What is the best antivirus?

Norton Internet Security 2007

 

Use the "Norton removal tool" for best results...

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

You should also check the run listings in Current User and Local Machine.

Your Security Center may still find other remnants of Norton's software and list it as running in your "Firewall" heading.

You may also want to use Task Manager or Process Explorer to kill any other Norton remnants.

You may also find two other listings for "Symantec" located in your "Services".

Go to Run, type services.msc and delete these entries also.

Hope this helps


Unicron

 

I vote Kaspersky, since it's already saved my behind at least 20 times over, from downloading exploits/trojans.

 

Format it along with other bloatwares from the computer manufacturer

Just use the Norton Removal tool, it's effective.

 

Eset NOD32, best by far!

 

Here is the link.

 

Whenever I read about trying to find a good antivirus, I refer back to that one xkcd comic!

Enjoy! and sorry if this has been posted before, but I'm too lazy right now to search first. You can always ignore this post.
http://xkcd.com/c272.html

 

I can't seem to find the free version of AVG on their site. Does it even exist?

 

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-virus/us/crp/0

 

How do we know? Do you have a good security suite if you never find any threats or if you get warnings all the time? You look at one magazines ranking and they rank one higher and the other mag ranks another higher. Do they rate the ones that advertise higher? I use PC-Cillin and I like it because it doesn't seem to be a resource hog.

 

I suppose if you use the same brand for several years and never have any problems you can say that your AV is pretty effective.

I continue to use Norton because it's always served me well...I'm sure that other folks who've used brand "X" for several years and never had any probs would swear by their AV suite.


Unicron

 

I think the best way of ensuring is to stick with one Av solution but every so often run an online scanner from different Vendors and see if anything is found. If things are found then your AV solution is not as robust as you think. The saying 'No news is good news' does not apply to Antivirus products.

 

AVG for me...free and doesn't hog system resources

 

Symantec Corp 10

 

AVG pro 7.5 Is the bast

 

After running into a problem with Kaspersky Internet Suite (sometimes conflicts with Logitech devices - fried my USB stick for keyboard/mouse), I switched my desktop over to AVG Pro 7.5. Have been using AVG Pro on the NB for 6 months with no problems.

Big props to Kaspersky and Logitech. Kaspersky gave me a full refund, and Logitech is sending me a new USB stick at no charge and without putting me through too much grief.

 

Eset NOD32 is great!

 

Have had no problems with Kaspersky and Logitech, though, oddly, a machine I used to like a lot which ran Kaspersky and also had several Logitech devices hooked up blew its water-cooling system to hell last night. I suppose that little incident probably had very little to do with the AV or Logitech gadgets.

 

It was odd. KIS ran fine for 6 months. Then an update suddenly caused problems. It is a known conflict. Other folks have run into problems, as mentioned several times in Kaspersky's forums as far back as 2005. Doesn't happen to everyone. Kaspersky's only option was to disable all Logitech services. I needed the Logitech keyboard and mouse more than I needed their AV (thank goodness we have choices).

If Kaspersky gets the conflict worked out, I'd go back to them. I liked them for the desktop PC.

 

This thread made me want to try Kaspersky and NOD32 to see which one works better. I have an old computer. If something hogs too much resources I will instantly notice a slow down, so a smooth, clean, quick AV is a must for me. I've been running AVG for years and it works great. It seems to run a tiny bit faster on this machine than NOD32, but such a small amount that it doesn't make a difference.

Kaspersky - First off I didn't like its layout that much. It didn't seem very user friendly, but that's not a problem as long as it does what it's suppose to do.

The first thing I noticed was a major slow down from AVG. I keep hearing how people call it light on resources, it hogged a ton more than AVG and with a lower end computer such as mine the slow down was unacceptable. It was actually only marginally faster than McAfee which was a real disappointment. It does have a high detection rate so if you have a high end machine and/or can handle the slow down, go for it.

The other thing about Kaspersky is it will not leave you alone. I'm sure you can change it in the settings somewhere, but it continuously spammed me with "____ program is doing _____... do you want to allow it?" and other such messages.

I ran a complete scan which was very smooth and it found nothing.

NOD32 - I like the layout a lot. It was very easy to use, but again when picking an AV that means nothing to me.

I was amazed at how little resources it uses. It idles at 2 to 4 MB. It didn't increase my boot time at all as far as I could tell when Kaspersky had increased it quite a bit. It was basically the same as running AVG. Very smooth, light, and quick. My old system can handle it easily. Like Kaspersky, NOD32 also has a very high detection rate, but without all the annoyances.

I ran a complete scan with NOD32 and it was the only one that caught the key logger I had installed that both AVG and Kaspersky had missed. It also CAUGHT 2 OTHER VIRUSES that I didn't even know I had. The scan wasn't quite as smooth as Kaspersky. It did take about 20% longer, but I'll trade that off for actually finding viruses.

I'm really happy I found this thread and tested those two out. I will definitely go with Eset NOD32 next time I buy an AV, but for now when my 30 day trial runs out I'll head back to AVG. It's done a good job of saving my but plenty of times in the past.

PS. Just for the record, I do a lot of browsing at random and sometimes very sketchy sites.

 

Ive tried most of the popular ones - AVG, Antivir, NOD32 etc. but I just keep coming back to Avast. I guess because its free and easy to configure.

 

kaspersky is the best AV i have ever used, it beats nod32 imo

 

AVG all the way.

 

Check out this Independent test of the whole lot:

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

click on "comparatives" then click on "online results" for Feb 2007 AV on-demand comparatives and May 2007 Retro/proactive test.

I personally like NOD32 not only because it performs well, not heavy on the resources, fast scanning but also because you can set it up in a completely quiet mode and not be bothered with it, not to mention you can set it up to only use the features you need i.e. system, documents, email, internet, manual scanning, etc.

 

I use either Kaspersky or NOD32 and never had a problem..

 

Eset's NOD32, three years running, not a single virus. I've had a few alerts, opening up some bad RAR files but NOD32 zapped 'em before they even extracted.

Great piece of software, I love its constant (almost hourly) virus definition updates.

 

how can you go wrong with avast antivirus
*its free
*it updates everytime you run your pc
*it scans email
*it constantly makes backups of all your files so if you do get a virus you restore back to the backup
*it terminates downloads it suspects are viruses
*Best part pre boot scan scan for viruses before windows even starts


i used to have avg its garbage compared to this

 

Cypher,

Thanks for the mini review of Kaspersky, especially compared to NOD32, and AVG. I used AVG on my laptop before switching to Vista about two months ago, and when i made the switch to Vista, i decided to try the free copy of NOD32 full version i had laying around. Installed it, updated it and love it. been using it religiously ever since. I do still really like AVG though too.

Its really nice to hear how the detection rates really were as advertised and it DOES find stuff and take care of it. thats a comfort to know. and i agree, it IS light on system resources, and doesnt slow my boot time down at all either.

I am most glad you tried Kaspersky and then posted the results vis-a-vis the other two. I was seriously thinking about trying kaspersky out, but based on your review, i think i will pass and stick with NOD32. seems my initial decision was a good one and id probably end up switching back anyway. so, you saved me some trouble. thanks!

ev

 

I used Norton through about 3 different editions. It worked well in the early days, but as time went on things got more and more bloated. Don't get me wrong, it worked well, but it did a whole system health scan thingy at startup every time, which was irritating. It also installed a huge system bar thingamabob that was invasive. So, after years of Norton I tried out NOD32, and it worked great! The trial ended, and I had no antivirus until someone mentioned AVG. I switched to AVG and now it is on all of my computers. I think it works really well for free, I'd like detection rates as high as NOD32, but its fine for my kind of usage (safe, no crazy sites, no attachments, hardware firewall).

 

i used to use mcafee but the latest version got a little bulky.
been using avg for a year now and happy with it

 

You could try http://www.avtop.info
It compares all anti-viruses

 

According to the latest issue (sept 2007) of Consumer Reports Magazine, the best antivirus software is Trend Micro. Here's the complete list from that article:

1. Trend Micro ('PC-cillin') Internet Security 2007 (now referred to as "Trend Micro Internet Security 2007")

2. Check Point ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.0

3. McAfee Total Protection 2007

4. McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007

5. Microsoft Live OneCare

6. BitDefender Internet Security 10

7. F-Secure Internet Security 2007

8. Symantec Norton 360

9. Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007

 

Consumer Reports has provided some value in the past as an additional information source; however, their reviews and ratings of the past decade or so seem to lack the depth and thoroughness of earlier times. I subscribed for many years and decided against renewal when I had several months remaining on my subscription and could not access the online subscriber site without re-upping and renewing early.

 

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

I am a little surprise Kaspersky's offerings are not in the list.

Of all the software listed, I have tried the top 2 and found they are much inferior to Kasperky Internet Security in terms of performance and speed. And with the current major release of ZoneAlarm incorporating Kaspersky's AV engine, I am pretty sure Kaspersky is good enough for the no 1 spot.

 

AVG for life.

And the list above mine has got to be a list of the 10 most bloated av-software, because it surely isn't a list of the 10 best ones.

 

C'mon, where is PC-Cillin????!!!?!??!??!??!

That is by far the best! No viruses in 2 years, its got to be good

 

It's on their. It says "Trend Micro Pc-Cillin".

 

People still use virus scanners? After switching to Firefox, I haven't had problems with virus' since. Now that I've added the noscript extension few ads and popups/unders get through. Except for one nasty partypoker popup that still finds a way in. Other than that, its been smooth sailing since I stopped using IE a few years ago.

 

I haven't used an Anti-Virus on my desktop in a year, either. I scanned using (I think) Pc-Cillin's online thing a week ago because I was curious to see if there was anything on my computer after all this time. It found nothing except a low risk file that was a keygenerator that I downloaded a while back.
Indeed, since I switched to Firefox, I haven't had any issues with viruses. I still use Ad-Aware for spyware just for good measure.

 

I do still run an AntiVirus program on my PC just in case; however, FireFox is also in my toolkit