What is the best Anti-Virus program?

[sandyandry]

What is the best Anti-Virus program to use? I use Kaspersky Anti Virus 2009, it is a leading anti-virus software and Internet Security software solution for your home computer or business.

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Budget planning software

[Broken Arrow]

Long story short, there isn't a "best" one but, there are free ones that are pretty good. AVG and Avast! are two names I would look into....

[Aleta]

BA: Question for you.

I have AVG on one of my computers but couldn't download it on the other computer in another room that is connected to the computer that has it. Are you only allowed to download it once.

CNet also lists Elvira or something like that.

[Broken Arrow]

Strange. Are you able to transfer at all, or just that program?

For all our Windows PC (back when I had them), I just had each of them download off the internet, and that worked fine.

[Aleta]

I haven't transferred anything yet. We just got it hooked up. The program on the older computer is XP and the new one is the Vista Premium Home edition. Whatever programs that I had on the older one are all there, but my Norton's subscription expired. Nortons's grabs alot of memory from you. Thanks!

[Broken Arrow]

I could be wrong, but there shouldn't be any problems transferring between the two computers... unless you are not using a cross-over cable, the cable isn't higher than cat 5, or there is no router, and maybe the files need to be in windows sharing and window sharing is activated as well....

I'm probably making it sound more complicated than it should be, but it should work. If not, again, I'd just download it off the internet.

Yes, Norton tends to be on the more comprehensive side of security, but the obvious trade-off is how much resources it takes up and slows down the computer overall. Some offer less coverage, but at least your computer is more responsive. Basically, that's the reason why there is no such thing as "best" out there.

Actually, maybe there is, but it involve not using Windows at all.... (Not that I'm slamming Windows per se, just that it's too big of a target anyway. Macs and Linux are inherently smaller targets, and generally does not have as much security problems, even if InfoSec people will say that obscurity does not equate to security.)

[kobe008]

I use AVG on all computers I own or maintain. I've never tried any of the other free ones, but I've never had problems with AVG so havnt had a reason to try others. I wouldnt recommend Norton or McAfee cause there is no reason to pay for these programs to use up all your resources.

[Seeker]

I could be wrong, but there shouldn't be any problems transferring between the two computers... unless you are not using a cross-over cable, the cable isn't higher than cat 5, or there is no router, and maybe the files need to be in windows sharing and window sharing is activated as well....

I'm probably making it sound more complicated than it should be, but it should work. If not, again, I'd just download it off the internet.

Yes, Norton tends to be on the more comprehensive side of security, but the obvious trade-off is how much resources it takes up and slows down the computer overall. Some offer less coverage, but at least your computer is more responsive. Basically, that's the reason why there is no such thing as "best" out there.

Actually, maybe there is, but it involve not using Windows at all.... (Not that I'm slamming Windows per se, just that it's too big of a target anyway. Macs and Linux are inherently smaller targets, and generally does not have as much security problems, even if InfoSec people will say that obscurity does not equate to security.)

Windows Vista has a whole bunch of security defaults setup by default that prevents sharing with legacy computers (yes WinXP is "legacy" in this sense).

Seconding BA's words. Best option is to browse to the Internet on the Vista machine and get AVG that way. As far as I know, there's still no problem with home users utilizing AVG free of charge with home computers.

Be aware that part of the problem may be because there are more recent versions of AVG out there; your XP machine may have version 7.0 or 7.5. If it's an older version on XP, it will not work with Vista.

[kebark]

I'm using AVG since the free Norton Trial I got ended

[FrugalIII]

I use AVG free on both my computers as well. I like it. I downloaded and saved it from the internet onto my first computer. I then transferred the exe file to my flash drive and loaded it onto my second computer. No problems at all.

[creditoria]

I think McAfee is one of the best there are.

[Jay]

I think drwebcureit is the best free anti virus software out there.

[destiny10]

AVG, Avast and Kasperskey in that order are my best anti-virus.

[NeedaDollar]

I use Avira which is a free program. There are other antispyware programs that I use along with it like MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware. What is good about Avira is that it doesn't slow your computer as much as Norton and McAfee. I used to wait forever for my computer to load.

[Johansen8]

AVG is the best although the free edition does not remove adwares, spyware and trojans. To compensate for this install Spybot - Search&Destroy. Update its definitions. Spybot scans for adwares, spyware and trojan and eliminates them using its secure shredder.It is compatible with AVG and lite on your system. Other paid versions are mostly resource hogs. AVG and Spybot do the job much efficiently than the paid versions.