It looks like the top AV programs I've read about have all been listed in previous posts, except Sophos. I tried it once, but decided it was too complicated for a home user, so I moved on. At work, I've seen nothing but Norton/Symantec AV, but I got free copies of Kaspersky and Webroot at a trade show and tried both. Again, Kaspersky seemed too involved for 'carefree' use, so I removed it and tried Webroot Antivirus, since updated to Webroot Antivirus with Antispyware. I liked it so much, I paid to renew my subscription for the next 2 years. I've used AVG Free in a couple of other systems and have been very pleased, from v7 up to the latest v8.5. From various articles I've seen rating the effectiveness of various AV programs, Webroot, Kaspersky, Avast and AVG have all ranked at the top, with Symantec farther down the list. They've all got their pros and cons, so unless we can come up with a combination of some of these AV programs that can run together, there will still be some forms of malware that can make it through any single AV program. The caveat continues to be: keep your AV database up-to-date and keep your Windows updates set on Automatic, despite the occassional 'surprise' (annoying) reboot after an update. Also, make sure your PC manufacturer's extra software (yes, some is crapware) and firmware is also kept up-to-date. (e.g.: HP and Lenovo both have their own software/firmware update utilities which can be run automatically to maintain their software, firmware and BIOS.)

Which AV is worth buying?

I like Avast, however I do not like the skin it has. When installing use custom configuration, and skip the skin. It's so much easier to understand than the media player look the Avast skin has.

@ snooperz - Avast has LOTS of skins! Click the arrow at top left of the Avast UI and a menu opens, on this menu [third one down,underneath "Settings"] is "Select Skin" ..... click that and a window pops up ...... at the bottom of this window there is a link which says "Get more skins from our server now" ......... there are over 35 skins there! Some are wacky designs to say the least,but some look pretty good too! Am certain you will find one or two that you will like! - Or click here and it will take you to the skins page. http://www.avast.com/eng/skins.html

Out of the freebie's, I've only ever used AVG and it seemed to work fine. I'll have a look into Avast after reading this thread. Thanks.

I have used Avast and still have it installed on my system although I use Avira as my primary antivirus.
I periodically run Avast and AVG manually since no one antivirus package ever seems to find everything.

Avira can be found here:

http://www.free-av.com/en/products/1/av ... virus.html

Avast! Home edition is here:

www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

and AVG Antivirus Free edition is here:

http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-v ... ee-edition

They are all good and it is probably a good idea to have a primary and a secondary antovorus program just to be sure.

personally i use Avast! because it is one of the only free antivirus programs (appart from AVG) though i find that it is better int eh war that it handels viruses

AVG has run without a hitch on my various XP and Vista machines.

My subscription for my AV is going to expire by Feb, I'm planning to buy ESET but changed my mind to install AVG or AVAST freeware after reading this forum. I think it will be a good decision though based on the testimonies here in this forum. Any reactions out there? Thanx in advnce...

I would recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. I used Avast! for over 2 years on this laptop and switched to MSE right away because it's just that much better. I think other former Avast users on here did the same thing.