Best antivirus for Windows 7?

[annetin]

I am looking for the best possible antivirus program for Windows 7, that wouldn't take up so much space on my laptop. I don't mind if I have to pay or if it is free, I just want the best protection.

 

[Layback Bear]

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

 

[maxie]

MSE is what i use also its very light weight.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Take a look in here mate loads of free stuff myself am out and out Kaspersky (safe money mode is perfect) and if I didn't have that I would go Comodo Premium - free.

Probably the Best Free Security List in the World

Oh meant to add none are 100% and 95% of the responsibility is any computer user.

 

[alikhan]

Bitdefender and Kaspersky if you want paid or avast free antivirus and Microsoft security essential if you are looking for free antivirus software .

 

[skokospa]

I recommend avast free or paid ikarus anti.virus in combination with sandboxie free and malwarebytes free...

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I had problems with getting automatic updates with MSE so I switched back to the free version of AVAST!

 

[M1GU31]

Take a look in here mate loads of free stuff myself am out and out Kaspersky (safe money mode is perfect) and if I didn't have that I would go Comodo Premium - free.

Probably the Best Free Security List in the World

Oh meant to add none are 100% and 95% of the responsibility is any computer user.

I also recommend Comodo premium free , use it myself since i'm on a tight budget and this is the closest and best security you will get to a payed version imo. It's great and has stopped 3 infections from my use since I got it back in November and has a personal firewall which is great. Also has it's own dns sever which is optional which has filters for known bad sites that automatically get blocked. Along with a firewall set up to only allow software that is signed to start up and assumes every other software is malscoius but ask you if it's and you can set up very easy to assign which programs are allowed to the internet and which are not.

I totally recommend this AV software over every AV if you're looking for a free option.

Have it installed on my windows 7 and xp machine. Also installed it on my friends pc which runs vista and it does a great job,stopped about 2 infections since I made her a clean install of vista from what I know.

 

[keebsuk]

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

 

[robinb9]

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

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

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.

 

[jack1953]

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.

 

[jack1953]

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?

 

[marsmimar]

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

 

[DBone]

Here's a list of official uninstallers.

Security Software | SingularLabs

Nice find!

 

[Sentinel72]

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

What an excellent reply...This post alone would demolish several A vs B threads ive encountered.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

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

Good stuff marsmimar and I do like the other sites too very handy.

As for Bears comments on the money again there is no perfect AV a lot of it is up to what you do anyway be stupid and you get shafted I mean it isn't rocket science. The scumbags will always be ahead of what they put out because you would have be a mind reader to know whats coming.

Same old thing though mention certain areas of computing and you open the flood gates of the fifth dimension and out they come swinging.

Having said that after a few "unforunate" experienceswith some AV's there are a few I would not poke with blunt stick.

 

[nilank]

ESET Smart Security 6 - lightest and best, IMO.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

See my post in security news some surprises there although I guess it really depends on those sites testing methods but I have always thought AV comparatives were close on the money.

http://www.sevenforums.com/security-news/285912-latest-av-comparatives.html

 

[acme12]

MSE

I am looking for the best possible antivirus program for Windows 7, that wouldn't take up so much space on my laptop. I don't mind if I have to pay or if it is free, I just want the best protection.

If you use MSE, just get Malewarebytes Pro, ($24.95 for lifetime license) and run it realtime. Just exclude each in both MSE and Malwarebyes and you will be ok. Have MBytes do a FULL auto-scan at a designated time each day.
It works for my room mate

http://www.malwarebytes.org/pro/