What is the best antivirus?

I do not think there is a best for anything. This is why I have several programs that do the same thing. AVG, AVAST, NOD.

 

Having multiple AV's can be bad for a system, peformance wise and one can disable the other - I can't imagine running more than one at a time :/

 

I ran 3 at the same time to test out their benefits - I never noticed any performance issues or conflicts although I did feel it was overkill and now stick with one - purely because they are still using up extra resources which I may need at some point.

 

has anyone used sophos antivirus?

 

McAfee is annoying as hell. Takes up resources, adds what feels like ten processes and that might be a low estimate and I've never felt like it works more efficiently than anything else I've used. In fact, I think AVG and Avast used to intercept more malicious attacks than McAfee ever did and the scan never turns up anything even if I know something is there.

 

My brother has it; he said it's very lightweight and unobtrusive, I don't think he's ever gotten a virus on his comp though, so I dunno how good it is at detection/removal.

 

Hmm okay, because I need to switch to something soon because my free trial of Norton which came pre-loaded it running out soon.

 

can you pls kindly post a pic of how simple looking the user interface is

 

I probably voted for AVG when I first joined this thread. But I have been using Avast for a while now and love it. I'll be switching over my GF's computer to Avast soon...

 

I currently use NOD32, best so far. Previously used AVG, Antivir and Active virus shield.

J

 

NOD32 for me too. Also AntiVir, but the free version doesnt work on x64, and AntiVir started having annoying popups after you reboot if you havent updated in 3 days.

I cant believe two free versions that have very good detection rates are not listed in this poll. i voted none

 

I'm surprised AVG get so much votes.
It's far away from the best AntiVirus... it's free and it has nice interface but that's it
Kaspersky - one of the best
Avast - maybe one of the best free solutions (AntiVir is good too).

 

you speak the truth! Kapersky is actually usually the best Antivirus out although im using mcafee . http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ ......... http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6600_7-6655968-1.html a nice guide for people to back our statements . Norton is spawn of satan! always crashing

 

I'm very disappointed with Eset (NOD32). I was told it uses very littles resources but compared to Kaspersky its uses a lot...Kaspersky used about 5k on average but NOD32 is almost always around 15k with 3 of its functions turned off. Plus Kaspersky's updated more often, (I could be wrong just feels like it) more alerts/features for programs (ie. Hidden installation, root-kit, roll back, make your own recovery disk etc...), not to mention better GUI. I only have 256mb of RAM (this could be the reason why its running so slowly)...so during start-up it takes much longer --> I only have 3 start up items, and when it updates it uses up about 50k RAM or so and sends my 1.8GHz P4 (Northwood) to 100% workload...not impressed

my specs: P4 1.8Ghz
NOD32 version 2.70.23
256mb RAM
IGP
Windows XP home edition with SP2

 

Did anybody vote for "common sense" yet?

If not, I vote for common sense.

 

I think AVG antivirus is no longer free. I have the 7.5 version but it's only trial. It will expire in 15 days. Bummer...

 

Well I see no mention of a trial... although a post on front page says AVG Free 7.1 is no longer supported... only AVG Free 7.5. I believe AVG still offer the free version next to the Pro version which I am still enjoying (auto settings, quiet, unobtrusive, lean and mean)

 

Common sense wont work when you try and get a no cd crack for a game.

 

i ended up being satisfied with kaspersky after using several AV,

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I felt that I should add my two cents. Resource consumption can refer to more than just RAM usage. NOD32 doesn't use much CPU time or have a noticeable impact for most users, and so is considered lighter/more efficient. It may not necessarily be lighter on RAM usage, but RAM is not the only/best indicator. Second, many of Kaspersky's features, like rootkit detection, are also implemented in NOD32, they just don't necessarily allow customization of them. Updating often is not as necessary with heuristics compared to signatures, and with a 1.8 Ghz P4, there are a lot of programs that can trigger high CPU usage (My 2.2 P4 has had issues too).

 

I tried Kaspersky for a few days and had to take it off - it was very noticeable slowing down my desktop PC (Pentium D @ 3 Ghz and 1.5 GB RAM) for almost every action - it seemed to be constantly on a full scan and accessing files was a real chore. It may have been a configuration issue but it was like this 'out of the box' for me and no amount of tweaking could change it for me. It may have been a conflict of some sort but for my set up, it really did run poor. AVG, Avira and NOD32 have all run much better with no noticeable issues.

 

I currently use nod32 and have been satisfied with the program until now. I use Windows Vista Ultimate and it seems to be conflicting with the User Profile Service that is found in Vista. Upon startup, it always says User Profile Service has stopped or something like that. Under details, it says fault application --> imon.exe which is a process run by nod32.

 

AVG. Free's you from viruses for FREE!

 

Hi All...correct me if I'm wrong but is Kaspersky uses both heuristics and signatures? I read this somewhere, can't remember the site... just asking...

 

Have been with AVG for years after migrating from Norton. Would never go back.

Also, AVG sometimes is updated twice in one day. Not too shabby.

AVG originally had some problems working within Vista, but that may already have been ironed out by now.

 

Used Norton for years, but got tried of it sucking up all my resources. Now I have AVG and will never go back.

 

I did not notice if anyone said anything about BitDefender. I used the version 9 and then went to version 10. All I can say is wow it found an e-mail virus that was and had been in for over 3 years. I thought I had killed it with Mcafee and then with Norton. It looked gone but then BitDefender found it was still there. It did not remove it but I could locate and killed it after 3+ years. It was sitting dormant waiting to get me or someone else. No other virus scanner found it except BD. That has to take the prize for me. I wish it were a little lighter on system and only a Virusscanner though. I like ZoneAlarm for my Firewall and other software for spyware.

 

Are there any special considerations for a NEW laptop running Vista?

Just bought new laptop yesterday. I had planned to use the preinstalled Norton (with extra reg code left from a 2007 3-pack). I've used Norton for about 5 years.
But after reading comments about how Norton hogs resources, I'm having some doubts.

Does the free AVG work smoothly on a new Vista machine?

Is the pre-installed Norton 60 day trial already embedded in the system even if I don't activate it?

 

I don't have the time to read through this thread, but which is best, based on the following criteria:

1. Free
2. Low resource usage
3. Deep scan speed
4. Proficiency at finding and dealing with viruses
5. Regularity of definition updating

Furthermore, I don't mind no firewall, because I have a router firewall already. Similarly, I have Adaware for anti-spyware purposes as well.

Lastly, what is Windows Defender and Firewall like? Would my system be protected using them alone?

Thank you for your answers.

 

For Free AV, there are Avast, AVG, and Avira. Avira is the most accurate, and probably the fastest, but is slightly more taxing than the other two. The other two are quite common, and are fine for the majority of users. My advice would be to try any of these and pick the one you like the best.

Windows Defender is pretty much equivalent to the other free AS products; good, but not that good comparatively. The windows firewall lacks many important features that other software firewalls have, and is just a minimal last-line-of-defence kind of utility that is only useful if there is nothing better.

 

AVG or Kaspersky?

Which one is better?

 

You could check out this http://www.av-comparatives.org/ and see how AVG and Kaspersky perform compared to each other. Personally I think Kaspersky is better but it does use a lot of resources. I have since switched to Avira which is just as good and quicker to me.

 

kaspersky of course!!!!

 

Avast! antivirus for my x64 system, AVG for my x86 system. kudos to both which are free...which equates to less system lag and no money spent.

 

Norton 07.

You get what you paid for. Used to use free stuff for about 5 years (AGV ect)
Usally get 2 virus updates a day with Norton.

 

Two questions. I want to use Kaspersky but it does not like my system. It crashes every time why would that happen? I uninstalled any conflicting spyware scanners or firewalls and no AV excpet KAV. Does anyone know how good AVK is? It ran on my system but was 2006 version not 2007 and no updates were able to be downloaded. Any experience with this one?

 

Well, I have been using Bitdefender, for quite some time now, both installing it for clients and using it across the network I administer daily. It does a great job of finding viruses, thought not always such a great job of removing them. Unfortunately they really screwed up their Internet Security suite with version 10, the interface went completely to hell. Also scan speed and resource utilization has never been great. Professional Plus still has a nice, simple yet powerful interface, but scan speed and resource utilization still sucks. Also I had some fairly serious issues with Softwin as a company lately, they essentially tried to blow me off when their ordering system gave me one year but charged me for two.

So I tried out a few alternatives, mostly looking forward to nod32 and Kaspersky, but also revisiting Norman and Panda. I have to say, Nod32 has incredible scan speed, and I really love the interface. But I don't think the interface is for everyone, so I'll only use it for my more knowledgable clients and the network I administer. For everyone else I'll use Kaspersky and it's more user friendly interface, even though it has a tendency to be almost as slow as Bitdefender with scanning, and sometimes taking a good bit of CPU.

 

CA works great for me and I got a free one year subscription just by signing up. Doesn't seem to have the overhead that McAfee and Norton have. Talk about performance killers...

 

AVK is a multi-engine product that uses engines like Kaspersky and BitDefender together to offer high levels of detection. However, since it combines multiple engines, it is resource consuming, can be prone to conflicts, and could easily be considered overkill. Unless your keen on keeping AVK 2006 (maybe somewhat viable without updates) or upgrading to 2007, switching to a single engine product like Kaspersky will probably be better.

 

Avira AntiVir PersonalEditon Classic

Been using it for I don't how many years. Highly recommended.

 

I use the kaspersky and is the best, very fast and so good.

In this links contains comparatives about this theme

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/

Regards

Rafael

 

Eset NOD 32 is the best hands down.

 

Still waiting for Kaspersky 7.0 to come out so it can be compared. The only thing 6.0 lacked was the proactive and heuristic detection rates...if 7.0 fixes that, kaspersky will be amazing

 

I voted Avast. Ever since my Kaspersky trial ran out, I've been running Avast. So far, it hasn't caught anything, which is good, but that means I can't attest to its detection capabilities. Then again, this is coming from someone who went years without running antivirus because his old computer was too slow to run it and never caught anything, which attests to my good internet habits.

 

AVG for the win!

 

I've never had any problems with bullguard and its cheap! Go Winston!

 

Sophos is good - especially for large networks.

BUT HOW CAN ANYONE THINK NORTON IS GOOD - IT'S RUBBISH!!!!!!!! THEY DON'T EVEN PROTECT YOU PROPERLY UNLESS YOU'VE GOT THEIR TOP PACKAGE WHICH COSTS LOADS AND THEY PRETEND YOU'VE GOT VIRUSES WHEN YOU HAVEN'T JUST SO THEY LOOK GOOD!

Zone Alarm are also good, I think.

 

Spysweeper with antivirus is the best outthere yet.

 

NOD32!! the best. can't even tell its there and then i use sygate personal firewall, detects everything

 

Hi All,

What's the right way to uninstall Norton Antivirus in Windows Vista?

1. Download my preferred Antivirus installer.

2. Uninstall Norton Antivirus.

3. Run the Antivirus installer... ?

Besides, is AVG or Avast the best free antivirus available? And where can I find the link to download?

Thanks guy