Best/fastest anti-virus for Vista use?

I do on boot times, but when its all loaded things run fine... thats why i use AVG; although im still looking for other AV programs. I may even give Avast another go!

 

Yes, if I have to choose a free one, it would definitely be Avast for me, IMHO

 

I currently use Avast, however, I do have a question. Why is free AntiVir not recommended more often? The premium version appears to do well on the http://www.av-comparatives.org/ tests, especially compared to Avast. Is the free version crippled somehow?

 

I use Nod 32. It works like a charm. It auto-updates every single day and runs on a minuscule amount of RAM and CPU cycles.

It scans every active file, email, web file, etc. It also has an on-demand scanner and a scheduler.

I believe it is the best/lightest Anti-Virus around.

Only issue I've ever had with it involves streaming large audio files in .aiff format in iTunes over my network while running Nod32. The files take forever to play. For some reason the issue doesn't occur with other filetypes. Anyway, when I'm playing a bunch of .aiff songs over my network, I disable active scanning in Nod32...but otherwise it is a treat.

 

So if we were limiting it to free options for a security suite, which would everyone recommend? AVS or Avast? I'm talking spyware blocking, adware blocker, and anti-virus? Or is windows defender on Vista good enough by itself? Cuz from what i hear windows defender takes up a lot of resources in and of itself

 

well I read some reviews online; avast is just SLIGHTLY better than avg...therefore I am sticking with avg since it is less of a resource hog and a better interface

 

As documented on my website, my recommendations are all currently free ones:

• Firewall - PCTools Firewall Plus (V2, not V3)
• Anti-SpyWare - PCTools SpyWare Doctor
• Anti-Virus - Avast!
• Additional:
  • SpyBot Search and Destroy

 

will avg/avast protect against spyware/adware or just viruses?

 

I have the same set up with the Windows firewall and a Linksys router. I think I'm covered.

 

i do know that the free avg does not protect against adware; use ad aware for that