Which virus protection should I get?

I guess avira is the best free one? But is it worth paying for something else or does it not matter if I go with avira? What's the best pay option if I chose to do that? I want something that's good and doesn't have a big negative impact on performance. Thanks!

 

Avira free works great and is low on resources. Just make sure to schedule several daily updates and a weekly scan.

You could also add Comodo Firewall Pro with D+ (HIPS), SuperAntiSpyware, and of course Firefox 3 with AdBlock Plus, NoScripts, and WOT.

All free and not likely you'll suffer any problems. Kind of boring.

 

I really like Avira. It offers some of the best detection in the biz, plus it's super low on resources as was previously mentioned. It sports a clean interface too.

Avast is quite good too and has an email scanner but is a resource pig and has a clunky interface. It does have a good auto update feature along with good malware protection but not as high as Avira.

You can't go wrong with ether one.

 

Oh well, AV is probably one of the most personal choices a consumer might ever make.

Me, after using AVG free for a long time was put off with the latest version 8.

So I swapped to Avast. Just for the heck of it. (It's all free after all).

So far Avast has been brilliant. It does its own thing without me being reminded to update etc.....

For me, it does exactly what I expect from a free or any AV program....

1. Runs in the backround.
2. Has no flipping popups.
3. Does not tell me that my virus database is out of date. It updates quickly once I am connected to the NET. On it's own.
4. Has had about zero impact on my lappies performance.
5. Does it's job. Properly. With minimal interference from me.

So you guessed it. I like Avast. A personal choice.

Cheers,
Theo

 

I've been happy with Avast.

 

Hi,


Avira is the best free and paid AV solution.
Here you are actual tests (last from May 2008, next will be publish on September '08): http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/comparatives.html

So my advice if you want pay for AV is buy Avira AntiVir Premium, which has implemented WebGuard and MailGuard and it takes really less resources.
Paid Avire protect you from spyware and malware, so you dont need any anti-spyware/anti-malware software. The price of the Avira Premium is too very nice.

 

Having tried the current versions of AVG, Avast, and Avira, as well as researching how good their respective engines are, hands down Avira.

 

I used AVG 7.5 forever, delayed switching to 8. Finally went with Avira. Can't complain so far, uses fewer resources and is less obtrusive after the splash screen and pop-ups are...ahem...discarded

I wish Avira would just scan your system then display the results like AVG does though, but I guess I can just set it to quarantine everything then pull out what I want later. Also, for some reason I can't schedule a scan in less than 24 hour intervals. I wanted every 12 hours but it says 1 day is the minimum. I guess I can just do a 36 hour one to fix that

 

Threatfire??? Its also good, no??

 

TF protect you against Zero-day threats.
It is a good supplement to AV.

"ThreatFire is dramatically different to traditional antivirus software. Normal antivirus products usually need to have first identified and seen a threat before they can provide adequate protection against it. The protection is then provided via a signature or fingerprint update, which must first be written by an antivirus researcher. This creates a large window of time where threats are undetected and can therefore infect your PC even when you have antivirus software installed."

more: http://www.threatfire.com/

 

You are right about Avira being the best free AV out there.
If you want to pay for AV/full security suite, check Avira Premium, NOD32/ESET and KAV/KIS 2009.
Make sure to download and use/test their trial versions before purchasing and then make up your mind.
If you simply want virus protection that's good/the best, use Avira free version.
Why? Well, because it is actually the best. Check the AV-Comparatives test results posted earlier in this thread.
Check other threads and use the search function to find more specific information on this program.
Cheers.

 

If I were to pay for avira should I get premium or premium security suite? The more expensive version includes a firewall, a gamemode, antidrive-by, and more. Is it a good idea to pay the extra money for it? Will the avira firewall be better than windows? You aren't suppose to use multiple firewalls, correct?

Thanks!

 

Also, I'd just like to confirm I can use multiple spyware removals, but not multiple av's?

 

Hi,

in my opinion better buy Premium version of Avira.
Security Suite has implement Firewall but this FW is weaker (look here http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php )
I have Online Armor (paid) with Avira Premium and everything works like a charm. Very light and strong configuration.

 

Windows Live OneCare is the only windows title I saw on that site. Is that what the standard windows firewall is?

 

I'm not sure if Windows firewall will be better than Avira premium but why would you want to pay when you get get nearly as good a "suite" for free?

You can have more than 1 on demand AS scanners, but should only run one at a time. You should only have one real time AV, or antispyware program, running at any one time

 

I say go with Kaspersky. A little on the advanced-user side but offers awesome protection, flexibility in controlling the toolsuite, and the best detection rate and signature publishing rate out there.

Worth the $70 for it. Three machine, one-year license.

 

+1 for KIS. I've been using KIS for two years. And I picked up KIS today at my LCS for $39 CDN ($40 off retail until Sept. 4) for my parents-in-law computers. So shop around for pricing.