Free AntiVirus software

[r01axb]

detects and removes more than 70,000 viruses
always among the winners of comparison test featured in computer journals
the resident Virus Guard serves to monitor file movements automatically,
e.g. downloading of data from the internet
scanning and repair of macro viruses
Protection against previously unknown macro viruses
easy operation
Internet-Update Wizard for easy updating
Protection against previously unknown boot record viruses and master boot record viruses
Quality "Made in Germany"
support is free of charge via AntiVir Bulletin Board
Link

 

[dude8604]

I personally like AVG for free AV software. http://www.grisoft.com/

 

[MrC4]

I'll second AGV. Works better than the Norton program I used to use!

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: dude8604
I personally like AVG for free AV software. http://www.grisoft.com/

Yup..I found it in the Software Forum after I realized I didn't have a virus scan on my pc and I love it

 

[rasputinj]

I will have to try it out, and see how it does.

 

[r01axb]

AVG review

Pros - AVG Antivirus:

Better than to be expected from a free antivirus program
DOS scanner included
But only an option for those with absolutely no money


Cons - AVG Antivirus:
Comes only with a basic (automated) interface without the possibility to adjust any settings
Doesn't check for double infected files
Some users have had freezes and other major stability issues on Windows 2000 and XP
Slows down your computer considerably
Inserts ads in your email messages.
You need to use DOS commands for some advanced operations.
Log file displays limited info
You can't see anything in systray, so you don't know if it's running or not
Major flaws - AVG Antivirus:
Terrible virus detection rate
Doesn't update their virus definition files very often (monthly intervals, should be twice a week)
Deletes infected files without warning. This is especially bad if the file didn't contain a virus after all (a false positive).
Very low on scripts, backdoors and trojans.


Full review

 

[Martrox]

I would recommend you check out this: http://www.avast.com/

Avast 4 is working great for me in Win2K

 

[nekote]

Originally posted by: r01axbCons - AVG Antivirus:
Slows down your computer considerably
Inserts ads in your email messages.
You can't see anything in systray, so you don't know if it's running or not
Full review

2¢ re:version 6
Slowing computer - what's the quantitative number? Not very much and less than Norton?
Ads in email - "certification" - is optional, though it is the default.
Icon in systray seems mandatory, at least in version 6.

From observation, it downloads a new virus database every couple of days.

Free is good.
Wonder how much better spending $ really is.

 

[Capster]

That has to be one of the worst list of cons to a product I've seen in a long time. Much of it is misleading and inaccurate to the general populace of users of the product. Essentially it reads like a competitor wrote it.

I've used it for years now and it works great. I'll admit I don't expect perfection since it's free but it's really pretty d*mn good. I know many who have left McAfee and Norton to find satisfaction with AVG.
---
For what it's worth I think I've tried all of the free av products out there and this was the best. The others were lacking one major feature and I can understand why since it's free but AVG has it and that was scheduled updates of the av dat files. The others when I tested them all required the user to manually update. When it comes to av software, everything should be scheduleable unless you need it to be manual. If someone knows of another decent av app that does let you schedule updates and scans, please let me know. Always open to looking at other products that *might* be better.

Also let me throw in my rant about if open source is oh so great, then why doesn't anyone apply their skills to open source av software? That is one of the most useful and practical apps that makes the most sense for open source. People like to talk about security being stronger with open source so prove it. There are dozens upon dozens of linux distro's that are free. We don't need anymore unless it serves a niche market but where are the antivirus products that reflect the quality of open source development? Ok, rant over.

 

[DanT]

The other problem I noticed about that AVG review is that it was written in Aug 2002. That's a year ago. A lot can change in a year. Personally, I haven't used AVG yet, although I have installed it on three neighbors' computers and haven't heard any complaints. It even snagged some infected files for one of them. When my free McAfee updates run out, I'll probably try AVG, just because I have heard so many positive reviews.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: Capster

.... Also let me throw in my rant about if open source is oh so great, then why doesn't anyone apply their skills to open source av software? That is one of the most useful and practical apps that makes the most sense for open source. People like to talk about security being stronger with open source so prove it. There are dozens upon dozens of linux distro's that are free. We don't need anymore unless it serves a niche market but where are the antivirus products that reflect the quality of open source development? Ok, rant over.

There are Open source antivirus's, however, most are not needed. here is why

90% of users use windows, that said, you have a 90% higher chance that the next super virus will be for windows as making a virus that would infect AT MOST 10% of the computer users in the world as apposed to the 90% you can get with a windows virus just is not sound. Also most people that use linux (an by most I mean like 95%) are very experianced with computers and know how to avoid those pesky viruses. Also, the positive, and negitive, of linux is the fact that a virus is not garanteed to work on a *nix system because of diffrent software and hardware setups that may be lacking vital dependancy files. These are just a few resions why viruses for linux are almost non existant.

 

[nsafreak]

Originally posted by: r01axb
AVG review

Pros - AVG Antivirus:

Better than to be expected from a free antivirus program
DOS scanner included
But only an option for those with absolutely no money


Cons - AVG Antivirus:
Comes only with a basic (automated) interface without the possibility to adjust any settings

Uhhhh there are a LOT of settings that you can adjust in the control center

Doesn't check for double infected files

I'll double check but I believe it does

Some users have had freezes and other major stability issues on Windows 2000 and XP

I've been running it on my Windows 2000 Pro SP3 install for close to a year now with ZERO stability issues

Slows down your computer considerably

Ummmm I used to use Norton. IT did slow down the PC considerably. AVG does not slow it down at all, at least that I can notice.
According to the task manager it's using LESS than 2 megabytes of memory total which is appreciably less than Norton.

Inserts ads in your email messages.

These can be turned off, it's optional.

You need to use DOS commands for some advanced operations.

And those operations would be......?

Log file displays limited info

You can't see anything in systray, so you don't know if it's running or not

Uhhh yes you can, it has an icon showing exactly what the status is.

Major flaws - AVG Antivirus:

Terrible virus detection rate

Ummmm it's found viruses that other programs (including Norton) did not.

Doesn't update their virus definition files very often (monthly intervals, should be twice a week)

What do you expect for free? I've found that once a month is often enough it seems. Hell the program updates itself automatically as well, not just the database.

Deletes infected files without warning. This is especially bad if the file didn't contain a virus after all (a false positive).

Ummmm no it does not, and if it does I'm certain there is a setting you can change to have it prompt before it does

Very low on scripts, backdoors and trojans.

Somehow, I don't think so.

Full review

Ahhh yes I've seen this very biased review before myself. Discussed it in another forum and the conclusion reached by myself and a fair number of IT administrators is that the writer is full of crap.

 

[Macro2]

Norton has trouble doing anything with trojans. Had them slip right through. Actually McAffee is better at that, at least it can find the trojan masking programs hackers but on your PC.
Norton is like dell, always on the editors choice list because they pay out a lot of advertisements.
The best one is TDS-3 trojan security suite.

 

[Replay]

Try Avast 4 and you might drop AVG, I did. McAfee > InnoculateIT > AVG > Avast & lovin' it.

Originally posted by: Martrox
I would recommend you check out this: http://www.avast.com/

Avast 4 is working great for me in Win2K

 

[bfunny27]

Good call guys =)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Capster
Also let me throw in my rant about if open source is oh so great, then why doesn't anyone apply their skills to open source av software?

Probably because commercial consumer AV software is nothing more than a scam, fueled by FUD and a leaking sieve of a poorly-designed OS.

Why spend many man-years chasing "ghosts", when you could re-design the system properly and eliminate the need for such crap software? Oh yeah, it's called Linux, they're already doing that.

Originally posted by: Capster
That is one of the most useful and practical apps that makes the most sense for open source. People like to talk about security being stronger with open source so prove it. There are dozens upon dozens of linux distro's that are free. We don't need anymore unless it serves a niche market but where are the antivirus products that reflect the quality of open source development? Ok, rant over.

So really, open-source AV doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[FunkMan]

Ditto. I left AVG for Avast and have had good results.

-Funk

 

[squirrelproductions]

Originally posted by: dude8604
I personally like AVG for free AV software. http://www.grisoft.com/

I installed AVG v6.0.505 2/26/2003 (virus db 302 7/30/2003) on win98se machine. Being the paranoid that I am, I wanted to verify that AVG would catch *known* virii/trojans. I went to http://home.t-online.de/home/TschiTschi/netbus_pro_eng.htm and downloaded a file with a known trojan "Netbus". To my dismay, AVG allowed me to download and to save the file to my HD without so much as a warning. I navigated to the file and right-clicked to use "Scan with AVG", and AVG returned "No virus or suspicious files were detected". To verify that the downloaded, infected file did contain a trojan, I used an online virus scanner (http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html) which reported that "retail_10.exe/icqpro.exe Infected: Backdoor.NBSpy". The file IS infected!

Can others download and scan "http://home.t-online.de/home/husky_college/retail_10.exe" using AVG (and other AV sw you might have) and report the results? Thanks. p.s. also posted here.

 

[AngryKid]

Thanks for the heads up, squirrel. I've been using AVG on friends computer for awhile, but I guess it's not perfect. Pretty good for a free product though.

My Norton found the Netbus trojan too. Does your AVG work on the EICAR test string?

 

[Capster]

Originally posted by: Cogman


There are Open source antivirus's, however, most are not needed. here is why

90% of users use windows, that said, you have a 90% higher chance that the next super virus will be for windows as making a virus that would infect AT MOST 10% of the computer users in the world as apposed to the 90% you can get with a windows virus just is not sound. Also most people that use linux (an by most I mean like 95%) are very experianced with computers and know how to avoid those pesky viruses. Also, the positive, and negitive, of linux is the fact that a virus is not garanteed to work on a *nix system because of diffrent software and hardware setups that may be lacking vital dependancy files. These are just a few resions why viruses for linux are almost non existant.

Not sure how you got started talking about Linux here but I'm referring to open source in general which is not strictly linux though I suppose the media might have you believe that.

I do agree that Windows has a greater chance of having viruses written for it but that also provides greater chances of people writing av software to battle it. Cause and effect.

There are a number of av packages out there for Windows commercial, shareware, and a few open source but none of them really give people what they want for the money overall.

 

[Capster]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Capster
Also let me throw in my rant about if open source is oh so great, then why doesn't anyone apply their skills to open source av software?

Probably because commercial consumer AV software is nothing more than a scam, fueled by FUD and a leaking sieve of a poorly-designed OS.

Why spend many man-years chasing "ghosts", when you could re-design the system properly and eliminate the need for such crap software? Oh yeah, it's called Linux, they're already doing that.

I guess if your a geek, gearhead, or whatever the latest buzzword might be; you might view things this way. I consider myself a geek but I've also had over 15 years of working with customers and can safely say that racket or no racket, viruses are an issue. Yes, FUD does run rampant but even with piracy as high as it is in the world, these companies are still getting decent sales and making money on their commercial versions. There certainly is room for open source av if taken seriously but frankly I don't think its glamorous enough and really takes some resources to keep up with it.

Your comment on linux sounds like every other obsessed linux dweeb on slashdot.(no offense) I got news for ya. Linux ain't perfect. If Linux had the marketshare Windows enjoys, we'd see issues with vulnerabilities on a much greater scale than we do now. Maybe not in the same form but still an issue. Keep in mind that the real threat to systems from viruses is with the data and this typically becomes more of a user admin issue than a sys admin issue who worries mostly about keeping their systems up. Since Linux is used very little as a workstation, that follows the odds that there won't be much in the way of any vulnerabilties compared to Windows.

Now am I a Windows lover, linux basher, Mac wonder, etc.? All of the above...I'm not afraid to point out issues with each OS out there or brag about each one as well. They all have their cross to bear and provide their own benefits. So with that in mind lose the linux comments as that's essentially thread crapping here.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: r01axb
AVG review

Pros - AVG Antivirus:

Better than to be expected from a free antivirus program
DOS scanner included
But only an option for those with absolutely no money


Cons - AVG Antivirus:
Comes only with a basic (automated) interface without the possibility to adjust any settings
Doesn't check for double infected files
Some users have had freezes and other major stability issues on Windows 2000 and XP
Slows down your computer considerably
Inserts ads in your email messages.
You need to use DOS commands for some advanced operations.
Log file displays limited info
You can't see anything in systray, so you don't know if it's running or not
Major flaws - AVG Antivirus:
Terrible virus detection rate
Doesn't update their virus definition files very often (monthly intervals, should be twice a week)
Deletes infected files without warning. This is especially bad if the file didn't contain a virus after all (a false positive).
Very low on scripts, backdoors and trojans.


Full review

I haven't experienced any of the problems that you mentioned.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Capster
That has to be one of the worst list of cons to a product I've seen in a long time. Much of it is misleading and inaccurate to the general populace of users of the product. Essentially it reads like a competitor wrote it.

I've used it for years now and it works great. I'll admit I don't expect perfection since it's free but it's really pretty d*mn good. I know many who have left McAfee and Norton to find satisfaction with AVG.
---
For what it's worth I think I've tried all of the free av products out there and this was the best. The others were lacking one major feature and I can understand why since it's free but AVG has it and that was scheduled updates of the av dat files. The others when I tested them all required the user to manually update. When it comes to av software, everything should be scheduleable unless you need it to be manual. If someone knows of another decent av app that does let you schedule updates and scans, please let me know. Always open to looking at other products that *might* be better.

Also let me throw in my rant about if open source is oh so great, then why doesn't anyone apply their skills to open source av software? That is one of the most useful and practical apps that makes the most sense for open source. People like to talk about security being stronger with open source so prove it. There are dozens upon dozens of linux distro's that are free. We don't need anymore unless it serves a niche market but where are the antivirus products that reflect the quality of open source development? Ok, rant over.

Because if it's open source, then anyone writing a virus can easily figure out how to circumvent your protection. You can't have open source secrity software. Its' like developing a plan for a bank vault and giving it to the robbers.

 

[Keltron]

Originally posted by: squirrelproductions

Originally posted by: dude8604
I personally like AVG for free AV software. http://www.grisoft.com/

I installed AVG v6.0.505 2/26/2003 (virus db 302 7/30/2003) on win98se machine. Being the paranoid that I am, I wanted to verify that AVG would catch *known* virii/trojans. I went to http://home.t-online.de/home/TschiTschi/netbus_pro_eng.htm and downloaded a file with a known trojan "Netbus". To my dismay, AVG allowed me to download and to save the file to my HD without so much as a warning. I navigated to the file and right-clicked to use "Scan with AVG", and AVG returned "No virus or suspicious files were detected". To verify that the downloaded, infected file did contain a trojan, I used an online virus scanner (http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html) which reported that "retail_10.exe/icqpro.exe Infected: Backdoor.NBSpy". The file IS infected!

Can others download and scan "http://home.t-online.de/home/husky_college/retail_10.exe" using AVG (and other AV sw you might have) and report the results? Thanks. p.s. also posted here.

I downloaded retail10.exe to my hard drive with no problem. i ran Panda and it didnt find anything

Damn...

Update: I ran the program. My panda platinum 7.0 detected the virus and quarantined it

 

[DanT]

Originally posted by: squirrelproductions

Can others download and scan "http://home.t-online.de/home/husky_college/retail_10.exe" using AVG (and other AV sw you might have) and report the results? Thanks.

Well, Avast4 let me download it without any hint of a virus, but when I manually forced a scan of the file, it DID warn me that it was infected. I just wish it hadn't let me download it in the first place. So I went looking for settings, and discovered that the default settings for the On-Access scanner/shield only scan files on Open, not Write. So I changed that option, and tried again. This time it warned me as soon as the file finished downloading.