A friend of mine once had 182 viruses.

Yeah, her computer got wiped.

I don't have the same issues with AVG Free 8.0 as you seem to be having though, Rasenganfan2. Hrm. Often in all my scans I run I find nothing, except the occasional tracking cookie (which aren't all that harmful).

edited for typos.

i use an antivirus provided by my internet provider or defender pro

I use AVG Antivirus. It always warns me when it has found something wrong, and It set itself a scan schedule.

AVG is the way to be. Safe searches and easy to get.

avast is the best

NoD32 works fine with me.

I use mcafee here is why...

I started off without AV protection
around the late 90's - I got a masive worm virus that crashed my hard drive...

Nortons was purchased and had it for 2 years and in that time my hard drive crashed 2 more times... grrrr
So i went without again and was OK for a bit till Spyware took hold.

in the mid 00's I started doing Computer repairs for family and friends. They of whom used Avast and AVG because it was free. I found that the free software did not catch everything. (however I am not sure what improvements have been made on these programs in the last 5-6 yrs).
I was recomending trying Mcafee to my friends and family and everyone who used it loved it. So i got it for my self. Its been 5 yrs and ive only had one problem and thats with "virtumundo aka vundo" which was detected by mcafee but could not be removed.

However Vundo is considered a spyware and not a virus.

If anyone ever runs into this nasty spyware... look for Combofix, it is the only thing that i have seen that can remove this.

5 yrs of service and 1 blemish is and A+ in my book..

Deadman David

I took away vundo using spybot and cmd.

Took me maybe 3 hours, persistent little bugger.

I also forgot to mention that even though spyware is not considered a virus my opinion it is more destructive.

and to remove spyware does not save your computer here is why.

When you get infected every popup, every download it does, adds to your registry. Each entry stays there stuck in limbo and loads everytime you boot up your computer. So not only do you need a Spyware removal program but you also need a registry cleaner program.

Deadman David

Yeah, I did all of that. Had to delete some fake .DLL files in system 32. Some hidden files in Windows folder and some other s***.

It's possible to clean out, but you really have to know what you're doing.

Spybot would detect vundo but not remove it.

Ive been using spybot for many years...
I also like uniblue suite...
has spyware scanner,updates drivers, cleans regisrty

Combofix removes vundo in 10-15 min

then I follow it up with a rigerous cleaning.

Which I do every 2 - 4 weeks

Deadman David

Spybot pointed out where it was, so I just went there and took it away manually. Spybot = love.

I personally use Ncleaner for registry but Driverupdate by uniblue is so so awesome.

I don't use any. I just be careful of what sites I use, etc.
Plus, it doesn't take me too long to reboot a computer.

Yeah, but rebooting doesn't fix any viruses at all.

Protip: The word you're looking for is format.

lol

I use Avira AntiVir - its free, memory comfortable and effective.

Shamefully i use Windows Built-in firewall (atleast its a vast improvement over XP's)as well as Window's built in spyware'er...

I have intentions to get others but i mostly use the internet for a few sites and gaming and chatting.

I use CCleaner for Registry and Junk Files, as well as Glary's Registry Repair for anything CCleaner can't or doesn't find.

Spybot for Spyware,
Comodo Firewall for... Yeah.

Simple, effective, memory efficient set-up.

Wait, you use windows firewall IW? You of all people...

also, what's vundo?

Vundo is a particularly bad case of spyware.

Hard to remove and ruins a lot on the comp.

and how did you wind up getting it?

I was particularly interested in getting a crack for GTA IV and didn't bother waiting for the razor release or similar.

Was quickly fixed anyways so whatever.