General Question

VoodooLogic's avatar

What's the best replacement anti-virus software for Norton on Windows Vista?

Asked by VoodooLogic (729points) January 26th, 2008

I’m used to installing AVG Free addition on XP systems, however with Vista, I was thought I should check the online community. I hardly ever find it’s worth the money to pay for a subscription when there are so many free equivalences.

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5 Answers

gooch's avatar

AVG I have been using it at home work and school. It has worked great for me. Yes also it is free.

scottk's avatar

If you have an AOL screenname (free sign-up), you can download the AOL-branded McAfee Virus Scan Plus for free here: http://safety.aol.com/isc/BasicSecurity/
Don’t worry, it won’t install any other AOL software on your machine. It says “special edition,” but I’ve tested it and as far as I can tell it is the full version of McAfee VirusScan Plus. It includes the virus protection as well as a firewall and spyware scanning.

You already are familiar with AVG, so I won’t mention that again.

ALWIL software offers a free version of its avast! antivirus software for home users here: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
I have not tried avast! myself, so I can’t recommend or non-recommend it, but C|Net’s Download.com Editors gave it 5 stars while users gave it about 4 1/2. Read their reviews here: http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000–2239_4–10019223.html

There’s also Comodo’s AntiVirus 2 which is free: http://antivirus.comodo.com/
Download.com readers only gave this product 3 out of 5 stars however: http://www.download.com/Comodo-AntiVirus/3000–2239_4–10538177.html

Clam Win is an open-source antivirus program: http://www.clamwin.com/
It does not include a real-time scanner however. You need to conduct all scans manually.

Finally, you can get ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite free through TrialPay by going here: http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Basically how it works is if you agree to complete and offer from on of TrialPay’s advertisers (Netflix, eMusic, etc), they you get the software for free. I got 75 songs from eMusic for 99ยข and then canceled my membership in order to complete an offer. You just have to remember to cancel before you get charged (I canceled my eMusic membership the same day I signed up for it after downloading the free music). I wouldn’t recommend this TrialPay approach to everyone, but it does work if you follow the rules.

Hope this helps!

Zaku's avatar

In my considered and professional opinion, the best replacement anti-virus software for Norton on a Vista machine is to back up any useful data, reformat the hard drives, removing all traces of Vista, and then install a preferable operating system. :-)

juaniquillo's avatar

I’d go with AVG as well.

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