Free Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware utilities.

[SODA]

I know a lot of you are alright with computers, but some of you are downright awful and I am sure you have computers infested with viruses and spyware.

So here are some utilities that will get rid of a lot of the junk that effects performance and makes you a threat to other computers.

AVG Anti-Virus
http://free.grisoft.com/

Click the link for download right under "Free Basic Protection".

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Download the most recent version at the bottom. Install it update it, then go to the immunize tab to keep yourself free of a lot of the junk that redirects your homepage and address bar permanently.
FireFox

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Then one other thing that I suggest you consider, is switching your browser over to firefox as it is much more secure than IE.

But as long as you keep up to date with anti-virus and anti-spyware protection you should be alright.

Other Suggestions
Anti-Spyware
Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/single/trialpay.php)
Anti-Virus
Avast! (http://avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html)
avira (http://www.free-av.com/)


The main thing to maintaining a clean system, is responsible browsing habits, don't click on pop-ups, don't download files from networks like limewire, and steer clear of generic porn sites. Yes, that means you.

[Rob]

I know AdAware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/single/trialpay.php) used to be hot shit, I haven't used it in a while so I don't know if it's still the best. Worked for me though.

[SODA]

I know AdAware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/single/trialpay.php) used to be hot shit, I haven't used it in a while so I don't know if it's still the best. Worked for me though.

I have always been a little biased twoards them because back maybe 5 years ago it deleted registry values on my dads computer and I had to reinstall windows, I haven't kept up with them since then though so I'm sure they have fixed whatever caused my problem.

[Tempest]

AdAware is still good. Their website is a little deceiving in the fact that it makes it seem like you have to buy the full version to get all the functionality. The only function you lose out on with the free version is the auto-update and auto-scan. Even then, there's a button on AdAware that says "UPDATE NOW", and it checks for the most recent virus vaccination file. All you have to do is reboot in Safe Mode (To disable networking.. Spyware propagates through your network connection, so even if you're wiping shit on normal mode, it's replacing itself constantly) and run a scan. This, plus Spybot S&D did wonders for my computer.

[Shagg]

I use both AVG and Spybot and they work pretty good. AVG, though, takes forever to search your whole computer, when Spybot can run several times in the amount it takes AVG. I use AVG more for telling me I have a virus, then I used Spybot to find it and hopefully heal it. Theres another version of AVG that you get a free 30-day thing for, and it fixes almost any virus. So all you have to do is keep re-downloading it when you have a bad virus.

[SODA]

I use both AVG and Spybot and they work pretty good. AVG, though, takes forever to search your whole computer, when Spybot can run several times in the amount it takes AVG. I use AVG more for telling me I have a virus, then I used Spybot to find it and hopefully heal it. Theres another version of AVG that you get a free 30-day thing for, and it fixes almost any virus. So all you have to do is keep re-downloading it when you have a bad virus.

Spybot really isn't meant to get rid of viruses, it's targeted more towards ad-ware and tracking cookies.

[Shagg]

Well, I haven't had monster viruses, but Spybot seemed to do a good job about it.

[Seriodor]

I think that the best free anti-spyware/anti-virus is Avast (http://avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html).

[Idioteque]

Before I got Trend Micro (best one to pay for) and I was basically unprotected until I got AVG.

It works like a charm and is incredibly low stress on your computer, even if you have a shitty one like I do. Although I've never tried Avast, AVG is the best I've ever had.

[Songi]

http://www.download.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

Hyjackthis is fairly advanced so i would not recommend using this software unless you know windows intimately, if you can tell the difference between Trojans disguising themselves as windows system files and real windows system files this is a very powerful and useful tool to remove all sorts of spyware or adware.



http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/

Panda active scan is great, free and can be done from their website

[Idioteque]

http://www.download.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

This software is fairly advanced so i would not recommend using this software unless you know windows intimately, if you can tell the difference between Trojans disguising themselves as windows system files and real windows system files this is a very powerful and useful tool to remove all sorts of spyware or adware.



Yeah, Trend Micro is definitely the strongest anti-spyware/trojans/viruses company I have ever encountered. Never tried this program but I think I will.

[Songi]

Yeah, Trend Micro is definitely the strongest anti-spyware/trojans/viruses company I have ever encountered. Never tried this program but I think I will.

Ya its great stuff, just be careful with Hyjackthis. While it can remove most anything, it also can remove most windows components as well. Basically you have to select what is deleted after it checks the running processes and other items installed on your computer, this leave a lot of room for error.

I mainly use this software to get rid of stuff that I cant get rid of using other means, sort of a last resort tool.

[McGruff]

Good timing SOAD, my anti-virus trial just ended today. I needed a link.
I used to have AVG, and I hated it. I guess I'm just against it because the firewall annoys me.

[SODA]

Good timing SOAD, my anti-virus trial just ended today. I needed a link.
I used to have AVG, and I hated it. I guess I'm just against it because the firewall annoys me.

The free anti-virus doesn't include a firewall. Maybe you were using the free firewall.

[opn4bzns]

CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) is an excellent, regularly updated, free system cleaner. It removes junk (there are a lot of options, for example it can clear your cookies and history or completely leave Firefox alone, and it supports a lot of third party software) and also fixes registry issues.

Edit: forgot some stuff. It also has a nice, lightweight uninstaller (as an alternative to the add/remove list for all the programs you have installed. You can also use it to configure what runs at startup.

[MaxAlcolo]

I use Avast! as my anti-virus and Ad-Aware plus Spybot for everything else. It really does a great job. Other anti-virus softwares probably have the same feature, but I love how Avast! automatically aborts the connection with a website when it detects something on it.

[Tweek]

Trend Micro is a motherfucker - too strict in my opinion.
But I also recommend AVG and CCleaner, they work really well.

[Jada]

Having a bit of experience with repairing virus infested computers, I thought I'd post a process that worked really well for me: curtesoy of Castle Cops. (http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Overview)

I usually scan my computer once a week with AVG (both the virus scanner and the malware scanner), AdAware, Spybot and CCleaner. Then once a month I use the above process (followed by a defrag). It's a very good idea to have more than one spyware scanner. Certain malware will be programed to evade detection by a popular scanner. So something that Spybot can't pick up, AdAware might, and vice versa.

I used Avast for a few years, but I had some trouble with it during my husband's recent infection. I switched to AVG and find it quite thorough.

[BKS]

I use Spybot on this comp, I'd give it 8/10. My only problem seems to be that I can't get rid of the cookies using SB, I have to go find them and delete them manually.


Now, not really an Anti-virus or Anti-Spyware, a program I have allows you to change what programs run on startup. It's called Autoruns (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx). I've used it a few times for anti-malware combat when something would launch on startup, and I'd disable the program. Hypothetically, if on startup you have 5 anti-spywares starting at once, you can use this to limit that number.

If that is of any use...

[smudgydonkey]

I'm not sure if this actually works,but I always check the size of files when I use Limewire,I believe that songs less than 1MB are viruses,correct me if I'm wrong.

[Idioteque]

EDIT: Forget what I said, that actually probably is a good gauge.

To make this back on topic, don't use Limewire, its far too easy to get viruses, even if you have an Anti-virus program.

[kkhan]

I've been using avira (http://www.free-av.com/)(free version) for the past few days and it's been working like a charm. I highly recommend it. Plus I can enable my wimax modem firewall through it's control panel, so I don't need to worry about trojans.

[SODA]

I'm not sure if this actually works,but I always check the size of files when I use Limewire,I believe that songs less than 1MB are viruses,correct me if I'm wrong.

That's not necessarily true, however, you can be rest assured that any .mp3 that is less than 20kb probably has no audio on it.

Any song you want to download from like itunes or such will be anywhere from 700kb for a really short intro or something to 10mb for like "Stairway to Heaven".

[MSB]

AVG is probably the best anti-virus software I've ever used. DieHard and Spastic both sent me the link to download it, and found and destroyed 245 infected that the previous anti-virus (I can't remember the name, and I've since deleted from my computer) never detected. I can't remember the last time my computer ran this fast!