Looking for recommendations please!

Hi, I hope everyone is doing well, I haven't posted in a while now.

I've been using Kaspersky for a year and a half, which has been OK though it makes things really slow at times particularly when AVP is running an update (I think).

Someone once recommended a 32 bit antivirus product as it should take up less space while it does its thing, but I can't remember which it was - so I wondered whether anyone can direct me to a cheapish, or even free security package - or some compatible bits such as AV, spyware protection etc as I have no idea what works well with what.

I refuse to buy Norton again : ) so hope someone has a few minutes...many thanks and much appreciated if you can help.

Sue

I tried this on Windows XP for a while without any issues.

If you don't want the 60 Days of FREE GeekBuddy live remote PC support then untick the box during the installation if needs be.

I eventually went back to Kaspersky although I had thought about getting the Avira security suite, which you can try for free before buying if you like it > link

EDIT

Forgot to mention I tried the free Avast antivirus along with the free Comodo firewall only. I didn't use the Comodo antivirus software (can't remember whether I didn't download/install it or simply switched it OFF after the installation).

Again there were no problems with that combination on XP for me.

Edited by Apprentice (Tue 05-Apr-11 16:30:39)

id recommend Avastive been using it for 5 years and its been fantastic they do a free AV and also a paid full suite i just use the AV it uses little system resources and even talks to you when it updates or finds anything lol.

Ash

Edited by acpsd775 (Tue 05-Apr-11 16:00:05)

Hi, I use Avast! FREE antivirus version 6 without any problems and it does NOT slow the computer down even when it updates each morning.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/avast.html

http://www.avast.com/en-gb/free-antivirus-download

Comodo is very good except for the FP's it throws. Avira and Avast and quite a few others are completely unuseable in my environment because of their voracity for marking anything even slightly unusual as a bigger threat than the black death.

@the OP...... Stick with Kaspersky IS/AV 2010, do a custom installation and go through it's settigs once installed. I'm running it on a few very low end machines without too noticeable an effect.
If you scan Amazon, you'll be surprised at how little KAV or KIS costs. I recently had a 1 year 3 user licence for £8 and a 1 year 5 user licence for £12.
There you go.... KAV 2K9 1 year 3 users for £4!
Support ends for 2K9 in a few months but that 2K9 licence is useabe for the 2010 or 2011 products also.

Edited by Deadbeat (Tue 05-Apr-11 22:19:07)

In reply to a post by susier:

I refuse to buy Norton again : ) so hope someone has a few minutes...many thanks and much appreciated if you can help.

Sue

I was probably Norton's biggest hater a few years ago....now i'm Norton's biggest fan LOL As most will know Norton has always had excellent detection rates but has previously been known for slowing your PC down. Its now very fast, light and effective. Have a look on wilderssecurity forums or Amazon for peoples opinions. You can get a 3 month trial, so i suggest you try it out before buying.

Hi, once-upon-a-time I used Norton Symantec it was heavy and slow and after three years use, I got rid. Do you still need a pick and shovel to remove Norton from your computer?

Thanks, everyone - I've had Avira and Avast before and found the same thing, that they panicked at everything - mind you it doesn't matter much. I always seem to get slowdowns when these products are updating though. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I just clicked on Kaspersky to renew my license and it's £25 - so if I buy the 2009 version from amazon instead, are you saying it will still work? Hope so!

Otherwise, if I wanted to install Avira, or Avast and Comodo would I need to completely remove Kaspersky? Any tips on how to do that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again to all
Sue

In reply to a post by E7er:

Hi, once-upon-a-time I used Norton Symantec it was heavy and slow and after three years use, I got rid. Do you still need a pick and shovel to remove Norton from your computer?

Nup, you just use a utility called Norton Removal Tool which clean uninstalls Norton from your PC and your PC is as good as new. I think over the last few years Norton's sales must have a suffered a lot for them to actually listen to their customers and get rid of their slow, heavy antivirus engine whilst keeping excellent detection rates. Having said this, their old software permanently brain damaged some users who will never go back to Norton no matter how much it improves...luckily i keep an open mind and fully appreciate software performance can & will change over the years
(good example: ESET/NOD32 which is now average, whereas previously v2 was legendary)

Hi, to remove Kaspersky you will need to use their removel tool.

http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208279463

In reply to a post by E7er:

Hi, to remove Kaspersky you will need to use their removel tool.....

Rubbish!

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

In reply to a post by E7er:

Hi, to remove Kaspersky you will need to use their removel tool.....

Rubbish!

In reference to support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208279463:

Some errors might occur when deleting Kaspersky Lab products via Start > Control Panel > Add\Remove Programs. As a result the application may not uninstall correctly or remnants of the application may remain in the system.

Removal utility enables complete uninstall of the following products:

Kaspersky Small Office Security 2 for Personal Computer / for File Server
Kaspersky PURE / PURE R2
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (all versions)
Kaspersky Internet Security (all versions)
Kaspersky Password Manager (all versions)
AVP Tool driver

Thankyou, I managed to remove Kaspersky quite easily and installed Comodo and Avast from the links I was kindly given earlier in the thread.

It's been fine till this evening when out of the blue Avast suddenly decided that all my usual websites - mumsnet, twitter, white goods forum (?!) were dangerous and blocked them one by one. I restarted the computer, it was still doing it so have uninstalled it.

Unless it's a particularly weird virus I think Avast is playing up. So I think I'll try the other one - avira or AVG, was it, can't remember now but wqill look at the replies and download something. Thanks again for your help.

Sue

I had exactly the same problem with Avast last night, blocking my usual websites. It had just been updated and in the end I disabled web shield for 10 minutes.

This morning however, it's working normally having been switched off all night.

Thankyou, glad it wasn't just me - I uninstalled it then reinstalled it and seems to be Ok this morning. I wish they wouldn't do that! I was really panicking : ) will know better next time.

In my case it was two computer forums, not this one I might add! One was blocked completely and the other I could access but the Avast warning referred to a 'Facebook plugin'.

I have been using the free version of Avast for several years now on different PCs and never had that particular problem before. It has also been known to block real threats

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

In reply to a post by E7er:

Hi, to remove Kaspersky you will need to use their removel tool.....

Rubbish!

In reference to support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208279463:

Some errors might occur......

Some errors might occur while removing anything that you care to name. I've installed/uninstalled most Kaspersky products perhaps hundreds of times and never had to use any extra software.

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

Some errors might occur while removing anything that you care to name. I've installed/uninstalled most Kaspersky products perhaps hundreds of times and never had to use any extra software.

I can't speak for Kaspersky because I've never used it, but as a rule I find that companies don't go to all the trouble and expense of writing specific un-install routines without good reason.

As I said, after maybe hundreds of installations/uninstallations, I've never needed to use any extra software.

GFI Vipre is still my antimalware product of choice - everyone I have recommended it to has been extremely pleased and commented how much faster their system runs.