Continuing with the free software... I'd used Norton and McAfee for quite some time. After purchasing a new hard drive for my laptop and reinstalling Windows XP I decided to look for something else to meet my anti-virus needs. The problem with Norton and McAfee is they both have a tendancy to take over your computer and getting them to uninstall is nearly impossible. Both have these annoying pop-ups that will actually interrupt other programs - I get extraordinarily pissed when I'm playing a first-person shooter online with a buddy and McAfee dumps me to the desktop to check for updates. I'm in charge around here, bitch! So I decided to kick both of them to the curb.
I asked a friend of mine who had recently hooked me up with some blazin' third party video drivers if he had any recommendations and he suggested AVG Free. I went to the website (link below), downloaded and installed. I've been using the software for about three months now and other than the little icon in the system tray I wouldn't even know it was there. In fact, the only problem I've had was when I ignored a warning and let a virus loose on my system, but the software contained it when I realized my mistake and I was able to eradicate the offender with no damage done. Pretty stupid mistake on my part - I was downloading a Linux distro from the maker of the distros site and thought I could trust them. AVG knew better and I should have listened...
The software scans incoming and outgoing emails and the default setup provides a fairly sensible level of protection. You can schedule regular virus scans and updated virus lists are also free. I'm using it in conjunction with the free version of AdAware and I'm happy with both. Grisoft, the manufacturer, also sells a version with more advanced features. They also have free and pay anti-spyware and anti-rootkit software.
You can check out the free antivirus here:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
If you're interested in their other products go here:
http://www.grisoft.com/
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