In my IT classes, one of my instructors told me that I was wasting my money with the Norton 360 suite of anti virus/malware. I opted to follow his advice of using the free copies of Avast and Malwarebytes. These two programs are wonderful and I have not had a single issue since I installed them (also saved 70 bucks). Of course, since it is the free version, when the trial runs out I know I must manually update. Recently, I have been unable to update for new virus definitions. I am not sure if something has changed that puts me at risk, but have been using both programs just short of two years.

I know some of you folks work with computers more than I have had the opportunity to do so and may have some good suggestions regarding antivirus and anti malware. Could probably delete the Avast and re-download it but wanted to pick some other peoples brains first. So, I am ready……

Oh yes, norton is a waste and has been for years now…There are a lot of freeware out there that is just as good if not better. Honestly, I would stay away from the two you listed lol 

Here is a really good one( http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/security-software.php?key5sk1=6d72df7d9dd7cae084bf6fb1ac164569a17386bd&key5sk2=2128&key5sk3=1365954560000&key5sk4=2128&key5sk5=1365954508000&key5sk6=2128&key5sk7=1365954562000&key5sk8=&key5sk9=1365954574000&key5sk10=&key5sk11=1365954595000&key6sk1=&key6sk2=CH260141064&key6sk3=7&key6sk4=en-us&key6sk5=US&key6sk6=0&key6sk7=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comodo.com%2F&key6sk8=117700&key6sk9=1024768&key6sk10=true&key6sk11=2eac23d76b33a051c8488137f8440f1ef7422ae9&key6sk12=2034&key7sk1=2&key7sk2=43&key7sk3=6&key1sk1=dt&key1sk2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comodo.com%2F) that I install on my clients systems if they want an all in one type deal. You can get the free copy to try or pay for it. The free copy has live firewall, antivirus, secure browser and if you decide you like it, pay few bucks and have even more features.

The Avast is OK but it bogs shit down in the background, I tried it and stopped using it. It’s "small" but it’s really "big" on the back end and I usually use 2-3 programs to scan as each one will pick up diff shit.

My all time fav(free to try) is HitmanPro  30 day trial for free…Most of my clients end up paying for the full year on this one….Then there is one that I have been following for over 10 years now lol  moosoft.com  the Cleaner is a free to try and again most of my clients get this one as well.

Top Programs I like:

The Cleaner
Comodo Internet Security Pro
Spybot Search & Destroy
HitManPro
Kaspersky

Too cool, thanks! I am one of those people whose instincts say to try and figure things out for myself, but right now I have more book knowledge than practical experience. Time to put away the pride and gain from the experience of others.

I use Avast Pro, crac#$!. Malwarebytes, spybot and CCleaner <—-CrapCleaner. These all together are awesome

Thanks dj, I know little about all this and need all the info I can find to l e a r n. :Smokey

Comodo Internet Security free version does it all, firewall and antivirus. Used it for years and never had a problem. Firewall is excellent.

You can get Avast Pro from TPB, it works great.
The free one is free of course, the paid versions can have a 30 day trial, but there are ways around that lol
http://www.avast.com/download-software

Malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Get Spybot here
http://www.safer-networking.org/

CCleaner
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

I’m an AVG guy, have been for years.  Free, effective, and not a resource hog.

Spybot and Malware Bytes are both great utilities for minor bug removal.

For system tweaks, it’s nearly impossible to beat Auslogics Boost Speed.  Really great toolset.  Glary Utilitites was my fave before that, but Aus is much better.

Okay, I downloaded Comodo since starting this thread and it seems to be working great. Thanks for all input.  I like the widget that goes on the desktop but the wife hates it. But since I keep my laptop organized and my wife’s desktop page on the main computer looks like an unmade bed; I told her the Widget on the main screen was necessary.

Oh yeah, comodo free is top notch, I install on all client systems and hitmapro 30 day and let them decide if they want to continue and pay for a year but comodo will stay free..avg n avast stopped using them years ago..

MS Security Essentials is the best free anti-virus in all the testing from the last few years. You will have issues using it if your Windows is pirated but other than that it is the obvious choice over avast/avira/avg/etc. Supplement it with Malwarebytes and Commodo and you are good to go. CCleaner is nice for cleaning up a drive. Defraggler and Recuva by the same company are well worth the DL.

I’m an AVG guy, have been for years.  Free, effective, and not a resource hog.

Spybot and Malware Bytes are both great utilities for minor bug removal.

For system tweaks, it’s nearly impossible to beat Auslogics Boost Speed.  Really great toolset.  Glary Utilitites was my fave before that, but Aus is much better.

Um, I was an AVG guy for years… Then it and it’s interface slowly became bloated and terrible until I just had to find something else a few years ago and all the other options were notably better. Have you just not tried anything else?