Best antivirus for Windows 7?

robinb9 said:

Layback Bear said:

Their is no best or we would all be using the same anti virus.
I use MSE.
Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

Ditto! MSE, lightest, well to be honest it is owned and built by Microsoft, so how bad could it be

Since you asked... Lately, MSE has been getting bad reviews for missing infections. How valid those reviews are has been hotly debated. The reason I quit using it after using it for six months was over update issues. Thanks to a glitch that kept MSE from downloading definitions both automatically and manually, prompting an alert here, I found out the only time MSE was downloading definitions to my computer was just before I ran my weekly full scan and I told it to. It was then I learned that MSE can be set to automatically download definitions only before doing a scheduled scan, either quick or full. Since I'm on my notebook at random times, scheduled scans would be hit or miss at best. For that reason (besides being thoroughly P.O.ed at MSE), I ditched it and went back to AVAST! free. I don't notice my computer working any slower than before and AVAST! automatically updates at least twice a day, no matter when I'm on the computer.

I'm not expert, but when I did a thorough search of paid and free AV programs, AVG was in top 5 almost in every single review I saw, and most of the time, was in the top 3.

I use Avast only because I got it when they had a promotion for it for 2 years and 3 machines.

It works well with Malwarebytes and Superantispyware which I also have.

When this runs out in 2014, from all the reviews I've seen, I would go with AVG Free or MSE before I'd pay for one.

I also have Spyware Blaster free version and, outside of identity theft, I pretty much have the internet fairly secure.

keebsuk said:

Another vote for Bitdefender. I also run Malwarebytes Pro.

Bitdefender is new to me as of yesterday and it is mighty impressive. It is easy to set up and configure, has a ton of extremely useful features and does its job quietly.

Andy

Andy,
Do you have the AV or Internet Security version of Bit?

Many of the paid anti-malware suites offer a free trial period. (If you find a company that doesn't offer a free trial period I'd be suspicious. What are they trying to hide?) The free products are ... well, free. So you could certainly test different products to see which one(s) work best on your machine. It may help you make a more informed decision rather than relying on the very subjective opinions of other people. :)

After you evaluate one product, make sure you completely remove it before installing a different product. Many anti-malware products have their own official uninstall utility. If you fail to remove all remnants of one product, it could interfere with the successful install or operation of another product. Here's a list of official uninstallers. If you're testing something that's not listed, or if you're using a newer version, you could always visit the product website for the latest uninstall info.

Security Software | SingularLabs

marsmimar said:

Here's a list of official uninstallers.

Security Software | SingularLabs

Nice find!

ESET Smart Security 6 - lightest and best, IMO.