Free Window's Security Software! :- ) *UPDATED*

Trustware is launching an "open" beta for Vista of its awesome sandbox app (bufferzone)
http://www.trustware.com/index.php?id=products_home_VistaBeta

BufferZone Pro transparently neutralizes threats, including viruses, spyware, and other types of malicious software, by redirecting their disk, registry and other modifications on your PC to an isolated Virtual Zone (the “buffer zone”). Any modification requested by a program running in the Virtual Zone is performed within the boundaries of the isolated area and does not effect your PC’s actual configuration, data or files.

Our software prevents malicious code from silently installing on your system; BufferZone Pro keeps all files, drivers and system resources invisible, protecting them from attacks and preventing them from being exploited in a malicious way.
Protect Yourself Against Information And Identity Theft

Because BufferZone Pro separates files and applications, Trojan horses containing key loggers and other malicious code are not able to access sensitive areas of your PC (such as your “My Documents” and similar folders) to try and steal your passwords or violate your privacy. BufferZone Pro automatically and transparently protects trusted files and directories designated as confidential; for example:

* Sensitive documents, such as business plans and credit card or bank account information.
* Work-related material, such as source code.
* Personal files, such as photos/videos from your digital camera or downloaded from the Web.
* Private configuration files containing passwords, sign-on information, etc.

Protect Yourself From Various Sources Of Threats

You can safely download, share, import, or run any file or program from any source while remaining confident that they can never harm your actual PC. Such sources include:

* Web browsers
* P2P file sharing programs
* Instant messaging software
* Email applications
* External media such as USB flash disks, CD ROMs, and ZIP drives
* Any other source that you consider a threat

 

*EDIT* my appologies, but it does not seem i was correct in this. sorry for any confusion

Drivesentry now supports Vista 64bit!
http://www.drivesentry.com/drivesentry_desktop_download.html#

DriveSentry
Protects all drives including removable and external drives.
Monitors and logs all program access.
Only allows 'good' programs to access your drives.
Protects your system and personal data.
Protection from Zeroday threats.
Realtime automatic updates to your local Advisor database.
Protection from known and unknown threats.
Uses unique whitelisting technology
Scan your system for over 1 million viruses
Realtime program advice from DriveSentry Advisor Community
Automatically blocks and quarantines malicious programs

 

Its really a good informative antivirus list. I do beleive in AVG of grisoft. It works fast and terminate infection from your pc. So don't be perplexed in making choice, think about AVG.

Justin Long
Social Bookmarking Service

 

I wanted to add a quick note most Internet Service Providers offer free antivirus as part of the plan ATT YAHOO offers Norton and I usually hate Norton cuz it uses to many resources however its been updated to run more efficiently and I will add my test results here later. TIME WARNER ROAD RUNNER uses CA Internet Security suite and I highly reccomend it very good antivirus with great anti spyware and firewall, not to hard on the system resources. I continue to use AVG which has added some updates and now runs just a bit more efficeintly but what do u expect when u have a 500gb hard drive. I have been virus free since the debut of the latest version. One other anti-spy tool that is free comes with the Yahoo Toolbar and its quite good perfect back up to AVG & Windows Defender.

 

As someone mentioned earlier, AVG 8.0 has begun giving false-positives on several programs that may have seemed bad but were not. I would strongly suggest Avast! as the best current anti-virus program to use. It even stops any infections directly on a webpage, plus has several more security features open to it over AVG's Free version. It also updates every 12 hours, so it's almost always up to date. The only thing is with Avast you should register for a free license, but you just need a name and an email.

Runner up would the Comodo Anti-Virus, seems to be a bit over-protective at times, but it's feature-rich, not very resource heavy, and completely free.

As for other programs, Comodo Firewall Pro is still a top choice for firewalls, but you can work with the others if you like. Spybot S&D is good, but try and stick with the older Ad-aware SE Personal/Pro if you have it, don't upgrade to the 200X versions. Although they don't automatically update SE anymore, you can find update files on download.com if you look for Ad-aware SE Reference File on Google. Otherwise, the newer versions are resource hogs, and run even if you close it with no benefits.

Most of the programs listed are still good, just need to find the updated version of most. Spyware Blaster 4.1 is I believe what rav009 wanted to put as the link for it, but he put the Spyware Guard one instead, which is a great tool as well, but I'm not too sure if it's still updated.

I'd like to add 2 more items from Comodo to the list if I may;

Comodo BOClean: Anti-Malware
http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html
and
Comodo Memory Firewall
http://www.memoryfirewall.comodo.com/index.html

The Memory Firewall is just an extra preventative software that helps stop buffer overflow attacks.

And the last thing I wanted to add is Add-ons for Firefox called
AdBlockPlus
http://adblockplus.org/en/
and CustomizeGoogle
http://www.customizegoogle.com/

Both are great editions that help eliminate ads and help you get the most out of the internet without all the unneeded adds and junk that comes with it.

 

best guide i've seen in a long time. Thanks mate you really have helped me alot

 

Cheers for looking fellers.

Thanks to people who've contributed their links, maybe a mod could edit them in as I don't have time these days - if someone could be arsed to slap a few new links together and PM the Creakster to chuck it in the OP, that would be good!

 

Very good choiced by riko, I agree on most of them, I still use AVG, still lucky enough not to have any problems with it, but I'm always listining or reading about other peoples opinions.

I have been a subscriber with a Mag called Maximumpc, they pretty much have been on the ball for several years, even though they do accept advertising they are not fearfull on downing products even though they advertise some of them, of course the one to believe and follow most is CusumersReports.org, they do not accept any advertising but do not go into great detail about everything which they can't cause they report on everything, but thier word is bond.

Just yesterday I recieved my monthly MaxPC mag, and low and behold they had an article on the best anti-virus software, I've never seen them give a 10 to hardly anybody, but what did suprise me that they gave a 9 to Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009, cause Norton has really sucked the past years for obvious reasons everybody pretty much knows about, they listed AVG as 6, Kaspersky an 8, Avast a 4, Avira a 7, Macafee a 6, and they also gave one I never heard of a 9, called ESET Smart Security, they raved about that one most, but still giving Norton a 9 was a real suprise, they say it's not a hog anymore plus other things, and of course some are free and some not, they gave out an address of http://tinyurl.com/6lnctx, for full report but does not work for me, it took me to some goofy dragon site, maybe thiers a misspelling somewhere, but regardless it was an intersting read.

 

Not sure if you do much with torrent downloads Fred but many people report that certain cracks and patches show false positives. Of course its those same cracks and patches that some people use to deploy their viruses and the reason you have to know your sources, but thats all for a different thread probably. I too agree with much that you and Riko have posted

 

Merry Christmas Everyone, recent issue of ComputerShopper has these listed for building your internet security and I have provided links to them aswell plus a link to a recent post that Microsoft will release a new antivirus/malware solution free in April 2009. All the solutions listed here work on Vista or XP and all now scan for spyware,some keyloggers & rootkits.
Antivirus:
Avast Home Edition 4.8 http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

AVG Free Edition 8.0 http://free.avg.com/ also has link scanner similar to McAfee site advisor you can change when it updates and when it does its daily scan, scans outlook emails, over my favorite for 7 years

Avira AntiVirus http://www.free-av.com/

My Anti-Spyware Pics: Have you had to face a new threat says its Antivirus XP 2008 or 2009 only one tool I used succesfully removed it and so it has moved to the top of my list for antispyware protection as no other program totally removed none and that program is Super Anti-Spyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/
I also have Windows Defender installed while it doesn't do the best job it is well integrated with Explorer and if Microsoft just updated its definitions faster it would do a much better job personally I think this program works better in Vista than XP but its free and does active protection so you shouldn't go without it here is the link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx another really useful program from Microsoft that has helped me in a very infected system is the monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool you can get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx the link will lead you to a page dated 2005 however clicking on the link in the page will take you to the current version.
No one should be without SpywareBlaster 4.1 as this one doesn't scan it immunizes you from known spyware using whitelisting keeping known bad boys out the free version has to be updated manually and doing so once a month works just fine here is the link: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/products.html While your there check out some of the other free software I like MRU blaster especially when using a shared pc.
I have tested many firewalls and I know your gonna be shocked but I actually use the Windows firewall it has little to no impact on my system but I have tried and trust those listed below and most have been reccomended by one or all of the following publicatins, PCMag, PCworld MaximumPC, ComputerShopper here are the firwalls:
Online Armor http://www.tallemu.com/

Comodo Firewall http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

PC Tools http://www.pctools.com/firewall/ this one also offers a free Antivirus but I have never used it.

Programs I no longer use SpyBot Search & Destroy to intrusive things get past it now not as good as it once was, Adaware has become a resource hog I even did beta testing for lastes version yet none of these two above got rid of my recent problem. ZoneAlarm is a hog as well is overly protective but does do a good job just not as good as it once was and Threatfire it too is good but can be to protective causing false positives and other issues.

Great resource for top rated freeware is Downloads.com, but I like this site the best cause many different tools are available in one place and that is Majorgeeks.com and here is a link to their top freeware choices in many areas from security to dvd burning and office apps as well as file backup & recovery: http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

I don't believe in paying for any antivirus now days your internet provider supplies a free solution most use one of these McAfee or CA E-Trust, any of these is better than no protection some suites have to many bells and whistles to effectively protect your pc and not use up to many resources like Norton 360 if your reading this post you already know more than the common user and can build your own utility suite and have better than adequate protection at no cost or low cost with low impact on your system.

It seems as processors got better security software got more and more bloated just like Media Suites when all we want is good solid software that does what it's supposed to and here is the only suite I reccomend of this nature its not freeware but it does do a good job of maintaining, optimizing and protecting your system from spyware and there is a version with anti-virus if you want that its System Mechanic from iolo technologies if you subscribe to Real Player the version without antivirus is free with SuperPass here is a link to homepage for System Mechanic: http://www.iolo.com/

My fellow afterdawners I wish you the merriest of seasons and the most blessed new year may you always find time to help one another online, on the street or just next door. The greatest impact you make on lives is done one by one and one on one take time to pay it forward in these times of doubt and insecurity its nice to know you've got a friend.

 

Microsoft announces free anti malware here is a link http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=2214

 

Oh Deadrum33, I don't disagree with you at all, I'm sure your correct, I just say I've been lucky so far with my AVG, so far anyway.

 

I have a question, these are the programs i downloaded:

Avast home edition
Comodo personal firewall
Ad-aware SE personal
Windows defender
Spyware blaster

Will these programs work with eachother without any incompatibility?

 

I've used the 1st 4 w/o much issue besides the update here and there. Sometimes it depends on the computer as well but those progies should play nice together.

....gm

 

And does these programs, that i mentioned above, work with vista 64 bit?

 

Sorry don't know the answer to that one.. I run XP Pro right now.

....gm

 

THANK u v much for all your help followed suggestions thanks for making it idiot proof afterdawn best site on web

 

Windows Vista 64 is supported by Avg 8.5 free edition, Spyware Blaster, SuperAntiSpyware as well, I haven't tested Adaware but they have a new Anniversary Edition it probably works,I don't use Comodo Firewall as I feel pretty safe with Vista's Firewall at least I haven't had any attacks so far.

 

Here's another Anti-Malware program I've been using called a-squared Free. It does bring back some false positives, but you can submit them if you know they aren't dangerous, but it also finds a lot of stuff others can't.

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/#download

 

I used to use that program a few years ago it was pretty good. I wonder when Microsoft is gonna release their free AntiVirus back in the early winter they announced one called Morro.