Anti virus software

[Roland]

I am looking for some anti virus software for my husband's computer. We have used one of the free antivirus programs for a while, but I think that we'd like to get something that's a little bit tougher, since I've heard that "you get what you pay for" regarding actual anti-virus capability.

I once used a free trial version of some mainstream av software (Norton? McAfee? I don't remember) and was not impressed. I didn't like the generic, doomsday warnings about "OMG HACKERS ARE GOING TO GET YOU!" all the time, particularly when coupled with the lack of specific information. It seemed like it was designed to keep a computer novice scared and in the dark, while providing minimal actual protection (or, at least it was unclear about what actual protection was provided).

I'm looking for something that's got good detection and removal ability, plus enough specific information to aid in a manual removal, should that be necessary.

Does anybody use something that they're particularly happy with?

AVG Antivirus is a good program, from what I hear. I use the free version on many of my family members. It seems to work just great. And be leery of anyone who says "You get what you pay for" when it comes to anything software-related these days, especially Open Source. Those people are either stuck in the past (the 80's), or were stupid enough to download something advertised on a pop-up that said "You've got spyware! Download our program or die!" No offense, but software just doesn't work like most things in the world these days, mostly due to the Open Source movement. I'd take a small-time programmer or company over a major one any day for most software things. Big corporations charge big money for very little value. Sometimes what you can get for free is vastly superior to what you can buy.

Avoid Norton like the plague. Once on your computer, it takes an Exorcism by the Pope himself to get rid of it. I'm not joking. And it can kill your computer.:PI've seen it. Just avoid ANYTHING that says Norton, period. As for Macafee, I've seen it used by some people who were happy with it. Never impressed me much.

Give AVG a shot, especially the free one to check it out. The company that makes it is Grisoft, IIRC. I believe it's also pretty inexpensive to buy, around $20 or $30 for the full version. Also, make sure you have some good spyware removal tool. I personally use Lavasoft's Ad-aware and Spybot - Search & Destroy. These two combined should take care of anything that could possibly pop up on your computer. I've been using them both for years and never had a problem.