Which antivirus do you use? Free or Paid?
By puttubgm
@puttubgm (25)
India
January 11, 2010 1:31am CST
Currently I am using Free antivirus and I think I am getting enough security from it. The free antivirus I am using is Avira and it is securing my computer from a long time. My question is that why do we need a paid antivirus while many companies such as Avast and Avira are giving us free services? Which antivirus do you use ? Free or Paid?
3 people like this
41 responses
@rajhussain (69)
• India
11 Jan 10
i am uasing a free antivirus kaspersky and then another free avg then i format my pc
@greenfeathers (1206)
• United States
12 Jan 10
I am using two, both free..AVG and Adaware. So far so go with the combo which also keep each else in check
@robertx (150)
• Romania
12 Jan 10
Just for the record Adaware is antispyware, not antivirus.
Can you tell us how well it is protecting your pc this antispyware?
I'm interested if you let it start with your system,
and that at random scans you detect no infiltrations.
I tested it some month ago and was not doing a very great job at it.
It kept finding stuff even so it should have prevented those things
from installing in the first place.
@sanjuks_j (193)
• India
11 Jan 10
i am using Avast Home Addition absolutely for free with one year licence key. really a good one.
@robertx (150)
• Romania
12 Jan 10
Just wanted to say, after that 1 year licence expires,
you may ask for another licence or a renewal,
wich wil go on for another year and so on.
I think not many people are aware
of the free licence they are giving free for home users.
Just go to their site, fill a working email and get it.
Also their trial version is one of the longest around.
@indocorner (546)
• Indonesia
11 Jan 10
I use free anti virus. I use Avira n Smadav. What i prefer to use is smadav. It covers plenty of virus both local n import virus. Moreover, it runs automatically in my computer every a device is plugged in.
@stand87 (664)
• Bulgaria
11 Jan 10
In my opinion, the free anivirus software isn't that safe. Paid one are more professional and that's why I suggest using them. But there are people with experience with free antivirus like you that claim to get enough security. So who knows for sure? After all , the most important thing is to surf carefully with attention. I know people who don't even have antivirus software and had never have any problems.
@robertx (150)
• Romania
12 Jan 10
The way I know for sure,
is when the free antivirus detects threats
wich the paid one cannot, and this happens a lot.
But many people think if that thing is near the clock,
and it updates is more then enough.
No sir, some software developers do not put enough heart or research
even when they ask you to pay for their antivirus,
and then as threats happen you not only lose money,
with a useless licence, but your precious data as well.
The best way to be safe, is to scan with another antivir solution
from time to time, to check the reliability of your usual one.
But do not keep 2 antivirs active at same time on same pc.
Worse case scenario keep one antivir and one antispyware.
I usually just scan from time to time with my antispyware,
but do not keep it open. It has an immunize system option,
wich i recomend using if and when available,
but i am yet to see on antispyware
wich actively protects your pc like an antivirus.
And what i try to say here is that they usually find things to delete,
all the time, regardless if they were left open to protect you.
@jezzmay (1845)
• United States
18 Jan 10
I use the free Avira too, this is a very good
program. I think people think if they pay for
them they are better. I seen peoples computers
crash over some of the others. I believe Avira
was the top anti-virus program for last year.
I know I was using it and my computer did find.
I tried to tell my daughter-in-law and she would
not listen. She went and used something else and
her computer crashed and it cost her to get it
fixed.
Have a great day.
@yugasini (12893)
• Secunderabad, India
17 Jan 10
hi puttubgm,
really it is very good and needy discussion for all computer using people and also net using people,recently means from 31 night to till today my system was not worked ,yesterday i have cleaned with ghost,what is difference between the ghost and anti virus soft ware,regarding free anti virus kindly guide me how to use the free anti virus soft ware to my system,have a nice day
@LeeHolt (433)
•
31 Jan 10
I will reccomend the free version of AVG to absolutly anyone. It is constantly being updated to detect the latest threats, it's nice looking and easy to use, and most importantly to me, it doesn't hog the system resources like the other AV programs do!
Hope I have helped,
Lee.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
19 Jan 10
Hiya puttubgm,
We actually use a paid antivirus but I really don´t care for whichever I use in particular. Mainly I try to keep clear of sites I think that can be harmful but you can´t always do this but even so things happen specially in the main entrance of the e-mails which are supposed to be super protected now.
@shally_hh (418)
• China
11 Jan 10
I use ESET smart security(ESS),It is powerful enough with a very fast speed of scanning files,and the software is really small,which is definitely suitable for my computer,I think it is one of the most best antivirus software till now.And the ESET NOD32 antivirus(EAV) without a firewall is great too.and the best of all,my ESS is free now.
@grakesh (88)
• India
2 Feb 10
Avira and Avast are good antiviruses. But they didn't provide the internet security. We should have internet security also. I faced problems with Avira. My internet connection is often disconnecting due to virus in my system. At that time i used Avira. Now i am using AVG antivirus. It has both Anti spam as well as anti virus. So i am happy with it now.
@kaylachan (69676)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
2 Feb 10
I like free anti-virous programs. Quite frankly I don't see the need for anything else. Why pay for something when you are offered the same things for free? However, companies want to make money so claim paying for anti-virus is more effective then free services. I find mine, AVG is just as effective.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
12 Jan 10
I used to use a free one then I used a paid one and it found some problem areas that the freebie had missed. So now I always use the same paid anitivirus.
@derek_a (10874)
•
13 Jan 10
I always use a paid anti-virus and for the last 5 years or so have been using McAfee. Before that I did have a free anti-virus program, but it let in viruses to my computer that totally wiped my hard drive. I could never get it to work properly afterwards and had to have a new drive. For the small yearly fee McAfee charges, it is updated every day, often more than once and does a good job of protecting my computer. 
- Derek
- Derek
@veejay19 (3589)
• India
13 Jan 10
In the beginning i used Norton but later on shifted to AVG which is free and which can be downloaded free of cost. Besides if it expires or if one of the security items fails then i get a warning notice and i immediately go to their site and rectify it or update it. /Any security problem and i instantly get a warning so i can take care of quickly. I have found this site to be extremely good and user-friendly and i do not feel any reason to change it or go to any other anti-virus site.
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
12 Jan 10
I am using AVG free. It was recommended in a lass I took. I've used it for a few years and never had a problem. You can also update it for free periodically. It runs a daily scan which is fast and unobtrusive. You have to be a little careful when signing up though because the website tries o get you to download the paid version.
@Andy12 (18)
• Indonesia
13 Jan 10
i am using avg free antivirus til today. i think its enough for me. i never have problems with it, my notebook free of virus, spam, trojan etc. but i turn the firewall off though, because i have firewall application already from my windows. i used to have paid antivirus (Kaspersky) its good and powerfull, but it kinda need more memory i guess :(
@yolanda19191 (1934)
• China
13 Jan 10
in the office computer i'm using now, it's a paid one, ravmon.
but i installed a free one on my own laptop. 
in fact, i use the office computer most of the time. after work, i even dont want to open computer.
in fact, i use the office computer most of the time. after work, i even dont want to open computer. 