Windows 7 Looking for Lightweight Antivirus Alternatives for Windows 7 Without Kaspersky or Norton

[valoc]

Hello all,

I installed Windows 7 on my extra computer. I want an anti-virus for it. Ive tried Avast and AVG and i got different errors for both of them. Can anyone recommend me a good anti-virus that doesnt slow my computer down? i need all the speed i can get. Anything besides Kaspersky and Norton?

Thanks!

 

[BlackWolf]

I'm using ESET's Smart Security. Works fine, but I get an occasional bluescreen which I think might be realted to it.

 

[hammydown]

Try using AVG Free antivirus. I have not gotten a BSOD yet and it works great.

 

[reghakr]

OK, I'm a litle biased here, but I have no problems with my full version of PCTools Anti-Virus, but they do offer a free version:

PC Tools AntiVirus - Free Anti-Virus Download

 

[confused]

After downloading about 5 differant Av free versions, avira avg spybot ect I went with avg free version. It uses a lot of resourses though. Windows 7 seems to like it though.

Waiting for the trend micro windows 7 release.

 

[hammydown]

Glad to hear that the free version of AVG finally worked out for you. It is a killer by any means in terms of efficeintly removing viruses. I have never seen it take more than 6-7000 k of ram and it takes up less than 3% cpu when doing full scan. Something either must be set wrong or installled wrong.

 

[valoc]

The only problem with the free version of AVG is that it is only a virus protector. nothing against malware/trojans/hackings. which is why its free. i downloaded PCtools AV and it covered all the needs (virus/hacking/trojan ect...) but the only problem is that i believe it slows down my computer at bootup... i dont know about regular usage yet.

 

[hammydown]

AVG antivirus does detect and remove trojans horses as it has removed several on my machine in the past. I regularly scan my computer with the free scan tool put out by panda and very rarely every find something of interest.

 

[valoc]

AVG antivirus does detect and remove trojans horses as it has removed several on my machine in the past. I regularly scan my computer with the free scan tool put out by panda and very rarely every find something of interest.

It detects everything on the free version of AVG? it did not say that on the website, it only said that the free version of AVG only detects viruses.

 

[hammydown]

Well i am letting you know from personnal experience that it on several occasions has detected and removed trojan horses. I dont know about the other things though.

 

[davehc]

I think you are correct Valoc.
I used AVGFree in the Early Vista days, and was eventually persuaded to purchase the full edition. But I found that it was very heavy on Windows 7. I started to browse around again and when I looked at AVG's page, with the latest release, it did seem that they had lowered the specs quite a lot. Probably looking for more real sales.
I found that Avast (I think) was one of the few free releases that also covered rootkits, so I went for that. Oddly, after installation, it found a couple of things which the full edition of AVG had failed to find (??)
Bu, on your first question. Any decent Antivirus program is going to slow down your computer. It is a sacrifice we have to make in the interests of our own security.
The "Free" editions are becoming quite standardised now. They are limited and few offer rootkit or trojan detection.
Fwiw. It is becoming such a serious matter now, that I am campaigning in my country of residence, for the free, and standard, issue of Antivirus protection, accompanying a subscription to your ISP. Unfortunately, I have had a breakthrough, but not what I desired. My ISP has now blocked certain sites from access (lol)

 

[montyuk]

if you right click the icon in the system tray and select open interface, in there it lists anti-virus and anti-spyware.

 

[computershack]

I'm using ESET's Smart Security. Works fine, but I get an occasional bluescreen which I think might be realted to it.

If you've paid for SS, you can download just NOD32 and use your username and password for SS.

 

[ickymay]

I use avira antivir free edition with no issues

 

[rl2k05]

I use avira antivir free edition with no issues

I concur here.....

 

[JohnnyL]

I liked the new Kaspersky beta. Installed without a problem. Seems to work well with W7. By the way, I'm running this on a 5 yo box with a P4 2.6 and only a gig of memory and a Radeon 9700. Works fine. Faster than my XP installation on the same machine. Now my XP is the same install for the last 5 years. Nothing re-installed or really cleaned but from my recollection, it never started up or shut down as fast as W7.

 

[repriselight]

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 8.0.0.1067 for Windows 7

Hi
You Can Use Kaspersky Anti-Virus 8.0.0.1067 for Windows 7.

It Work Correctly On Windows 7 I Test It.


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[kevin from Chi-town]

2 things

First of all...CWShredder works on 7 just as well as it did on any other PC. But has anyone else tried HiJackThis?
Most of the files are coming up missing!

 

[Radenight]

AVG Free Edition also works very well on Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit. I know there are some on here that are claiming that AVG sucks and doesn't work well with 7.. but I've been using it with Win 7 since build 6801 and never once have I had any problems with it.. so I am claiming that it works VERY well on Windows 7.. (I don't mean the whole AVG Internet Security app, I mean just the Anti-Virus client.

 

[Garymac]

I installed AVG Free 8 and it works fine, no errors. The only issue is the Updater doesn't always work, but if you just forget about it, it will update date itself anyway in an hour or two. This isn't a big deal as AVG Free only updates daily as far as I can tell. Try removing and re-installing. You can control the amount of resources AVG uses. Open AVG, click on Computer Scanner, Select either Scan Whole Computer or Specific Files > Change Scan Settings. You leave it at Auto or move it to the left for a slower scan which should reduce the resources required.