free anti-virus software -- any suggestions?

mms

sometimes
dominic said:
need to get something fast, as my computer appears to be infected

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1


also download

zone alarm and ad aware if you can


if i was you i'd just try and find out what programmes are running , write down any ones that are defintley dodgy and delete them from the main drive in your system in safe mode.
also check the registry for dodgy things so it doesn't persist on restart
Start->Run->regedit in Windows XP.
 
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Buick6

too punk to drunk
http://www.free-av.com/

It's German, and like Krautrck, its well designed, state of the art and kicks viruses arses.

highly recommended, it's on both my home machines...

Also double check it aint Spyware/Malware, use SpyBot SEARCH AND DESTROY (heaps better and thorough that Adaware), like the Stooges classic, it will smash your brain and viruses to infinity:

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

Both are free for all you Marxist-anarchist Capatalist haters out there...
 

ome

Well-known member
clam

opensource - better detection/response than many of the big antiV wares

winclam is the winXP version
 

massrock

Well-known member
So AVG's gone to total shite. I hung on to 8.5 as long as possible but I think they've killed it now and 9.0 is a nasty resource hog by many accounts.

How do people feel about Microsoft Security Essentials? Is it well behaved? Privacy?

Ta.
 

sufi

lala
i been using avast recently - it's free & it's ok, probably not as brutal as mcafee/norton but on the other hand does not constantly try and bully you into parting with cash,
 

massrock

Well-known member
Excellent, I'll give it a go.

What I really want is something I can run now and then for a scan, or to scan individual files. Don't really need something running in the background all the time I don't think.
 

sufi

lala
i got a brilliant virus recently - really entertaining and inventive,
desktop_security2010.jpg

http://www.malwarehelp.org/desktop-security-2010-removal-2010.html
loads of popups and rootkits and stuff - top draw
 

massrock

Well-known member
Oh cool, that's a cheeky one.

Where do you think it came from though? Did you actually click on something and install it?
 

allegiant

Evenly Distributed
What I really want is something I can run now and then for a scan, or to scan individual files. Don't really need something running in the background all the time I don't think.

As far as scanning individual files, VirusTotal might suit your needs. It's a free, independent scanning service that uses command line versions of all the major AV suites (Kaspersky, Symantec, Sophos, F-Secure, etc). Upload the file you want to analyse and check the break-down of results, based on all the varying AV definitions in use.

I'd never advocate running any MS OS without having a real-time scanning engine on board, however. So it's not wise to rely on VirusTotal implicitly as any kind of substitute.
 

massrock

Well-known member
Thanks, I agree it's good to be careful but I prefer to minimise the number of background processes, especially ones what mess with the file system.

I'm run a firewall and NoScript and don't open suspicious executable files. Probably shouldn't say this but I'm not sure how people get viruses on their computers unless they do something daft.
 
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vimothy

yurp
MS Security Essentials for real time scanning and Malwarebytes Antimalware for one shot trojan fuck ups.
 
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