Best Anti-Virus Software?

14 years ago

I was going to be sarcastic because this topic comes up very frequently, normally as a thinly veiled spam thread,but you sound sincere so this is what I would recommend.
Panda Security has worked very well for me in the past.They have both paid versions and a new, free, last time I checked, cloud version.
The same goes with the next item I recommend, which also has free and paid versions. In this case I have never tried the paid version so I cant promise anything about it, but as an IT professional I can say that the free version has saved me lots of time and money. The other program is Malwarebyte's Antimalware program.

Niether link is an affiliate link.

Now, let me tell you, you might get many answers in this thread, but most are from everyday users, not computer professionals. Other than myself, I can name 5-10 people who post here in OT that I trust their word. Just something to think about.
Good luck.

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Lawrh 14 years ago

In my professional career I was spoiled by expensive corporate solutions, in my case, CA eTrust. When I left the corporate world and couldn't use it any more I sampled several and settled on Avira. The reasons, along with NOD32 it is the highest rated. It also has an extremely small footprint, it never interferes with what you are doing.

Unless you are an idiot with spam email or warez, your biggest threat online is through your browser. Don't know about AdAware, probably good. I use Adblock Plus with NoScript and Flashblock. Very good for preventing "drive by" infections.

Now a days I use Linux with the browser protection. Zero problems.
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KimW

14 years ago

Lawrh,
Adaware IS good and I both used and recommended it till Malwarebyte came out. Actually it is still good to run it now and then just to make sure nothing has slipped through.

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rbf738

14 years ago

Ok a couple recs for Malwarebyte, I'll check out Avira and Panda, as well. Thanks for the info so far everybody. I've got about 4 more days til it runs out, so hopefully I'll find something by then.

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Mike Wright 14 years ago

I use this without problem ... updates regularly

avast! Free Antivirus - Download Software for Virus Protection
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Kris Weber

14 years ago

If you are looking for some excellent freeware anti-virus programs, I can recommend a few.

Avast Anti-Virus (very good, easy to use, highly secure & 1 year free)
Avira Anti-Vir Personal (very in-depth, a lot of options & customizability)
AVG Anti-Virus (basic & simple, does the job)

I use all of these, 24/7 running in the back, I do not feel any CPU loss or anything and they all update themselves automatically. You do not need to purchase any expensive subscription for a anti-virus, firewall or spyware detecter. The freeware does the job good and sometimes even better.

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Wechito

14 years ago

Avast free.
It is reliable, intuitive, robust, and do not slow down your computer.
I have used many paid anti-virus before and, since I tried it (a couple of years ago), I have never spend one single dollar in antivirus again.

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James Danh

14 years ago

Avast hands down! Been using it for 3 years now, great and free.

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abednego

14 years ago

I use McAfee Enterprise... and its amazing.

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KimW

14 years ago

I don't know about MCafee enterprise,but the regular home version is terrible. Where I am from several of the major broadband providers give it away with their service. And they kept me in the virus removal business for months.
I was going to post the following in a diferent thread, but its just as relevant here as there.
Someone posted his PC with :"bloody XP which kept getting viruses like once every week ".
You know, if you are getting viruses "like once every week " with a PC, its not the PCs fault but the user's. If someone practices smart computing they will rarely get a virus,even without any antivirus programs running on your machine at all.
Of course, I still recommend everyone have something on their computer.

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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KimW

You know, if you are getting viruses "like once every week " with a PC, its not the PCs fault but the user's. If someone practices smart computing they will rarely get a virus,even without any antivirus programs running on your machine at all.
Of course, I still recommend everyone have something on their computer.

OH, OK! So if all cars a given company makes has a hole in the oil pan, it isn't THEIR fault, because you can just PLUG it! If the engine always overheats, that is NO problem because you can drive slower, etc..... etc.... etc....

The fact is that Microsoft has a crazy dll system that was *******NEVER*******, in the past 26 years or so, properly implemented. They have the activeX system, etc... it is basically MADE to facilitate viruses. M/S as much as ADMITTED it with XP SP2 which backed out some of the STUPID functionality, and vista, which added CRAZY code to try to help defeat it. BTW the vista code is DOOMED to failure unless things are SEQUENTIAL, and SINGLE TASK, and the user knows what to expect! They say an access is made, but NOT from where!

And ******NO****** antivirus software can ever be 100% perfect.

Steve

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Lawrh

14 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

OH, OK! So if all cars a given company makes has a hole in the oil pan, it isn't THEIR fault, because you can just PLUG it! If the engine always overheats, that is NO problem because you can drive slower, etc..... etc.... etc....

The fact is that Microsoft has a crazy dll system that was *******NEVER*******, in the past 26 years or so, properly implemented. They have the activeX system, etc... it is basically MADE to facilitate viruses. M/S as much as ADMITTED it with XP SP2 which backed out some of the STUPID functionality, and vista, which added CRAZY code to try to help defeat it. BTW the vista code is DOOMED to failure unless things are SEQUENTIAL, and SINGLE TASK, and the user knows what to expect! They say an access is made, but NOT from where!

And ******NO****** antivirus software can ever be 100% perfect.

Steve

Car analogies do not apply to software. Never have, never will. Post it at Slashdot and get laughed off the board. And they love car analogies.

Sure MS has a terrible history, but repeated infections are definitely the users fault. Like Kim, I have run XP since it first came out, with NO viruses. And I am not shy about visiting Hacking/Phreaking, warez and every other seedy corner of the 'Net. I was a career System Administrator and have seen it all.

The "blame game" is just the intellectual cowards easy excuse for not taking responsibility for their own actions.

To go back to the car BS, maybe the Internet should require a "drivers license".

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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Lawrh

Car analogies do not apply to software. Never have, never will. Post it at Slashdot and get laughed off the board. And they love car analogies.

Sure MS has a terrible history, but repeated infections are definitely the users fault. Like Kim, I have run XP since it first came out, with NO viruses. And I am not shy about visiting Hacking/Phreaking, warez and every other seedy corner of the 'Net. I was a career System Administrator and have seen it all.

The "blame game" is just the intellectual cowards easy excuse for not taking responsibility for their own actions.

To go back to the car BS, maybe the Internet should require a "drivers license".

OK, it is like a computer that has no capacitors near the ram. Is it OK, because you can just solder capacitors near the ram, or maybe REALLY slow down the computer, etc... Or can computers not be compared to software either? Or HEY, WHO needs a regulator!?!?!? I mean if there are no weather problems, and the power is perfectly stable, you can just set it up to return the proper amount of voltage. Do you realize how much power is WASTED every day JUST because of REGULATORS!?!?!?

HEY, GOT YEAH! It is like the refresh code in an IBM system being incorrect. IT serves a purpose similar to the above mentioned capacitors.

Still, the ONLY laughing I have heard because they, and the only case I heard where they, were compared to cars is the cost/speed aspect. COST in software is almost all LABOR, prototyping is FAST, and speed limitations were usually rather artificial. The same can't be said of cars. Early computers were slow because they were large, there were cross talk/interference issues, and the circuitry was rather simple. Simply moving it to an IC solved a lot of those problems. To this day, they try to use THAT to optimize the basic circuit.

Steve

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Aussie_Al 14 years ago

Originally Posted by KimW

I don't know about MCafee enterprise,but the regular home version is terrible.

I had Mcafee on my home PC - never again!
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- donxdeme 13 years ago
  
  Nowdays best antivirus is Kaspersky Internet Security 2011!
  
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  2 replies
  
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  Mike Baker 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by donxdeme
  
  Nowdays best antivirus is Kaspersky Internet Security 2011!
  
  Hit the nail on the head with this one.
  
  Thanks
  
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  taibee 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by donxdeme
  
  Nowdays best antivirus is Kaspersky Internet Security 2011!
  
  agree with u donxdeme
  im using Kas, i think it's the best antivirus soft
  
  Thanks
  
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Highdefinition

14 years ago

What I'm using now is Kapersky and Malwarebytes and they're both working great for me eversince.

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All Night Cafe 14 years ago

I use Bid Defender. No affiliate link. Just the one
I have been using the last three years.

Just Google it.
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rbf738

14 years ago

Hmm I did some digging of my own and have found that everyone's got something negative and positive to say about different programs, different people swear by specific programs, got burned by others which other people swear by. Thanks for your input everyone.

ps:

I started downloading Avast's free version to check it out from their website and McAfee (I still have it for 3 days) paused the download (which it never does) and warned me that downloading this program might be unsafe. Anyways, just thought that was hilarious.

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shamme123 14 years ago

The best anti-spyware software can be identified by a few specific traits. First of all the better programs will always have the most up to date technology. This includes providing frequent scans, and updates to your computer to be able to keep up with the evolution of spyware.
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appiiforum

14 years ago

Kaspersky anti-virus is ok as it update authomatically whenever on a live connection which I use to use until I allow to expired. NOD 32 2010 edition which I now use is working fine for me.

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jaratvit

14 years ago

I am using Kaspersky and it offers the best anti virus protection available today.

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rapidworkers

14 years ago

M using Microsoft security essential and it works really great.......

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niftystats

14 years ago

I'm using AVAST

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wordwizard 14 years ago

The free Norton trial my laptop came with expired and I downloaded Avast too on a friend's recommendation, so now I'm wondering whether to stick with Avast or renew Norton (don't really want to go anywhere else unless Avast is a real problem).

From what I see here, it seems as Avast is doing fine for most purposes anyway...

I'm spoiled from having had a Mac for more than 4 years where viruses were pretty much a non-issue. Still using the Mac, but also want to use the PC laptop for a lot of stuff, so now it's back to fighting off viruses...

Thanks for the info and any feedback.

Elisabeth
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GSarge

14 years ago

I have tried about a few differnet antivirus softwares.. bitdefender, kaspersky. f-secure, avast, agv free and a few others.. Most had terrible customer service once you have a virus.They run away!! I like Avast the best. I blieve it scans in real time 24/7.. but it had a wierd dashboard.. Agv free is okay.. but from what I have heard & read.. Free is.. well FREE.. It is Okay but not Great..I have agv 9.0 Internet security and I love it!! Avast or AGV 9.0.. With AGV 9.0 I did get two tears for the price of one!!

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andyveer

14 years ago

I am using eset nod 32 , it is very light and good anti virus ....

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Marco Lee 13 years ago

Originally Posted by andyveer

I am using eset nod 32 , it is very light and good anti virus ....

I use Eset Nod 32 too... I agree that it is very light and fast in scanning.

Very reliable for me.
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Mega B

14 years ago

Avast and AVG the free version does evrything that i want from a anti virus the worst one was Norton,i also use Ad Aware and SpywareBlaster oh and the ultra reliable free version of Zone Alarm.

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cannylad

14 years ago

avast and glary utilities both free from download.com and anti spy on yahoo toolbar also free and keeps things working

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Virtualghost

14 years ago

Avast! hands down free version continually updates itself and has covered my butt and blocked alot of possible bad sites and downloads.

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affilorama-portal

13 years ago

Most antivirus programs work equally well; what makes them really effective is the computer user who is aware of what could happen when visiting questionable sites, when downloading, and/or when adding files from external sources, and understands how to use the security software to protect his computer. Not even the most expensive and most powerful security software is idiot-proof

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glacey 13 years ago

I have used Avast free anti virus for the past two years. Its picked up and dealt with any virus that has come along. Now that the interface has changed its a lot more user friendly.
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rain21

13 years ago

so far microsoft security essentials works fine with me !!

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johnyeo90

13 years ago

I used F-security..not to say very good but still ok ..

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Josh989

13 years ago

Kaspersky is the best, when you download you get a months free trial

its well ace

Josh

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niftystats

13 years ago

for me avast

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alcymart

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rbf738

I'm not looking for affiliate plugs or anything, but my McAfee that came with my computer is about to expire so I've been looking for something to replace it with. I use Ad-Aware for my ad/spam/spyware/all that protection and heard they have virus protection in the paid upgrade so I was wondering if anyone had experience with that?

I'm reading mixed results on amazon for their upgrade... I dunno I guess I want something that protects against viruses, maybe everything if it can take the place of Ad-Aware as an All-In-One and won't hog my CPU at the same time. Recs?

As others posted already, Avast is "The Top AV for me!

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brian culbert

13 years ago

I use AVG free edition for two years and no problems till now. On other PC I use Microsoft Security Essential on windows 7 , and it is great too. I find Kaspersky is so expensive to do what others anti virus doing for free.

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ithebest6

13 years ago

according to me

avira and nod32, these both are the best

microsoft security essential is not bad too

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alcymart

13 years ago

For free, Avast above all for many other reasons than free, and I would rate Eset in 2nd, Bitdefender 3rd, and the rest...

Take care,

Bernard St-Pierre
Marketing Consultant
Copywriter/Teacher

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inform

13 years ago

The best part of using Security Shield 2011 is the fact that is powered by BitDefender. This antivirus company protects tens of millions of home and corporate users across the globe. The Shield Deluxe 2011 will protect your PC and personal data from theft, making it worth considering.

You can set your computer to update viruses weekly and run a complete virus scan. The system can be restored after malicious activity. It controls the status of the system registry.

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jonycarr

13 years ago

Norton AntiVirus 2011 is a high-speed protection for all types of malware. The new Norton Protection System employs a multilayered set of security technologies that operate by consensus to detect, identify and prevent attacks. It 's still in the top performance of the class.

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janegayle

13 years ago

Quick Heal Anti Virus is the best Anti Virus Software. I had used these Quick Heal Anti Virus Software since last Three years and These Quick Heal Anti Virus software provided 100% Protection to my Laptop.

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webpromoterservice

13 years ago

Malwarebytes is not as good as people think it is. It missed some trojans when I was doing a scan, but Webroot was able to detect them.

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Mike Baker 13 years ago

Originally Posted by webpromoterservice

Malwarebytes is not as good as people think it is. It missed some trojans when I was doing a scan, but Webroot was able to detect them.

Malwarebytes is not an Anti-Virus! It is a anti-malware/spyware detector.
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- dragonjee 13 years ago
  
  AVG is the best Anti-Virus Software.
  
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Steven Miranda

13 years ago

Best antivirus software - your brain!

Or a mac

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Mike Baker 13 years ago

Originally Posted by imationx

Best antivirus software - your brain!

Or a mac

MAC's can get infected, but the reason why hackers, crackers, etc don't concentrate on building viruses for MAC's is because the MAC population is tiny compared to the PC/Windows population.
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sitecrawler

Banned 13 years ago

Best antivirus software that i consider is Bitdefender, despite the fact that is taking many resources

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gloribel5

13 years ago

I like AVG as well..

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trebor99

13 years ago

avira is excellent and not too expensive

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Phil Thompson 13 years ago

Great thread. I too am looking for a quality anti-virus software protection. I noticed a comment by "Inform" recommending Security Shield 2011. If this is related to "Security Shield", avoid it like the plague. Security Shield is a dangerouse rogue mallware. I got infected by it and it took over my computer. I downloaded Malwarebytes and used it to get it off. Google "Security Shield" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I've been running Eset Nod32 and have had good success. It's expiring in a few days so I think I will try Avast? Much success to you, Phil.
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22SunnySideUp

13 years ago

I use a mac and I though I have an antivirus installed, i've never had the need for it.

*let the flaming begin*

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iamsuccor

13 years ago

Kaspersky is what I'm currently using and I'm happy with it. I have used Panda in the past and it is a good product too.

If you are looking for something free then take a look at avira and avg. Microsoft also has security essentials, don't know whether I would try it or not though.

I have tried and was not happy with avast, bitdefender, mcafee, norton. Not that they are necessarily bad products, I just think there are better ones.

All antivirus software is NOT created equal. Do a few searches and read a few current reviews before making a decision.

I also use malwarebytes which is free. I would recommend using it no matter what anti-virus you end up going with.

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daniel900

13 years ago

AVG is the best i know. I use it for some years and it works great.

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