Avira Free Anti-Virus

Hello bob, I think I prefer kaspersky after all. But for free version, I like AVG.

Avira didn't work well with my PC .... After trying several , I settled on NOD32. It is wonderful. It updates several times every day. Truly is "set and forget "

I started out with McAfee about 4 years ago in XP.

They used to have Just AV and Firewall. Not too much of a system drain and good detection but now it's all or nothing so, I didn't renew.Went with AVG 7.5 Free but got infected.I then tried Avira AntiVir Personal and really like it's ability to protect along with fast scans. The updater has a "Nag Screen" but, I don't mind it because I know it has updated the definitions. keeps your mind at ease.

For antispyware, I use SUPERAntispyware Professional with real time shields. PC Tools Firewall rounds out my main protection package. This configuration does not take allot of resources and protects my interests for an enjoyable web surfing experience. Thanks Bob for taking the time to talk about Avira.

Hi Bob,I bought a Packard Bell PC 4 years ago with Norton pre-installed for 3 months.I took the simplest line and renewed it when it expired. However, I found it a "resource hogger" and had to increase my RAM to keep up a reasonable speed.In its favour, I didn't get any viruses etc. so I purchased Norton 360. What a difference from Norton 2006 & 2007 !

It no longer slows things down, as it scans when my PC is idle - unlike Avast etc. which tend to scan at "Start up" and bring proceedings to a crawl unless you have loads of RAM.

Its Avira personal for me.From what I'm reading It has a detection rate as high as the highest rated commercial antiviruses.

I really like Avast and the way it updates does a boottime scan etc but its detection rate was a lot lower than Avira,last time I checked anyway.If I buy a commercial version I will buy Avira because of the good results with the free one.

I find it frustrating when techs suggest free malware software, but never tell which ones can work together on the same PC. I understand there are two different types of free malware, and there can be conflicts.

EDITOR'S NOTE: But I *did* tell you! At the end of the article, I said "My article 'Should I Buy Anti-Spyware or Anti-Virus Software?'(http://askbobrankin.com/should_i_buy_antispyware_or_antivirus_software.html) details my recommendations."

Stuart .......... Avast only "scans at startup" if you configure it that way either during installation or via Options once it's installed. It will either Scan on demand or can be configured to scan all/part of your machine at a time of day set by yourself. Spyzooka's supposed to be the "bees knees" of protection, the developers offer a 100% money back guarantee if you're not totally satisfied.

I connect to the internet through a adsl router with hardware firewall and NAT enabled. Do i still need anti virus/spam/malware software?

EDITOR'S NOTE: You don't need a software-based firewall, but the router will do nothing to protect you from viruses and spyware.

For all those great comments, with all due respect, from what i understand, rating an antivirus is not made by the promises which are made by the manufacturer or the mind blowing tech features with hi tech words naming them(features).

Its all about your computer and security, for many people a good AV is an AV software which works without errors and if there is a slight glitch due to something else on the pc they blame the AV program for it. And mind it; there is a lot of differences between anti virus and anti spy ware. AVG & Avira are the good ones with a high detection index... i've seen known good programs taken in by some "great" security suites as generic trojans.. in short catching the wrong guy.. there is a lot of logic to apply in that case.

I like avira,avast,asquare,malwarebytes,prevxcsi and ad-aware... Use them all... Avira is my favorite...Avast does a boot scan... None of these caused any conflicts on my hp laptop(4yrs old)... Also use advanced windowscare... I scan with one and then another,etc... Works for me...

>>Avira's Premium software comes at a modest price of US$27

Of course it does, it mostly programmed by people from "second hand" countries, like Romania (eastern Europe), if you understand what I mean.

It's really simple and it's common among today's businesses. The brains of the company stays in Germany, while most of programming division is moved to Romania and India. It costs less because, the salaries are low in those part of the world, and of course, people work minimalistic (if again, understand what I mean). Anyway, I installed this product some years ago and it sucked. I installed it some days ago and it also sucked. So, in conclusion, a definitive NO for AVIRA Antivirus. Use AVG, it's better and doesn't consume all your PC resources.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, some companies do hire computer programmers in Eastern Europe, India and other places. But the money those programmers are paid is generally FAR beyond what they could otherwise make by working in their own country. Seems like a win-win to me.

so far so good but there seem to be a new virus that takes control of the avira anti-virus, then it sets the avira antivirus to detect all .exe and .com files as virus even though they are not.

EDITOR'S NOTE: And the name of this new virus is...? The URL for more info...?

Due to this article, I tried Avira and wasn't pleased with it. Oh, it worked but didn't have aspects to the program that I personally like, email scanning with notice at the bottom of the email, routine daily scanning of computer looking for viruses and etc., and for some reason, I just didn't feel 'safe and secure' with the overall program.

Yes, I know that many people don't like 'change' and I tend to be one of those types of people. But, I just didn't feel comfortable with what Avira had to offer, on their FREE version.

As for Eastern Europe being the place for good Anti-Virus programs, it makes sense to me. So many of the latest Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and etc., come out of Russia and China. Europe frequently gets them first and gets a 'handle' on it to update their virus databases. They have been doing a great job, in my opinion and I commend them.

The biggest problem Netizens face today, is getting 'zapped' with a Virus or Trojan Horse or Worm while on the Internet. These use to be only acquired by emails, not anymore. So, it is important that the Anti-Virus software program you use, has a 'Resident Shield', that watches the Internet while you are surfing.

About Avira As, I understand, It pre-screens everything that is written to or read from the Hard drive this is what a realtime Guard is suppose to do, So if this is the case then Anti-Viruses boosting about having a separate E-Mail scanner are just window dressing because there is no way a virus can get onto the hard drive without being detected. If you download your E-mail it gets written to your hard drive therefore the guard should screem it, therefore it should protect you from E-mail viruses

As for Eastern Europe being the place for good Anti-Virus programs, it makes sense to me. So many of the latest Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and etc., come out of Russia and China. Europe frequently gets them first and gets a 'handle' on it to update their virus databases. They have been doing a great job, in my opinion and I commend them.
emu boots

For the record, I've used AVG Free for 5 years and have had no problems whatsoever (OK, so maybe it's just luck - whatever). It works in the background and gives me great peace of mind.

But, every now and then one hears a good report about another AV program, and being human and inqusitive, you want to compare. So you come over to Ask Bob R. and what do you find ? A comparative table dating back to 2008 - 2008, for goodness sakes!!! C'mon Bob, let's get a new show on the road, please. For instance, why not compare AVG with the new Avira 10 ? Go to it, Mr.R.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't produce the reports. But other articles on this site reference http://www.av-comparatives.org which I recommend for the latest comparative reports.

Do you have any suggestions for a free anti-virus program that doesn't take up too many resources on the computer? I tried Avast/PCTools/and the worst of all AVG. AVG used to be GREAT but now it's awful! You can't shut it down completely (yes, i've unchecked resident shield, etc..also tried unchecking all services, etc). I liked the OLD version that you could just turn on when you wanted. 80% of what I do is OFFLINE, so I don't want anything else running and slowing down my computer uselessly. Most of what i do online is email and a little FB. I only surf a little. Thankyou in Advance
unhappy :(

im trying to find out if avira will work with avg, and not cause the computer to slow down more than it is. i run a scan daily with avg but i find out its missing alot. so i want a secondary anti virus, if avira will not work with avg can u suggest any thank u

Avira link to upgrade is broken. The new price is $45, not $27.

How do we DONATE? Your site is wonderful Bob!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the kind words. On each article page, you'll find a link to my "Buy Bob a Snickers" page. The URL is http://buybobasnickers.com/