Avast! antivirus vs. MSE vs. Panda Cloud Antivirus

[Berryracer]

I am about to go with a FREE antivirus for the first time in my life as Eset Smart Security has failed in cleaning very simple autorun.ini viruses from my sister's blackberry.

And upon reading some online reviews, I noticed that Eset scores very low in terms of cleaning infections, maybe it's only good for proteciton but not cleaning

anyway, I heard some bad things about MSE on the Wilder Security forums stating that it has a lot of false positives, their support forums are useless, and overall the program doesn't perform well compared to other options in terms of virus cleaning/protection

but would like to know what do you guys think?

I tried Avast! 7 for a while and it seems good but I just want to make sure that I made the right choice and am not missing anything

 

[Berryracer]

Oh by the way, I used to always swear by Avira as the best free antivirus but now with the amount of spam and ads they include in their antivirus, I can't even consider it as an option

 

[sandorski]

What is the best? I dunno, but I have been using Avast for years without issue.

 

[IGBT]

switched over to Avast after AVG 2012 (paid) buggered my computer. so far so good.

 

[Albatross]

I remember that in 2012 rankings, Avira is the best free antivirus,by detection rate.
Also a few days ago,Microsoft released a new MSE version,so I don`t know.
OOps,I was wrong,they tested AVIRA premium:now i don`t know if it makes a difference in detection rates
http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_fd_mar2012_intl_en.pdf

 

[Berryracer]

I remember that in 2012 rankings, Avira is the best free antivirus,by detection rate.
Also a few days ago,Microsoft released a new MSE version,so I don`t know.

I would have loved to install Avira, if it weren't for the unacceptable level of ads and pop ups! It has becomming a spamming app

 

[Albatross]

I would have loved to install Avira, if it weren't for the unacceptable level of ads and pop ups! It has becomming a spamming app

I don`t know what to believe anymore,probably many of these tests are paid for..
I went with MSE ,at least Microsoft has the resources to produce a good free antivirus.

 

[lxskllr]

I would have loved to install Avira, if it weren't for the unacceptable level of ads and pop ups! It has becomming a spamming app

They popup once per update, so once a day. Small price to pay for a good program.

 

[nemesismk2]

Since the release of Microsoft Security Essentials that is all i have used without any problems.

 

[Berryracer]

ok then, i installed MSE 64 bit + MBAM Pro

 

[thescreensavers]

They popup once per update, so once a day. Small price to pay for a good program.

This, but I will agree there ad's are quite stupid and bring the quality of the program down.

 

[pyonir]

They popup once per update, so once a day. Small price to pay for a good program.

And you can disable it...just takes a bit of research. I don't remember where I found how to do it, but I haven't seen a popup in Avira for a couple years now.

 

[lxskllr]

This, but I will agree there ad's are quite stupid and bring the quality of the program down.

I agree. I think a fixed ad on the program window with a link to their site would be a better approach.

And you can disable it...just takes a bit of research. I don't remember where I found how to do it, but I haven't seen a popup in Avira for a couple years now.

Yea, I used to do that. I felt a little bad about it, and after a reinstall I didn't disable it, and decided it didn't bother me enough to go through the trouble. Now I run Debian, and the lack of hassle is great. No A/V, no tracking multiple programs for updates... I still maintain my mother's Vista box, and it gets on my nerves anymore. It didn't bother me when I ran Windows myself, but after seeing how things can be done, it's a PITA to go back.

 

[shimpster]

ok then, i installed MSE 64 bit + MBAM Pro

This is also my setup
+1

 

[pyonir]

Yea, I used to do that. I felt a little bad about it, and after a reinstall I didn't disable it, and decided it didn't bother me enough to go through the trouble.

I would never read the popup anyway, just look for the "ok" button. So really there is no point it not blocking it, for me.

Although with them trying to install the ask.com toolbar in their previous release, that was a bit much and had me start reading about other options. I'll probably migrate to MSE at some point in the near future...just not sold 100% on it yet. I haven't updated to the newest Avira yet...since the definitions still get updated with this build.

 

[notposting]

Used to use Avira (well, it was still Antivir then).
Switched to AVG. It got bloated.
Switched to AVast. It got bloated.
Switched to MSE. Working good so far.

 

[bruceb]

I will vote for Avast ... it runs fine, does not use a whole lot of RAM and does a nice job. Easily set for your preferences and it updates itself twice a day.
I was using Avira until it had an issue with a memory leak (about 1 year ago). Then I switched to Avast.