PCA Forums

So AVG Antivirus is apparently no longer free. My computer came with McAffee Internet Security but I chose to delete it because I keep hearing how those security suites really slow down your computer. So are there any good free antivirus programs out there that don't hog up the computer too much?

Microsoft Security Essentials is free and light weight, I like it. Give it a whirl.

It's still free: http://majorgeeks.com/download886.html

However I would recommend Avira AntiVir if you have Windows XP. It's lighter than AVG. If you have Vista or Win7 I would recommend Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Essentials or Avira. Avast is also free but I can't recommend it. Also install Malewarebytes Anitmalware and scan with it periodically. Also long as you use common sense while surfing the web or opening attachments, you'll be fine.

For paid AV, I recommend Esset NOD32. This is what I run on my computer as well as the wife's laptop. It's lightweight and comes in 64-bit and 32-bit versions.

Err wrote:Microsoft Essentials or Avira. Avast is also free but I can't recommend it. Also install Malewarebytes Anitmalware and scan with it periodically. Also long as you use common sense while surfing the web or opening attachments, you'll be fine.

For paid AV, I recommend Esset NOD32. This is what I run on my computer as well as the wife's laptop. It's lightweight and comes in 64-bit and 32-bit versions.

Ditto! Same setup I use.

what's wrong with using MSE on Win XP?

tunis5000 wrote:what's wrong with using MSE on Win XP?

on a drive just 150 gig it can take a very long time to scan (i know this first hand )

oh, well I rarely do scans, I figure it'll catch whatever tries to infect my system before it does, plus I'm very careful. My main rig is Win7 anyway, my old lappy has XP on it...

I find MSE a bit of a performance hog on XP - especially right after booting. I don't think Microsoft is throwing their best efforts towards XP compatibility.

I prefer Avira on XP systems (especially old ones). I like MSE on Vista and Win7.

Using it on Win7 at home myself.

tunis5000 wrote:what's wrong with using MSE on Win XP?

On some XP configurations, it really bogs down the computer. I had on an HP once and thought there was something wrong with the hard drive becasue the computer would keep locking. Once I removed Microsoft's AV, all was well. I've yet to see any problems on Vista or Seven machines.