# What free virus/spyware should I have on my pc? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198 "2005-07-19T20:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/1 "2005-07-19T20:46:43Z")
I think the title says it all. I have AVG. What do you have? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/2 "2005-07-19T20:48:51Z")
Been using AVG for a while, had no infections that I’m aware of. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/3 "2005-07-19T20:50:13Z")
Microsoft anti-Spyware thingy is very good, even if I keep telling it to downlad a new version and it never does… ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/4 "2005-07-19T21:18:06Z")
Adaware. ZoneAlarm. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/5 "2005-07-19T23:09:45Z")
Sygate Firewall is my preference, over ZoneAlarm. It’s a personal preference - you can try each as you wish. My main problem with ZA is that its alerts are on a slide-out thing from the taskbar. I prefer a popup in the middle of the screen (when I know it’s legitimate!). Each to their own. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/6 "2005-07-20T02:04:27Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Sygate Firewall is my preference, over ZoneAlarm. It’s a personal preference - you can try each as you wish. My main problem with ZA is that its alerts are on a slide-out thing from the taskbar. I prefer a popup in the middle of the screen (when I know it’s legitimate!). Each to their own. I’ll 2nd Sygate Personal Firewall. There are just so many features on this FREE piece of software that the other free ones just don’t have. Plus, Sygate will monitor ALL of your network protocols, not just TCP/IP. I found this out when I installed it and after rebooting, was not able to log into our IPX/SPX Novell network. I also use Spybot Search & Destroy an AdAware. Between the two of them, I’ve not had any spyware problems. Spybot has a nice feature that will easily let you turn off programs that execute at startup. It also has a feature called TeaTimer that will monitor system registry changes automatically and notify you of any change during your computing session. For virus protection, I stopped using AVG and started using Avast. AVG for some reason stopped auto-updating for me. I’ve not had a single problem with Avast, plus it has caught some viruses that others have not. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/7 "2005-07-20T11:50:17Z")
ZoneAlarm, AVG, Spybot Search & Destroy, AdAware, and OpenOffice. These are the things I put on anyone’s computer I set up. I also use all of them myself. I’m not affiliated with any of the above company’s. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/8 "2005-07-20T12:05:37Z")
ZoneAlarm, AVG and Microsoft Antispyware. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/9 "2005-07-20T12:08:20Z")
I also have S&D and AdAware but don’t care whether they run or not. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/10 "2005-07-20T12:49:48Z")
AVG or Avast! are both fine – antivirus is a commodity: all antivirus software gives you about the same protection, so buy on price. ZoneAlarm as the firewall. Microsoft Antispyware, especially if you’re not a computer expert. Ad-Aware is useful if you are. I haven’t checked out Spybot in awhile, but last time it was definitely inferior to Ad-Aware. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-free-virus-spyware-should-i-have-on-my-pc/313198/11 "2005-07-20T16:26:00Z")
[http://www.clamwin.com/](http://www.clamwin.com/) My boss used to pay for Norton, despite the fact that it sucked balls every time we try to renew. ClamWin is free as in beer, and, unlike AVG, Avast, etc, it’s also free as in speech, so we can use it commercially. I use ClamAV on our SMTP boxes, and the Windows version has the same engine. If you’re not intimidated by a non-novice interface, nothing else even comes close.