Internet virus protection

[Grandpaw]

I have been using AVG free version for years They have two years of the paid version for $49.95. Is going to the paid software worth the money? Jeff

[Frog]

We get McAfee free with our cable connection. Had Norton and didn't like or trust it.
Never had a virus so what's best is hard to say. I suppose you'll like whatever you have until it doesn't work on something.
I say if you've never had a virus with your free version, why change?
I think that if you've used a computer a while and know enough to not open un-solicited emails, it is unlikely you'll get a virus.

[BlueRob]

I´ll speak of only what I know....I used Norton 360 with my XP machine and never had any problem and always remained clean. Since I moved to Win7 I tried the new Norton Internet security 2010 and ended up removing it after two days....the system became unstable and even got several blue screens.
My personal favorite so far is NOD32

[kernix]

Look into Kaspersky - that's what I use.

[TwistedPixel]

Using AVG free edition, (with adition of SpyBot search and destroy) never had any serious problems.

The only thing that spybot needs to be updated manually each time.

By the way: i heard rumors that Norton slows down system, as it is quite heavy (use a lot of resources).
Should be not very good combination with Photoshop etc. which also uses a lot of resources.

[SmartWombat]

I wouldn't touch Norton with someone else's barge pole.

[Skyman]

At work we had etrust but the definitions weren't updated as frequently as I would have liked, so we migrated to norton, which hogs system resources and slows down your machine incredibly, so we have now switched to trend micro and i love it. I have used AVG in the past, but I think with the free version you do get what you pay for. As for spybot well that is a different sort of app, but most decent malware is able to bypass it these days. The flavour of the month anti malware is malwarebytes mbam. The main thing you need to be aware of is that whatever solution you get it is only as effective as its definitions list, and there is no substitute for practicing safe hex, although having said that the number of malware / virus merchants resorting to buying adds on legit sites to peddle malware is going up, so staying out of the way of the grey areas of the net is no longer enough.

[Franglais]

I've been using Kapersky for some years now. I can protect 3 systems for a year for about the price you mention (two Vista 32 and one Vista 64 in my case).

- Never had any problems with it except that it lost it's database of definitions once and I had to reload them.
- It hisses reassuringly at anything suspect - like the Google ad a couple of weeks ago. That was impressive
- The updates come through every 6 hours or so which is good (something you don't always get with free software).
- It doesn't seem to use up a lot of memory or cpu power (but then I have a lot of both)

[Grandpaw]

Frog and I think alike on this. I have used the free version of AVG for years without any problems so I guess I will just continue with it. I was just wondering if there would be a good reason to upgrade.

Thanks BlueRob, kernix, TwistedPixel, Skyman, and Charles for adding your input. PAul I totally agree about Norton, I have had Norton on my computer once and will never use it again, Jeff

[OldClicker]

Virus software is a tough one for me. I want something that is easy, doesn't get in the way, doesn't use much resources, actually works (since nothing happens when it works correctly, how do you know it’s working???) and isn't real expensive. And it is even more frustrating since the only important file (and it was very important to the company I worked for) I have ever lost was taken out by McAfee!!! – TF

[mjs1973]

I too have been using the free AVG and have been happy with it. I just upgraded to version 9.0 last night.

[BlueRob]

As an update and correction to my previous comments....Norton Internet Security does work fine, the stability issues that I mention were do to my RAM, after some tweaking on the RAM everything is smooth as it should.
In favor of Symantec this new 2010 versions are much more lighter and faster that the previous ones.
HTH

[Canuck935]

I used AVG free for a couple years. Since I just upgraded to Win7, I'm giving Microsoft's free Security Essentials a go. It's been great. Keeps itself up to date, it's unobtrusive, and most of all it doesn't hog resources. It didn't even slow down startup as most apps do.

[Grandpaw]

Thanks for the many replies! I very much appreciate everyone taking the time to comment on my question. I have used AVG free version for years without any problems or slowing down my computer so for now I think I will just stay with what has been working. Thanks again, Jeff