I used AVG (free and paid for about 8 years). No issues, so I thought. Once I installed Avira Premium (Paid) it found 3 trojans on my wife's system and who knows how long they had been there. Been using Avira since Jan-Feb of this year. I like Avira, the updates are installed daily (both to the definitions and program). The firewall is also excellent and makes the Win7 firewall look like a wet paper bag. I can also see what IP has been blocked automatically via a little pop-up ...nice just to do a nslookup / whois to find out where it came from.
Avira was in the PC pro labs test. Free version was better than most paid versions in all their security tests. I use avira on my win 7 media PC. The free version has annoying pop-ups though, so you have to modify your hosts file to get around it.
The problem with MSE is you are still leaving the MS firewall enabled (unless you buy a 3rd party FW.) The protection and info you get from, for example the AVira firewall, is so much better.
One of the many features I like on Avira is when an program you have just installed (or are using for the first time) tries to access the net a small window pops up. It tells you what is trying to access the net, the IP its going to (also resolves the IP to a hostname address), the port its using, the location on the drive from where it's executing, the vendor name and whether its signed. You then have the option to allow (once or all the time), deny, and all that jazz. I also mentioned before that a semi-transparent window (similar to MSN chat) pops up with even more info about the firewall status; when an IP scans/pings me. A great tool to see something 'live' instead of sifting through logs (which should be done anyway)
MS firewall has let things through without asking me all the time, it's not a secure firewall. MS also can't stand up to a strong portscan, it fails and reveals info to the scanner. As for MSE it's adequate and that is about it. MS & security is not as much as an oxymoron as it use to be but, I would still not rely on their product.
The $40 CDN for the 3 client license from Avira Premium is well worth the money.
I don't mean to sound rude, but you'll never get a definitive answer. Best is relative, its all a matter of opinion.
To a degree, but bear in mind that there are "scientific" tests done on these products and sometimes technically one comes out a winner. To me, best means offers the most protection and o don't feel this to be subjective.
However, ease of use can also be considered best. As can how configurable a product is and that can be subjective.
As previously mentioned, I always follow pc pro labs test for most protective.
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To a degree, but bear in mind that there are "scientific" tests done on these products and sometimes technically one comes out a winner. To me, best means offers the most protection and o don't feel this to be subjective.
To expand on what SUroot says a little...this may sound elementary and childish, but this is the definition of the flavor of the month club.
These antivirus/security companies leap frog each other on an almost monthly basis these days. Who remembers when it was just Norton and McAfee?? Or when ZoneLabs came out and CNET and PC World could not rave enough about them.
There really is no "long term" definitive answer to this question, it really boils down to "Who's best right now".
MS Security Essentials. I also like Nod32 for a non-free (but why would you?) Norton/Symantec would be angry if they knew how many customers I've personally cost them.
Like mentioned before, this debate is just like PC vs. Mac, Linux vs Microsoft, Cisco vs Juniper...etc. There will always be "scientific" research for the current fad and of course I don't mean for this to offend anyone in anyway.
Your best bet is to start off with some of the freeware i.e. AVG, Avira, and some free trials. Personally, I like having a physical device as my firewall but then again I'm biased since I work directly with Cisco products all day.
I currently use Symantec only because you get free keys while in the military. However a lot of my buddies are in agreement with a lot of the people here on using Avira.
Last time I used MBAM it was a bit more aggressive in "selling itself". had me a bit... disappointed. I was always a fan but I'm re-thinking it. I got sick of AVG,Avira for the same reasons. I got tired of their "ohnoes sky is falling" popup warnings over day old definitions or some advertising cookie from Google.
I use MSE though and Comodo for a firewall. I used to use COMODO with active system protection but the popups were ceaseless.
Comodo is a good firewall, I have to admit. I used noscript for a while but got sick of turning it off when making pucrhases online (never knew what site was going to be used for the transaction and when it failed, there was concern of paying twice). That said my "top" seemed much more realistic.
I dont use anything on my Ubuntu laptop though. My hardware does a pretty good job at firewalling and just havent got round to investigating Linux viruses in any depth yet.
I tend to frequent the same sites over and over so could just whitelist them for NoScript, but I could see if you're a bargain hunter looking around...
This could lead to an argument, but as an IT support i can tell none is perfect. Most of the programs should manage viruses fine if you should get one, just had a experience last week with NOD32 and MSE running on the same computer at the same time. While NOD32 totally ignored the virus and MSE removed it totally, can't tell you the name of the virus tho, but it liked to display files as folders.
Age old question/suggestion, lol. Been using Avast for 5 years, never had one bug.
I agree with this guy, I have used Avast for the past year and haven't had a problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToastPwnz
I don't mean to sound rude, but you'll never get a definitive answer. Best is relative, its all a matter of opinion.
I agree with this guy as well.
I find Avast useful for most things, but I do find the BEST antivirus to be common sense... I do NOT click on a website link that tells me to "Click here and remove the 593447893872432 viruses that just magically appeared on your PC!!!", and if I download a torrent I make sure there are plenty of comments and upvotes for the torrent to verify it is safe.
Common sense in ALL aspects of life is very valuable.
Not to mention I can always remove any infections if needed, or at worst nuke the OS and reinstall everything.
*granted I actually find that entertaining hahahaha*
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Assuming for Personal/School/Non-Commie use?
Quote:
Give overpriced antivirus
the boot
avast! Free Antivirus beats competitors' paid-for products in detection and speed, according to an AV-Comparatives report. Think of avast! Free Antivirus before your credit card gets charged again.
If so, the best things in life are free. I think is crazy to have to pay for protection when your laptop probably won't go anywhere near Corporate/Business areas, where a threat is more likely to happen, besides being reckless at home..
Personally, I've used more than the two, but so far, only they are the ones that provide free, hassle free, less annoying features than some of the 'big leaders'. Had several issues with Macfee, lot o bugs too, I don't even know where to start with Norton, 4 different versions...
Another thing, instead of using No-Script, if you use Mozilla or Chrome, the old fashioned Ad Blocker works wonders for me. But again, that's just my thing.
@ Legacy. If companies found out that I recommend those two programs over something paid when fixing computers, my head would probably be on a stake somewhere...I still have about 10 Keys from Symantec sitting in a pile somewhere in my room..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SUroot
Communists have to pay? Thats not fair...
YES ITS FAIR, COMMIES AREN'T FREE! In USA, you can find free party, in Soviet Russia, PARTY FIND YOU!
No, I meant Non-Commercial (In compliance with Commercial/Legal Laws, that stuff, plus Payed Avast or Norton can actually be pretty good...FOR SUCKERS IN CORPORATE! *End rant*), my bad to any Soviet Russia residents here...don't kill me now. ME VERY SORRY!
My experience: The lack of antivirus is the best antivirus since antiviruses are the worst viruses.
Ever since I stopped using Antiviruse in Windows, I haven't had many problems with my computers. I have had some problems that I doubt were caused by viruses, and certainly my computers have been better ever since I ditched antiviruses altogether.
You have a point but I think it would be evident. Most "viruses" that infected when I used antiviruses slowed down my Windows PC, others executed a bunch of popups, there was one that even changed my desktop background... Haven't suffered anything big since I stopped using antiviruses. I was never the "pr0n" guy to get such nasty viruses anyways... So yeah .
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You have a point but I think it would be evident. Most "viruses" that infected when I used antiviruses slowed down my Windows PC, others executed a bunch of popups, there was one that even changed my desktop background... Haven't suffered anything big since I stopped using antiviruses. I was never the "pr0n" guy to get such nasty viruses anyways... So yeah .
You'd be surprised, I have a relative who searches for help with crosswords, and some sites try and poison the Google results. It's a pretty common tactic to poison any search result they can think of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 9to5cynic
^ Of course, without AV, you may be infected and not know it right away
That being said, I am not using any AV. Just noscript. Any questionable surfing is done via VM, or if I don't completely trust the source.
Yeah NoScript is fantastic. I've tried to teach even some non tech savy family about it and had some successes (and a few setbacks)
For AV though I used to never use it on a PC but I do find Microsoft Security Essentials to be pretty darn light on resources.
Last edited by alostpacket; September 6th, 2011 at 12:45 AM.
You'd be surprised, I have a relative who searches for help with crosswords, and some sites try and poison the Google results. It's a pretty common tactic to poison any search result they can think of.
Yeah NoScript is fantastic. I've tried to teach even some non tech savy family about it and had some successes (and a few setbacks)
For AV though I used to never use it on a PC but I do find Microsoft Security Essentials to be pretty darn light on resources.
I tried to get my mom using NoScript. She complained about having to temp allow a site based on the source, so I told her I wouldn't fix her computer if she got a virus if I disabled it; she shut right up.
Though, noscript is pretty easy, and it makes sense (at least, to tech people). I got my ma' using linux, so I'm pretty happy with that
She seen me using it and wanted to use it in the first place; I'm just making sure she sticks with it. My mom would die if I tried to get her using linux; she barely remembers the shortcuts for copy and paste.
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I'll say stay away from Norton and McAfee. While a lot of corporate offices use these two, they're very restrictive. And with some Norton editions you actually have to download a different program to actually remove it completely.
I actually like the paid version of AVG although some people are perfectly fine with the free version. It does its job and doesn't lock down your system so much that you feel like you're completely locked down. I've heard good things from Avast as well, but have no experience with them.
To expand on what SUroot says a little...this may sound elementary and childish, but this is the definition of the flavor of the month club.
These antivirus/security companies leap frog each other on an almost monthly basis these days. Who remembers when it was just Norton and McAfee?? Or when ZoneLabs came out and CNET and PC World could not rave enough about them.
There really is no "long term" definitive answer to this question, it really boils down to "Who's best right now".
Best antivirus
