Hi:

Both AVG7 and avast do everything that McAfee and Norton do, except for providing support. I've had both McAfee and Norton in the past, and both gave me problems I just don't see with AVG.

Thanks, When my McAfee subscr.  runs out, should I uninstall it first before I download the free programs?  I have a I6000 and have had no problems and have learned alot just reading these forums.  Thanks to all that gives good info and advice.

No, download the free Anti-Virus. Then disconnest from the internet, if you want, to be safe.

Uninstall Mcaffee (spelling?)

Reboot

Install the Free Anti-virus

Reboot

Follow the instructions.

Reconnect to the internet if you are not connected.

I've used three AV programs a lot:  symantec corporate (9 and 10), avg (free and paid), and avast Free.  Symantec has been the most reliable in my own experiance at stopping all threats.  It's also very managable for a large scale operation (something that wont' concern you).  I despise AVG free.  You lose a lot of configuration options of the "pay" version and you get updates less often.  For free AV software, I think the Avast package is a lot better.  It has a lot of optional protection programs (which I didn't install but which some may find useful).  You get more control and I've had more luck with it catching in the wild viruses (although don't buy anything based on my own personal experiance ;p)

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@NemesisDB wrote:
...  I despise AVG free.  You lose a lot of configuration options of the "pay" version and you get updates less often...

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maybe I was just used to their pay version which seems to auto update 3 to 4 times a day...   i didn't use avg free that often and never saw more than one a day...   so strike one complaint I guess.  the limited control interface still votes in favor of avast I think

I have no experience with either the paid version of AVG, nor of avast! But the original poster was asking about the relative merits of these free AV's, and I'm sure you would agree that these boards are littered with complaints about MacAfee and NAV, but surprisingly little about the freebies. Both seem to get the job done without much hassle, and I could recommend either based on what I've read.

I would pick (and have picked) AVG, because it does the job and hasn't caused probs. If it did, i wouldn't hesitate to try avast!