Tech Any good free malware removal program to go w/ free AVG anti virus?

bnjj

Jovi Junkie
O.G.
Apr 20, 2007
10,199
20
I am using the free version of AVG anti virus and am wondering if anyone knows of any good free malware removal programs to compliment it?

I may end up just upgrading to the paid version of AVG. Thanks.
 
Thanks.

I've always used TrendMicro so may just go back to that as I was always happy with it. I still have a subscription for it but never bothered to install it on my laptop - it's on my desktop but on my laptop I use free AVG.
 
I second the Malwarebytes nomination!

I also run Super Anti-Spyware once a week or so, and I keep Spyware Blaster running in memory.

For antivirus, I use the Avira free edition, it consistently "wins" the "which one finds more stuff" contests.

And for a good free firewall, you can't beat Comodo!
 
I second the Malwarebytes nomination!

I also run Super Anti-Spyware once a week or so, and I keep Spyware Blaster running in memory.

For antivirus, I use the Avira free edition, it consistently "wins" the "which one finds more stuff" contests.

And for a good free firewall, you can't beat Comodo!

Will the Avira have "conflicts" if AVG is still on my system?
For a while Spybot and AdAware keep trying to delete each other...I just found Malwarebytes recently when I couldn't get rid of a Trojan with AVG. It seems to have worked (fingers crossed).
 
Will the Avira have "conflicts" if AVG is still on my system? .
They might. It is not a good idea to run multiple anti-virus programs.

What you could do is get Avira and run that, and if you want more "opinions" use online scanners from time to time.

Geeks to Go is a great resource, they have friendly and knowledgeable people who will help you if you get into a bad situation and hold your hand through it all.

They're volunteers, so it's all free, but the level of service and professionalism is much better than the paid "Golden Premium Deluxe" service contract things I have seen.

They also maintain updated lists of good free security programs of all flavors, including online virus scanners.

Unless you are really familiar with the whole subject, I would suggest only using the ones on their list, because sometimes googling for things like that can point you to places that actually do the opposite!

Geeks to Go Online Virus Scanners List
 
^^ Thanks for the CC Cleaner program recommendation, cleaning out temp files definitely seems to helps cut down on virus/spyware scanning time significantly. I wish I'd found these programs sooner.
 
I am running Zone Alarm Internet Suite. I use Malwarebytes to perform a weekly sweep and CCleaner to clean out temp files and do a registry check every few weeks.

I used to use McAfee but it never really caught anything and my hard drive crashed last year due to a virus.
 
Once you get all nice and clean, Hostman is a cool little (free) program that can help keep you that way.

You can learn all about your hosts file to understand the hows and whys - or you can just get it and install it, it doesn't care.

The Web of Trust (WOT) firefox addon can also be useful, despite its obvious flaws (websites receive red or yellow dots based on ratings by other users, according to a set of criteria that may or may not dovetail with your own, and of course may reflect subjective and irrelevant opinions, etc)

The more you can avoid going to websites that have bad stuff on them, the less likely you are to get bad stuff on your computer.

Firefox has other addons that can block, or alert you to the presence of, certain lumps of code - which Avira will also do, and I know that there is sometimes some controversy about that, but the boring but useful principle is that of reacting to code - not content, which is a whole nother department in the store.