I've been using AVG free, however I've noticed that in the past few updates AVG has crippled disk performance on my Windows Vista x64 machine.

I'm stuck with the option of using Symantec Anti-Virus (64-bit) from work, staying with AVG Free, or whatever TWW suggests.

Ideas?

12/3/2010 11:41:54 AM

I just use Microsoft Security Essentials and a little common sense.

ha and speaking of AVG free
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/02/psa-botched-avg-2011-update-might-be-why-your-pc-wont-start-to/

Quote :

"PSA: Botched AVG 2011 update might be why your PC won't start today By Sean Hollister posted Dec 2nd 2010 7:53PM Did you update your free copy of AVG 2011 today, in the hopes of evading a nasty bug? In a set of mildly familiar circumstances, the antivirus company has inadvertently unleashed an even nastier one. Users running 64-bit editions of Windows 7 and AVG 2011 are reporting a STOP error after a mandatory antivirus update this morning, which is keeping some from booting their machines into Windows at all. The buggy update has since been pulled and there are a couple ways to preemptively keep it from happening if you're staring at the message above, but if you've already been stung, you're looking at some quality time with a recovery disc or repair partition to fix your Windows boot files. Find all the solutions, including the preemptive ones, at our source link below. "

[Edited on December 3, 2010 at 11:47 AM. Reason : ]

12/3/2010 11:47:03 AM

AVG Free sucks, and so does Symantec (although its Symantec brand is better than its Norton brand)

try Microsoft Security Essentials, it is much more lightweight and doesn't include an annoying browser toolbar

and if you feel the need to scan files on the command-line (which you can do in AVG Free and Symantec but not in MSE), like to make the fullest use of the Download Statusbar extension for Firefox, install ClamWin; that scanner is entirely on-demand (instead of scanning all the time), so you can have it alongside any other virus scanner, and it is the only free and open-source virus scanner

12/3/2010 11:47:36 AM

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

LOL

[Edited on December 3, 2010 at 11:48 AM. Reason : I'm too slow.]

12/3/2010 11:47:37 AM

Gotcha, me and my partner are savvy computer users so virus risks are very low IMO.

I'll try Security Essentials to see how things go.

Also, do you think moving Vista Ultimate x64 to Windows 7 x64 would make a difference?

12/3/2010 11:54:44 AM

Quote :

"however I've noticed that in the past few updates AVG has crippled disk performance on my Windows Vista x64 machine. "

really? i haven't noticed anything. But these days my personal laptop is nothing more than a firefox/hulu/divx/itunes machine so perhaps i'm not having the issues.

12/3/2010 12:22:08 PM

Quote :

"Also, do you think moving Vista Ultimate x64 to Windows 7 x64 would make a difference?"

ditch vista. 7 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Vista

12/3/2010 12:22:47 PM

MSE

12/3/2010 1:17:59 PM

Quote :

"ditch vista. 7 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Vista"

that. vista is your problem, not AVG free. While I like MSE, I usually opt for AVG because it seems to be a little more aggressive...but then I rarely run into viruses so it doesn't really matter.

12/3/2010 1:30:29 PM

avg is bad. dont use it. use MSE. the os is irrelevent

12/3/2010 1:35:20 PM

i've switched to MSE.

12/3/2010 1:48:02 PM

I use ESET at home and at work. I also sandbox anything that maybe iffy. What do you guys think about ESET?

12/3/2010 7:36:57 PM

I've heard NOD32 is kewl

then again it is not free

12/3/2010 11:25:19 PM

Quote :

"avg is bad. dont use it."

please explain.

12/4/2010 5:14:21 PM

+1 for MSE

12/4/2010 6:17:07 PM

I've also made the switch to MSE a few months ago and I am definitely a fan.

12/4/2010 6:18:40 PM

Quote :

"please explain."

It hogs system resources and comes with annoying browser toolbars for both IE and Firefox, while MSE has none of that.

12/4/2010 6:31:24 PM

^ because browser toolbars are *that* hard to disable?

12/5/2010 12:05:24 PM

MSE is all you need

12/5/2010 4:19:25 PM

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2010.pdf

http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=255759,00.asp

12/5/2010 4:38:46 PM

I use MS SE but I disable MsMpEng.exe by renaming the file when I'm using intensive software. It bogs down my system otherwise as it tries to scan everything in real time.

12/5/2010 5:38:34 PM

^^^^AVG complains if you do...not as badly as Norton 360 does though.

12/6/2010 3:08:16 AM

Quote :

"I just use Microsoft Security Essentials and a little common sense. "

12/6/2010 1:48:38 PM