which anti-virus software?

[Coytee]

I have (had) Kaspersky and it expired.

I detested it (the old version) because of how slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww it was and how it would force updates every 2 hours or so (I finally defeated that annoying tidbit)

Norton?

McAfee?

Other?

[neo33]

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011

[SWL]

Norton here. No problems.

My wife's computer has McAfee and seems like it is always doing scans and updates slowing her down. I like Norton because even though it does it's own scans/updates it's not as frequent. However, I do my own scans on a daily basis at the minimum......but I can do them at my own convenience which is very convenient.

[SWL]

Oh, I forgot to mention that it's convenient. []

[BigCliff]

AVG is on line and FREE that is what I use.

[Ironsave]

AVG is good.

I also use Panda Cloud (also free).

Good Luck.

[Chris A]

It seems as though this is the most important decision that you can make in terms of trade off between performance and "information assurance". The old desktop machine that I've get now runs so slowly that it takes about 30 seconds to bring up Firefox with only a few add-ons (extensions). This is probably a function of the swap space on the C: drive (Sony partitioned it at the factory, then loaded the operating system without providing a reload/rebuild disk, so I'm stuck at 20 Gb on the C: drive space, everything else in on the D: logical drive) and the antivirus software. It has gotten much slower in the last 18 months, if that means anything. I didn't add or change anything else during that period. Hummm.

I now use McAfee - Norton tended to crash the computer fairly regularly, but that was a long, long time ago (like 6 years - same machine).

Norton came on the new laptop - the "trial copy" was intrusive, pushy, the trail period ended without warning, and was not cheap (at least the version that I was offered). Really have never had to look back on the decision to move on.

I'm very leery of free anything when it comes to this subject, but note that the most "profiled" software by hackers is McAfee and Norton...and are therefore probably the least secure from that standpoint.

On second thought, maybe I don't have a recommendation--only war stories. [*-)] But I feel better about it now.

Chris

[neo33]

The old desktop machine that I've get now runs so slowly that it takes about 30 seconds to bring up Firefox with only a few add-ons (extensions). This is probably a function of the swap space on the C: drive space

If you're running Firefox 3.6.12 and up, then that is a problem with Mozilla (which is fixed in Firefox 4.0 Beta) and has nothing to do with swap space.

[JJkizak]

After I found out that the servers and websites (that I visit) use up to date software I do not use any and have no problems.

JJK

[seti]

Kaspersky is good. You can set a percentageof resources to take up so it doesn't slow you down. It is also endlessly configurable.

Or buy a mac [] 99% of infections are for windows.

[neo33]

Or buy a mac 99% of infections are for windows.

I am running Windows 7 on a Virtual Machine on My MacBook Pro!

[Chris A]

If you are not doing heavy lifting in terms of CPU-intensive apps and you don't mind paying a little more for the Apple logo, this actually makes a lot of sense from an IA perspective. The Mac operating system has always been more "likeable" and much less targeted for viruses/worms.

However, I would bet that Richard (Coytee) isn't in the market for a new machine... [co] ...but rather another set of MCMs for his outside HT? [~]

Chris

[thebes]

I'm pretty sure I had AVG for awhile and found it to be really annoying constantly trying to get you to upgrade.

Microsoft doesn't talk about it but they offer free anitvirus suite called Microsoft Security Essentials. You can get it here and it has no nagware at all:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx?mkt=en-us#dlbutton

You also want to get the free version of Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. Get if from their site cause there's a few name alikes that will actually screw up your computer. Also download Regseeker and clean out all the old registry errors
clogging up the Registry. It's free and I almost always use Cnet for downloads because they run a clean site.

Finally go to the Control Panel-Add or Remove Software, look it over and see what old games and programs you don't use you can get rid of and uninstall from there. Then, you should clean out your browser cache, and then run Start-Accessories-System Tools-Disc Cleanup and then Disk Defragger. A

Do all that and things should be running smoother and faster.

[neo33]

it has no nagware at all

What's a nagware, thebes?

[fastlane]

I have used AVG free for the last few years. 0 troubles.

[sputnik]

I use ESET NOD32 and it's the best I've ever come across. It doesn't seem to affect speed at all either.

[dtel]

it has no nagware at all

What's a nagware, thebes?

Must be a single guy ? []

[StephenM]

I'll second Microsoft Security Essentials. It has a relatively small footprint, it's easy to set up and use, and the price is right. Combined with Windows inbuilt firewall, UAC, and a bit of common sense when surfing the web and checking your emails, you'll be good to go. I'll also pimp Adblock Plus as a good way to cut down on potentially malicious web garbage, or if you want to go a little more hardcore, flashblock.

[gnatnoop]

AVG is good, haven't had any problems with mcafee or norton in the past.

We're using Sophos at work, avoid this one at all costs, very slow....

[peshewah]

Avira- free version.