Security Software Free and Paid Antivirus - Which one to choose?

[beanstalk_230]

Hi guys,

A very irritating question but I had to ask this and I guess it will help a lot of people. :bleh:

I am currently using KIS 2011 and I am absolutely fed up with it. It works okay on a system with powerful hardware but on laptops it really makes them struggle especially when connected to the internet (i.e. browsing, downloading, and even just updating) Happens with two different laptops running the same version of KIS 2011 on XP and 7 respectively ((All Genuine)).

I am planning to buy a new license but I am not very keen on getting Kaspersky even though it has served me well on the security aspect. Kindly suggest Internet security suites that would be better alternatives to Kaspersky.

Moreover I need to know about free antivirus's and firewalls's

Free AV: 1. Avira

2. Avast

Free Firewall: 1. Comodo

2. Zone Alarm

I have read that Microsoft Security Essentials is also good :S

Are the above choices of free softwares okay or should I look at any other alternatives.

Cheers

 

[HailStonE]

What is the config. of those laptops....

All the mentioned AV & firewalls are good enough for home users. I can recommend Avira over Avast & Comodo over ZoneAlarm

 

[beanstalk_230]

THanx for the suggestions about the free AV's.

What about the paid alternatives - I heard that Bitdefender and NOD 32 Internet Securities were better than Kaspersky. And also that Norton has improved in the recent past.

One of the laptop is a netbook - Atom 1.5 GB Ram and other is a Dell Inspiron 1400 series AFAIR - Core 2 Duo 5750 (I guess) 2 gb ram

 

[hellfire]

AVast Home + Online Armor free work fine for me on netbook (Aspire One 532h: Atom N450 @ 1.66Ghz, 1GB RAM), notebook (Dell Inspiron 6400: Centrino Duo T2400 @ 1.83 GHz 1 GB RAM) and desktop (Phenom II X2 550 BE, 4GB RAM), all running WinXP SP3.

 

[CA50]

When you have Free avast, why to pay???

Anyway Avast home version is the best free AV

 

[agantuk]

Among the free ones, I would recommend Avast - mainly because it takes very little resources. Next choice would be MSSE

 

[techygeek]

have been using avast for 2.5 years now without any problem

i download lots of crap from torrents and avast has been always there to keep me away from the bad crap

why do people want to pay for an AV when they have a better free option???
and resource usage is bare minimum...i had even used it on a PC with 256 MB of ram on a P4 machine

 

[Rahul++]

I'm using Avira and I feel it is better than Avast.

Free Antivirus are enough to protect your PC unless you update regularly.

 

[CA50]

have been using avast for 2.5 years now without any problem

i download lots of crap from torrents and avast has been always there to keep me away from the bad crap

why do people want to pay for an AV when they have a better free option???
and resource usage is bare minimum...i had even used it on a PC with 256 MB of ram on a P4 machine

Me too using Avast for last 3 years

 

[rahulmig]

Using ESET NOD32 Paid one for Last 5 years No problems so Far

 

[CA50]

^^^^Is there any free version of Nod 32

 

[H2O]

I'm using AVG, its pretty good light on the system and has been serving the purpose.

 

[Spikywits]

Avira and Avast are good standalone. But I prefer MSE as it goes well blended with windows defender/seven firewall.

 

[malhotraraul]

you can use NIS 90 day free version, you have to resister yourself in this process & everything will continue jut like the paid version, by that time you an decide which one you have to buy, i am using paid version of NIS since 2003, just go renewed few weeks back through a TE member.

 

[-=Unreal=-]

Go for nod32 if u want lightest av, no speed difference in downloading/browsing, kaspersky have become like norton of old days

 

[HailStonE]

THanx for the suggestions about the free AV's.

What about the paid alternatives - I heard that Bitdefender and NOD 32 Internet Securities were better than Kaspersky. And also that Norton has improved in the recent past.

One of the laptop is a netbook - Atom 1.5 GB Ram and other is a Dell Inspiron 1400 series AFAIR - Core 2 Duo 5750 (I guess) 2 gb ram

That's good enough RAM.. Are you sure you are not using beta version 'coz KIS 2011 will be officially released only on 1st July 2010

 

[manu1991]

Microsoft Security Essentials all the way , i was pleasantly surprised how light weight it is .

 

[whatsinaname]

Another vote for Microsoft Security Essentials. Am using it on multiple systems, very light on resources.

 

[hotshot05]

My favourite free AV is Avira v10.
The new version is very good.

Then comes Avast and then MSSE.

 

[kreacher]

I've used AVG and Avast and I prefer Avast, even though the new version 5 is slightly slower.