Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   There's a new version of Avast out if you run it...

   http://www.avast.com/en-us/release-history
   http://www.avast.com/en-us/free-antivirus-download

   Posted 12 years ago #
2. 

   Terri218
   Member

   Is this an unlimited time version? Just today I discovered that my "free" Avast which I just installed a few weeks ago after the GOTD Outpost disaster (they never did give me the promotion code so it was useless) has only 2 weeks left. I don't know if I clicked an "upgrade" and was switched to a limited trial or if they are all like that. I'm getting rather tired of downloading these things. Can anyone recommend a good REALLY free anti-virus program? I know I'm asking for a lot LOL.

   Thanks.

   Posted 12 years ago #
3. 

   Pookie
   Member

   Microsoft Security Essentials

   Posted 12 years ago #
4. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   My experiences, totally FWIW, is that I tried several AV solutions at least a 1/2 dozen times, e.g. when the Vista & later win7 betas came out, when updating PCs etc. Purely from a user standpoint [I'm not the only one using a PC] so far One Care [discontinued], Security Essentials, & McAfee have won out. Many AV apps are terrible to get rid of -- McAfee has a removal tool for their products [linked on this page: http://service.mcafee.com/faqdocument.aspx?id=TS100511 ]. While Security Essentials is free, it does not include a full range of protections, most notably it's missing a firewall [I use it on most of my VMs where that doesn't matter]. And I've found McAfee cheaply enough that IMHO it's almost free, e.g. Amazon has a 3 user pack for $8 [ http://www.amazon.com/McAfee-Total-Protection-2011-3-User/dp/B003VUPXLC ], & Buy.com usually has 3 user packs for $10-$13 shipped [ http://www.buy.com/sr/searchresults.aspx?qu=mcafee&qxt=home&display=col ] -- I've seen single user for ~$4, & I also picked up their cheaper Internet Security pack, 3 user, for ~7 shipped. Note that if you purchase McAfee retail like that for a renewal, you have to uninstall & re-install which is a bit of a PITA. For a really old laptop that I updated to XP from win98, I needed the least resource hungry AV I could find, & went with the free version of Immunet [immunet.com] which so far has worked pretty well.

   You might find av-test.org helpful comparing different AV apps, & shadowserver.org has stats that'll tell you how the different brands are doing currently, over the past week, month etc...

   Posted 12 years ago #
5. 

   ChrisS
   Administrator

   Terri, Avast Antivirus is "free for home use" but you can only use it for 30 days without registration. Open the Avast control panel... If it says "Avast! Free Antivirus" at the top then you have the "free for home use" version. Click "Maintenance", then "Registration" and register the software. You'll have to re-register every year but it is free.

   Posted 12 years ago #
6. 

   Terri218
   Member

   Thanks so much ChrisS. I had absolutely no idea I was supposed to do that. Not exactly user friendly for those not in the know.

   Posted 12 years ago #

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