Recommended anti-virus software?

Look, I don't really want to hear "anti-virus software does nothing", because I know it's not really all that protective to begin with.

That said, it's a preventative measure I'd like to have anyway.

Currently (and for the past while) I've used AVG (the newer one, 8.5), and recently it's been seeming pretty "meh". I know it's a well-known and fairly-recommended program, but I also know that it's far from the most-recommended and most efficient. Lately I've been concerned with it's huuuge memory usage.

So I'm looking for an anti-virus software that's as effective if not more effective than AVG, is free (price, not open-source), and most importantly, is not enormous.

I hear recommendations for Avast! a lot, but I figure I'd ask around.
Any suggestions for such an anti-virus program? Or should I stick with AVG?

I use McAfee because Comcast provides it for me free, so I haven't done a whole lot of research into which one is the best. I'm careful online, and McAfee does a good job of cleaning up after my mistakes, so I'd recommend them soley because I've never experienced the troubles that people report with other products with McAfee.

I've also heard that NOD32 is a good program.

^ I've heard (and experienced) that default programs like McAfee or Norton are absolutely atrocious.
McAfee I've had experience with, and it is abominable. And worst of all, it's fricking huge.

If you want more security, and like to keep memory usage to a minimum, maybe you could try switching your OS? I assume you use Windows. Linux is usually supposed to be quite a bit more secure and far less memory-intensive.

I'm considering switching over myself, so just thought I'd mention it. I don't have too much experience with it, however.

Originally Posted by Evilsbane

If you want more security, and like to keep memory usage to a minimum, maybe you could try switching your OS? I assume you use Windows. Linux is usually supposed to be quite a bit more secure and far less memory-intensive.

I'm considering switching over myself, so just thought I'd mention it. I don't have too much experience with it, however.

I'm not either, or I would.
If I had another computer (that could handle it), I'd be interested in dual-booting and trying Linux, but I don't want to risk screwing up on my main computer.

I use Avast anti virus. That kicks ass. There is a pro version, but I've always found the free version just fine. Never had a virus get through when using it. Not perfect for fighting malware though (it does stop a lot of it).

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

I'm not either, or I would.
If I had another computer (that could handle it), I'd be interested in dual-booting and trying Linux, but I don't want to risk screwing up on my main computer.

You can burn Ubuntu onto a disc and never have to actually install it on your comp, if that helps...

Originally Posted by KillerKat55

I use Avast anti virus. That kicks ass. There is a pro version, but I've always found the free version just fine. Never had a virus get through when using it. Not perfect for fighting malware though (it does stop a lot of it).

I do have MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware, which is a good tool for that as well as for backup. I also have Ad-Aware, which is kinda obsolete by now, but still. Avast! is the one I'm leaning towards at the moment, with keeping AVG as backup.

Originally Posted by Evilsbane

You can burn Ubuntu onto a disc and never have to actually install it on your comp, if that helps...

That's a thought. But somehow I don't think that would totally work-- doesn't it structure its files differently?

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

I do have MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware, which is a good tool for that as well as for backup. I also have Ad-Aware, which is kinda obsolete by now, but still. Avast! is the one I'm leaning towards at the moment, with keeping AVG as backup.

That's a thought. But somehow I don't think that would totally work-- doesn't it structure its files differently?

I would say so, yes... but I tell you what: I'll get it soon and tell you how it goes.

I use avast! but I don't know how well it works because it hasn't actually caught anything yet but that might be because it just hasn't had to.

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

I do have MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware, which is a good tool for that as well as for backup. I also have Ad-Aware, which is kinda obsolete by now, but still. Avast! is the one I'm leaning towards at the moment, with keeping AVG as backup.

That's a thought. But somehow I don't think that would totally work-- doesn't it structure its files differently?

Um...its just booting from disc. it would work because you can access you hard drive and there's several Linux distributions that specialize in boot from CD. Look up Puppy Linux if you want a good distribution that you can boot from CD. It specifically backs up your settings on the hard drive without actually installing itself.

Originally Posted by Vero

I use McAfee because Comcast provides it for me free, so I haven't done a whole lot of research into which one is the best. I'm careful online, and McAfee does a good job of cleaning up after my mistakes, so I'd recommend them soley because I've never experienced the troubles that people report with other products with McAfee.

I've also heard that NOD32 is a good program.

McAfee annoys the crap out of you if you didn't buy the full product. NOD32 was good from my month of usage (trials >.<).

Originally Posted by Tonchiki

^ I've heard (and experienced) that default programs like McAfee or Norton are absolutely atrocious.
McAfee I've had experience with, and it is abominable. And worst of all, it's fricking huge.

Norton and McAfee are completely and terribly atrocious from the short time they were on my grandma's laptop (deleted immediately knowing some speed was lost from them).

I currently use Avast!, since I can't find anything better. Perhaps you should try Avast!? AVG was alright.

Free Software:

Avast Anti Virus [Free Home Use and Great Virus Daily Updates] and the Most important part the COMODO Firewall [Free aswell, has installer mode when needed and does the job really well] trust me give it a try.

Note: After you install Avast it will do a Scan on Boot if you let it, just be a little careful what you let it delete if it find any problems.

I'm not really understanding the McAfee hate. I have McAfee installed on my computer, and it works absolutely fine.

There have been two occasions since installing my antivirus software where I have accidentally downloaded a trojan horse - both times, McAfee caught the trojan and quarantined the infected files instantly. I haven't had any false positives either. I also don't find it that slow to scan my computer and install new updates - in any case, it doesn't really matter, since I just let it quietly do its thing while I'm surfing the net.

I found, Spybot Search and Destroy to be very helpful. And i use Norton aswell. Hope i helped.

Good: Kaspersky, NOD32, BitDefender
Decent: AVG Free
Horrible: Norman, Norton, McAfee

Originally Posted by Astarael

I'm not really understanding the McAfee hate. I have McAfee installed on my computer, and it works absolutely fine.

There have been two occasions since installing my antivirus software where I have accidentally downloaded a trojan horse - both times, McAfee caught the trojan and quarantined the infected files instantly. I haven't had any false positives either. I also don't find it that slow to scan my computer and install new updates - in any case, it doesn't really matter, since I just let it quietly do its thing while I'm surfing the net.

I'm unaware of how good its virus database is, but the program is a terrible resource hog. Unless they changed it much since I had it (a while ago), I've heard it can even potentially make some systems unstable. In any case, it's a piece of junk that is one-upped by free software.

Originally Posted by Danger

Good: Kaspersky, NOD32, BitDefender
Decent: AVG Free
Horrible: Norman, Norton, McAfee

I've heard a lot of praise for NOD32, which would be great if I didn't have to pay for it.

I use iAnti Virus. But I think Avast is free too. So I would go with that if I were you! I have never used it myself but the download seems small so it shouldn't kill your computer by running in the background. ^^

best anti-virus evar = LINUX

^_^

But seriously, I add my support to Avast.

^ Not to be a dick, but I love when people go "LOL MAC AND LINUX DON'T GET VIRUSES!"
but then fail to realize that's because they're not popular enough for people to even bother making viruses for them.