What's the Best Anti-virus?

[A Guy]

I have used Spyware Blaster for many, many years. It likely hasn't done much, but it causes no problems, and doesn't use any resources. I also have ExploitShield running for a few weeks. It too does it's job silently, and no drag on resources. I have way overkill protection, but none of it drags my system down.

I have avast! free as my active AV. I have Aviria Antivir installed with the active guard off, as an on demand scanner. I have Malwarebytes Pro, and SAS Pro I won in giveaways. I also have Emsisoft (formally A Squared) as an on demand scanner. Spyware Blaster and ExploitShield. Keyscrambler and Zemana Antilogger. All won in contests or from giveaways. All play nice together, and I have never had a virus since I have been on PCs. Oh and Comodo Firewall with Defense+ on.

I also make weekly complete backups with Acronis TI (2), and Paragon Drive Backup Professional.

Nothing is getting on my system, and if it should, I will have a clean image back in 15 minutes

If all this protection caused any issues, or slowed my system down, I would go leaner, but the multiple levels of protection are great peace of mind.

A Guy

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Wow that is some line up Guy LOL!! All good advice though especially the back up stuff eh?

Me I am just going over to the new 2013 Kaspersky as it is supposed to be an improvement (if that is possible) on the 2012

I generally set fixes up with the Comodo IS Premium if they can't afford a paid for and MBAM and SAS of course.

 

[DavidE]

Now that adds to the melting pot of confusion!

So let's say I want to run 4 things:

1) Avast (free a/v)

2) MBAM
3) SAS
4) Spywareblaster

I presume the needs are (a) a realtime scanner to stop crap getting on the pc and (b) a remover, if any of the crap gets onto the pc.

Would 2,3 or 4 be worth paying for? I don't mind if it gives some added peace of mind. Any why is SAS in my taskbar? If the free one's not a realtime scanner, surely it doesn't need to be there.

Sam.

In my opinion MBAM Pro (paid) is well worth it, and the best bang for the buck.
It's a lifetime license, transferable, and covers all supported OS's on a single PC.
The MBAM forum and support is excellent if you ever have any problems.
It's normaly $25 USD, but can be found on sale for less.
Through today Newegg has it on sale for ~$11.00 with a code for subscribers.

I use MBAM Pro (real-time) on all my systems in addition to a real-time Anti-Virus program without problems.

 

[M1GU31]

Started using Comodo Internet Security premium, it's not too bad. Runs pretty good on my system and have seen some virus test on youtube in virtual machines and it does pretty well. was a avast user but might change to comodo fully now since it has a great firewall and a anti virus solution now. Not to bad for still being in testing stages,I really hope to see comodo become one of the big dogs in anti viruses in the future. So far I believe they are doing a pretty good job and loving it so far,seems to impact my systems performance less then avast did for me. Also decied to give the browser provided by comodo called comodo dragon,runs blazing fast compared to firefox though it's like some custom version of google chrome.

 

[tlarseth]

I use AVG free 2013, Malwarebytes free, and Microsoft Security Essentials.

My work uses Kaspersky 6.0.4.1424

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well have had Kaspersky 2013 on for a few days now and it seems faster than ever - just a few minor changes in the config and GUI and seems to speeded up the machine too unless I ma imagining it - the Safe Money feature is just awesome

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Agreed dj07 funny thing is Comodo is never mentioned very much and I have used it many times for fixes when the owner cannot afford a paid for - I work with folks who genuinely can't.

Fact is it seems to score pretty good on most of the comparison sites and arguably has the best firewall around but still very rarely gets a mention.

Having said that doesn't matter what you run - most of the responsibility rests with the operator, and well I guess we all get stuck i our little ways eh?

 

[kbrady1979]

For those who don't already know, DO NOT use two antiviruses at the same time.....you will get a blue screen sometime or another. AVG, Avast!, Microsoft Security Essentials are all AV programs. Pick one and use it. As far as Malware programs, I would use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and if you REALLY need something else, some other spyware/malware program. Usually one of each will be more than enough.

You can also look into using Norton's DNS servers to help filter out potentially harmful websites. From what I hear, there are 3 levels that go from slightly restrictive to highly restrictive. I am looking into them for some client's computers...

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep KB but mate it don't matter how many times you tell people they will still run two AV's together. I believe even having two with one disabled is bad practice. You may as well save your breath mate

I run Kaspersky 2013 and MBAM and SAS as on call / add on scanners it does me just fine. .

 

[lehnerus2000]

AVG vs Avast

AVG automatically disabled Windows Defender on my W7 PC (previous install).

I'm trying Avast on my new install and I notice that it doesn't disable Windows Defender.

 

[kirakun2]

I'll be using comodo internet security 6 when its released, looks awesome for a freebie, i may even buy its premium.

 

[fadfunky]

the best choice is buy a firewall hardware with great performances,

and for the software, buy 1 AV and don't use the freeware(not support for other features)

i prefer this 1 - here

 

[optizap]

I use Avast together with Spyware Shelter and Keyscrambler. Spyware Shelter enables me to scan an unknown on TotalVirus.com which puts the file through every popular antivirus scan program there is. The most important thing to me is anti-keylogging when I am online shopping. I dont use an Outlook email address for shopping passwords as I think the Outlook.pst file can be easily hacked.

 

[DavidE]

This is disappointing.

Microsoft Security Essentials was the only entry to fail AV-Test's certification between September and October -- an embarrasing slip for the once well-regarded virus protection solution.

Source: Microsoft Security Essentials bombs tests, loses AV-Test certificate - TechSpot News

 

[cytherian]

The best offense is a strong defense. Nothing works better against threats than simply avoiding them. Fool proof. More people need to be better educated about their online activities. Alas, there are still many newbie/novice/ignorant folk who use the Internet, just waiting for the mal-folks.

I really think someone needs to come up with a simple safety browser, that can allow people access to their websites of interest only, and be scrutinizing of those to be newly added. Also, e-mail attachments should be facilitated with better analysis/filtration.

 

[A Guy]

Perhaps not foolproof, with todays malware sometimes being served by well known sites that have been compromised. However there is no doubt the user is an integral part of the security experience. One must remember there are far more people with computers who click any and everything. It is not that difficult to have a layered defense that requires little user effort to keep up to date. If you are a "power user", then it is hard to understand how so many get infected. A Guy

 

[robinb9]

there is a new one in the mix and it is totally free, called Kingsoft Antivirus 2012. It is a cloud antivirus program It can run along any antivirus program except Windows Defender in Windows 8. There it disables WD. I have been testing it for about a month and I really like it, I have it as a stand a lone on my windows 8. Their newest version allows you to set up scheduled scans and they are coming out with a new one 2013 I believe before the new year
It is very light and you will be amazed on how it installs
If you are using it with another antivirus just leave the default options
robin

 

[M1GU31]

Well going to start testing BitDefender AV free edition for a while. Seeing how it compares to my previous solution which was Comodo Internet Security Premium free. Will be debating on which works better and research on how they compare if this has been done yet.

 

[A Guy]

From what I see, the free is limited in options. I believe it is meant as a set and forget AV. The default is to delete, so false positives would be a mess. A Guy

 

[M1GU31]

Hmm yea I searched a bit on the net and yes it's really simplified from what I see on my machine. Only thing I disliked about bitdefender free was that it required me to uninstall malwarebytes to install.Maybe I should go back to comodo,after all it was working fine for me and it had blocked/deleted detections on my machine and on my friends machine which I installed for her and has kept her laptop running good and keeping infections out.

Still going to test this out for a bit though regardless.