What anti-virus do you use?

United States
April 3, 2008 7:12pm CST
I've been working on computers for some time now and have started to realize that a lot of people are using Norton or McAfee. Personally, I can't stand either of them. Not only do they have a hefty price tag attached to them, but they also really slow your computer down. I've been using something else for a couple of years now and never have any problems. It's completely free to home users and does a boot time scan, which is awesome!! What program do you use and why do you like it, or dislike it?
5 people like this
27 responses
@MrNiceGuy (4141)
• United States
4 Apr 08
I've started using free antivirus programs since I had problems with my school given version of Symantec AV. I used AVG, but it doesn't seem as good at catching stuff as others. Antivir is a good one, but it has annoying popups for upgrades. I settled on the newer Comodo Antivirus. They used to make free firewalls but now they make a pretty good free antivirus.
1 person likes this
@MrNiceGuy (4141)
• United States
11 Apr 08
Avast is a system hog, especially considering it doesn't even have the best detection rates of free antiviruses.
• United States
4 Apr 08
I've never dealt with pop-ups or anything with AVAST! and it does a wonderful job! Maybe you should look into it! Anyhow, thanks for the response!
@michelyn (717)
• United States
4 Apr 08
I've used just about every anti-virus software that's been on the market. I also agree that Norton and Symantec are very resource intensive. I used AVG for a while, but the updates tend to be a little resource intensive as well. I have been using Avast! for six months now and I have no complaints. I have different spyware programs installed but as for anti-viruses, Avast! is the way to go. A lot of our clients ask what they should use on their home computers and we recommend Avast!
• United States
4 Apr 08
I agree 100%! I love my Avast!!!!! Thanks for the response!
• United States
4 Apr 08
I agree 100%! I love my Avast!!!!! Thanks for the response!
• United States
4 Apr 08
I use McAfee on both of my home computers. I have never had a problem in all the years I've been using it. When I had Norton, I had computer issues out the wazoo. McAfee is my program of choice. I like it because I've never had a problem with it before.
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Apr 08
I've had quite a few people call me because their computers were really messed up. Turns out that most of them were either running Norton or McAfee. They both slow down you computer! Thanks for the response!
@gemini_rose (16264)
4 Apr 08
We use norton, the reason we use norton is because we got it free with the purchase of our desk top! Now we have used norton before, but did not pay for it then either as we bought a few things from the computer shop and we paid for them and when we got back to the car we were thinking that the stuff we had bought did not come to as much as we had thought, when we checked the receipt they had not charged us for it ha ha!
• United States
4 Apr 08
Well, it's your choice and if it works for you, then that's great. I, on the other hand, will continue to tell anyone and everyone I know that Norton is horrible. Thanks for your response!
@shizuoka (352)
• United States
4 Apr 08
I had numerous viruses while using McAfee, and Norton drives me crazy with its intrusiveness. For about four years now I've been using Trend Micro PC-cillan. I haven't had a single virus since I started using it (knock on wood!) and it doesn't get in my way. It takes care of business in the background and doesn't slow down the system or disturb the user.
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Apr 08
I've never heard of that one before, but if it works well and doesn't cost an arm and leg, then yay for you! Thanks for the response!
@momalisa65 (1971)
• United States
4 Apr 08
I used to pay for Norton every year but this year I tried AVG. It's free and it seems to be working very well so far.
• United States
4 Apr 08
Yeah, that's what I've been hearing. I used it once, but didn't keep it very long. I had heard it was good, so I checked it out and went back to AVAST! I like it much better! Thanks for the response!
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
4 Apr 08
I use AVG because it is more reliable than Norton & McAfee and not so system heavy. My boss had Norton on his PC and kept getting viruses (yes it was completely updated). We installed AVG it found 60 problems. 15 Trojan viruses that Norton was not even detecting!
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Apr 08
That's why I can't stand Norton and McAfee!!! Thanks for the response!
@limcyjain (3516)
• India
4 Apr 08
I am currently using avast but earlier had AVG free version but it got currupted and i decided to try out another. I have also use McAfee earlier and i feel that it is the best available although with a price tag.
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Apr 08
As I said before, I do not like or trust McAfee or Norton. I use AVAST! and it is the best I've found so far. I use the free version and it's awesome, so I bet the upgraded version is even better!! Thanks for the response.
@rookiekan (882)
• China
4 Apr 08
i use RISING anti-virus software which u may dont know.the software have three months for free and it also the most popular and efficient anti-virus software in our country.i never use foreign anti-virus software,i worried about their slowness on virus prevail in our country
1 person likes this
@nilouette (632)
• Philippines
4 Apr 08
I am using xubuntu, it's a debian linux distro, but before when i was still using windows i use panda, i may slow down your system a bit but it surely detects and removes a lot more than avg and other antivirus softwares, it already has a firewall too...
• United States
4 Apr 08
I still have to say that AVAST! is the best I've ever used! It's wonderful! Thanks for the response!
@p_vadla (1685)
• India
4 Apr 08
I use avira anti-virus. Its simple, effective and free.
• United States
4 Apr 08
Another program I've never heard of... imagine that. Thanks for the response!
@hzhan2005 (158)
• China
4 Apr 08
I don't use any anti-virus programs. Because I use Kubuntu. I don't use MS Windows. It's very safe. It needn't any anti-virus programs. Antivir is a good program. It's free. But it doesn't do a boot time scan. Avast! is also a good program. it's free,too. But you need to sign up every year.
1 person likes this
• India
4 Apr 08
hi ,i had tried almost every popular antivirus and so far no one is foolproof.but the one i really like and i had been using for sometime is bitdefender.it is really fast and effective.so far i havent had problems.norton is big and makes pc slow but the thing that makes it worse is that it deosn't protect effectively after that.mcafee is big and slows pc too but i hate it because it takes over ur pc and evrytime u wanna open something on net it just crashes ur pc or stps u or pulls down thise annoying messages which keep coming 1 after the other.
• United States
4 Apr 08
I don't know if you pay for what you're using right now, but I would highly suggest AVAST!... it's awesome! Thanks for the response.
@clei914 (28)
• United States
4 Apr 08
I don't know much about anti-virus softward. I use AVG and it seems to do a good job at keeping the viruses out. It will even alert me when something is wrong and whether I need to heal it or try to quarantine it.
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Apr 08
Sounds like it works good for you then! Thanks for responding!
@aries_0325 (3060)
• Philippines
10 Apr 08
As of now I am using kaspersky and AVG Free Edition. This 2 anti virus will help a lot to fight against various trojan virus in my computer. And help a lot to secure all my important files in my computer.
@BYOLA2871 (4371)
• South Africa
12 Apr 08
i personally use avast 4.8.and i think its amazing as for norton antivirus it slows you down but gives you a great deal of protection from all these hackers and some funny viruses,its awesome that you can get avast for free
@jidesh (283)
• Canada
6 Apr 08
Kaspersky!! And its not expensive.. Recently I found out that AVG Free ain't worth it even though its free, alot of virus bypass avg!! Kaspersky is an easy-to-use program for the average person with plenty of customizable options for an advanced user. Just install and set up this software and you'll never have to worry about a virus or worm infecting your computer. By default, Kaspersky updates their definitions on an hourly basis, which blows away the competition. This leaves a very small window for a virus to be created and infect your machine. Alternatively, you can configure the program so you can receive automatic updates or you can manually update your program. Besides being very thorough and reliable, it only took eight minutes to scan an 80 GB hard drive. This anti-virus software is so fast you won't have to set aside hours to scan your computer or set it up to run at night. Try it You'll see
• India
4 Apr 08
Norton- the anti virus is fantastic
• United States
4 Apr 08
Compared to what... lol??? Thanks for the response!
9 Apr 08
i use avast home edition.it is good.i do regular updates to my antivirus.
@accent (54)
• United States
7 Apr 08
I use AVG and I have never had a probelm with it and it has found lots of viruses my other anti virus software didnt