on hand and alternate scanning with each every few days or so. All are free. All can remove as well as detect.

Spybot Search and Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

Ewido (now known as AVG Anti-spyware) Do NOT download AVG Anti-virus.:
http://ewido.com

AdAware 2007
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

A-Squared:
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

SUPERAntiSpyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/

Windows Defender:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Unfortunately, many "paid for" anti-spyware products are in fact either of limited usefulness or downright scams. When in doubt, look at the list of rogue anti-spyware solutions listed here:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

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3. And to help protect (immunise) your computer from ever getting infected with malware in the first place ............ (use them both

SpywareBlaster:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

SiteAdvisor:
http://www.siteadvisor.com/
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But before you add any new anti-virus program (temporary or not), you must totally uninstall and remove your old Norton, even if it is expired.

The use of 2 or more anti-virus programs at the same time can cause major conflicts. The 2 scanning engines will fight each other to scan every file that you read, write or execute which can cause a major computer slowdown. For the same reason, using 2 A-Vs can cause you to have less protection from the various malware, not more.

Norton can be notoriously difficult to totally remove. One of it's many short-comings. You may need to download and run the Norton Removal Tool from the Norton / Symantec website.
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

So, don't go wasting that next paycheck!

Good luck.

Answer 2

I wouldn't recommend Norton for a dead computer, much less one I wanted to use. You are paying a very high price for software that actually hasn't been updated in years. All of the really good ones are free these days:
Avast 4-Home AntiVirus
Superantispyware
SpywareBlaster
Ad-Aware
SpyBot Search & Destroy

The last four are among the best antispyware products available today. All are free downloads from download.com.

Answer 3

I used Avast anti virus protection free home edition for two and a half years with no problems. It has a 5 star rating, it worked so well that I bought the Avast pro Edition for $39.95 feeling that I owe them something for keeping me free of viruses for all that time. You can get the free download at Avast.com

Answer 4

All of the following are free.



Virus Removal

AVG

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free

Avast

http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html


Sypware/Malware Removal

Adaware

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5

Spybot S&D

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10122137.html?part=dl-spybot&subj=dl&tag=but


Fire Wall

Zone Alarm

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/trial_zaFamily/trial_zaFamily.jsp?lid=home_freedownloads

Answer 5

Best free ,online anti virus softwares are AVG (search on www.download.com) and Avast(www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html)
instead of buying norton try McAfee.Its really good.

Answer 6

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

Anti Spyware - all free
http://www.superantispyware.com/
http://www.spybot.info/
http://www.spywareterminator.com
http://free.grisoft.com

wdw

Answer 7

Spybot is a search and destroy program...