Well hi there, i think this is my first topic i have made since joining lol so ill try my best to be clear as possible.

Well recently my anti-virus software has expired its subscription which was Norton Internet Security 08 but i made a grave mistake in installing this at first, cause it was clearly ate my CPU's memory lol and i hated it for this reason even though the features were good it was just too much of a memory hog, so i was wondering if someone could advise me on which freeware anti-virus/malware software i should get next (even though Norton was free for me lol, its a long story anyways), cause clearly i cannot pick one by my self, if i do ill just end up with another software eating my systems memory lol and one of my friends advised me on getting the Zonealarm security suite, is this any good? can anyone tell me thank you, so if any members be kind enough to point me towards the right direction, i would be grateful, thank you.

Ohh and by the way i have spybot and ad-ware on my system aswell and if possible would be able to let me know if i need additional security software installed in addition to this.

-Cloud/Jay

Avast AV gets my vote. I don't use anything else so that's all I can recommend.

altough you do not state your windows version, you discuss the CPU ,so hopefully you are on a windows version that will be compatible with and supported by AVG7.5 (once dear Norton has been removed)

you may have noticed comments elsewhere that argue against the use of Spybot due to its growing unreliability ? also adaware se is no longer available BUT adaware 2007 IS out there if your windows OS is compatible with it

Superantispyware is a good product for additional nastied protection as a scanner tool the FREE version is here http://www.superantispyware.com/superantis...efreevspro.html

also
asquared FREE
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/
its exe is
http://download6.emsisoft.com/a2FreeSetup.exe

this is another good tool is my view for scanning for nasties

Hi -Cloud,

Basically, you should use:

1. One resident AV with real-time protection, such as AVG.
2. At least a resident firewall. Either Comodo or Sygate are very good and not very resource intensive.
3. At least two resident Anti-spyware applications, preferably with some kind of real-time protection especially if you are not careful about your surfing habits. I prefer AVG-AS in combination with SuperAntispyware, but any listed in the Freeware Replacements topic have been used by our Members. I no longer use or recommend the new AdAware2007.
4. An alternate browser such as Opera or Firefox. The latter has add-ons that can supplement #3.

The above is courtesy of our Global Moderator, jgweed and I also follow these guidelines.

thank you for all the help people...........does anyone know if Zonelalarm is a good anti-virus software?

Yeah sorry, i have Windows XP version OS and i also have Adaware SE as well as spybot on my system.

The version of ZoneAlarm Free offered in the Freeware Replacements For Common Commercial Apps is only a Firewall, and does not include an Antivirus.

However, ZoneAlarm offers an Internet Security Suite, but it's not freeware, and I cannot vouch for it's protection abilities.

thanks for all your help people, i really appreciate it!