Are free online antivirus protection programs any good?

Question

I just got my new system yesterday, and I want to install virus protection in it and maybe a firewall as well. I dont want trojan horses.. Anyway I am more than willing to pay ofr ani virus protection, but are the free ones any good? If so which ones are good ones?

Answer 1

I always used free antivirus for my PC and it has worked fine for me. Some recommendation:

Avira Antivir: http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/avi...

AVG free: http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-F...

and for firewall people recommend comodo firewall: http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/d...

Answer 2

I would suggest you check out some of these anti-virus and anti-spyware software programs along with a couple other recommended programs:

-McAfee 12 in 1 Security Center (anti-virus)

or AVG if you want a free program

-Spyware Doctor with AV (anti-spyware)

or Spybot S&D if you want a free program

-PC Tools Firewall Plus(free) (firewall)

-ThreatFire(free) (added virus protection)

-CCleaner(keep computer running pretty good, cleans up history and whatnot)

-Firefox(safe browser)

All of the above programs(aside Spybot and AVG) I use and have been using for a very long time now, all with fantastic results. For AVG and Spybot they are both good in the way of free protection but McAfee and Spyware Doctor are recommended.

*Free might be good but its not always better

Answer 3

I wouldn't go with a free program like Avast or AVG. In the world of computers, you get what you pay for, and if you don't pay anything....yeah. I use Bitdefender which was rated the best on many sites.

http://anti-virus-software-review.topten...

Answer 4

I have only ever used free antivirus, antispyware, and antimalware programs and in 20 years of computing I have never had a virus. Bear in mind that free and paid for versions use the same definition files, the vendors hope that the user will upgrade to the paid version to 'unlock' certain features.  

Use Firefox in preference to internet explorer.....much safer:

http://www.mozilla.com

Online Armor Free Firewall:

http://www.download.com/Online-Armor/300...

Installation Tutorial:

http://cotojo.wordpress.com/2008/06/16

Avast anti-virus better definitions, anti-spyware and anti-rootkit built in, faster and more reliable:

http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Editi...

Setup Guide:

http://cotojo.wordpress.com/2008/07/15

Lavasoft AdAware2008:

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/30...

Spybot S&D:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/downl...

Download, install, update and Immunize.

To scan and remove other malware:

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:

http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Ant...

Simply download, install,update and perform Quick Scan.

Also use Spyware Doctor Free Basic Edition, which offers realtime protection:

http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_inst...

Its free with Google pack, untick all boxes except Spyware Doctor. Download install, update and run.

SnoopFree which monitors your screen and keyboard for keyloggers etc:

http://www.snoopfree.com/

Threatfire which runs alongside your antivirus enhancing your protection:

http://www.threatfire.com/Download/

Scroll down and click on Get Free

Also add KeyScrambler which encrypts everything that you tupe in including credit care numbers etc.

http://www.download.com/KeyScrambler-Per...

Works on most browsers, email clients and IM programs, and it's free.

How to use:

http://cotojo.wordpress.com/2008/06/06

Answer 5

1. For your Anti-Virus...

For your anti-virus needs, I would suggest Avast, the newist version 4.8. Avast now includes anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-rootkit components. And all for the low low price of free. You can get it here:

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.ht...

Avoid an anti-virus called AVG (free version). It is wildly popular with children and the computer illiterate but has poor virus detection rates.

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2. For your Anti-Adware and Anti-Spyware needs...............(use at least 1 anti-spyware, but 2 is OK). Do a scan with it on a regular basis.

SUPERAntiSpyware:

http://www.superantispyware.com/

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3. For your Firewall..........(Always use only 1 software firewall)

A decent free firewall is PC Tools Firewall Plus. One can either choose "Normal User Mode" Or "Expert User Mode"'depending on the detail of alerts and application custom rules desired.

It is one of the few free firewalls that will work (and work well) on Vista as well as XP and 2000.

http://www.pctools.com/firewall/

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

SpywareBlaster helps to immunize your computer again certain selected malware.:

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareb...

SiteAdvisor warns you when visiting a potentionally malicious web-site:

http://www.siteadvisor.com/

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5. And always keep your Windows and all your installed software 100% updated and patched with all critical and security updates from the vendors THIS IS A MUST! In Internet Explorer just click Tools then Windows Updates.

Here is a little online (no download) security tool called The Secunia Software Inspector, that checks a computer for un-secure, un-updated and un-patched apps that may be installed on your computer.

The Secunia Software Inspector checks for possibly vulnerable programs like Adobe, Winamp, Java, Windows, Internet Explorer etc. and notifies if critical security updates are needed. !

Will work using IE, Opera or Firefox.

Use it once a month.

free at:

http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

Great luck! Enjoy!