Best AntiVirus software?

[MrMatt]

Not free, just best AV software, whether free or not free.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I used Kaspersky for a while, but ran into bugs they had in Vista. Went to Avast! from there, and I'm perfectly happy. Especially with the WHS version and Professional versions.

 

[corkyg]

Over several years, I've used McAfee, Avast, AVG, Kaspersky, and Avira. Am now using Sunbelt Software's new product - VIPRE, and I find it superior.

VIPRE

 

[Mide]

Avira

 

[bruceb]

I also use Avira ... does very well for a free product

 

[Scouzer]

There isn't really a clear cut best sadly. You can do hours of research if you want but every product has it's strengths and weaknesses.

Probably the three best products:

Avira - Highest detection rate, but also high false positives. Missing features more expensive products have. Slow scan.
Norton - Good detection rate (but inferior to Avira), very fast scanner, expensive, low FP.
Kaspersky - Same thing as Norton really

 

[Quiksilver]

Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

 

[Phynaz]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Norton - Good detection rate (but inferior to Avira), very fast scanner, expensive, low FP.

$10 for three computers is not expensive.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
There isn't really a clear cut best sadly. You can do hours of research if you want but every product has it's strengths and weaknesses.

Probably the three best products:

Avira - Highest detection rate, but also high false positives. Missing features more expensive products have. Slow scan.
Norton - Good detection rate (but inferior to Avira), very fast scanner, expensive, low FP.
Kaspersky - Same thing as Norton really

In addition to this, the best now may not be the best a few months from now. Scouzer listed 3 good ones, and they're at the top. I use free Avira, and if I wanted to pay for A/V, I'd use the paid Avira. It has solid detection, and I like the interface. Slow scan? maybe... I wouldn't know. It's finished when I wake up in the morning :^)

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: Scouzer
There isn't really a clear cut best sadly. You can do hours of research if you want but every product has it's strengths and weaknesses.

Probably the three best products:

Avira - Highest detection rate, but also high false positives. Missing features more expensive products have. Slow scan.
Norton - Good detection rate (but inferior to Avira), very fast scanner, expensive, low FP.
Kaspersky - Same thing as Norton really

In addition to this, the best now may not be the best a few months from now. Scouzer listed 3 good ones, and they're at the top. I use free Avira, and if I wanted to pay for A/V, I'd use the paid Avira. It has solid detection, and I like the interface. Slow scan? maybe... I wouldn't know. It's finished when I wake up in the morning :^)

Norton can scan my system in less than 20 minutes, see how slow Avira is? It took me at least a couple hours with Avira.

 

[hclarkjr]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

what are you basing that statement on? read the top 10 here and you see that norton is rated 9th compared to 4th for NOD32. kaspersky does come in at number 2 with bitdefender being number 1

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: hclarkjr

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

what are you basing that statement on? read the top 10 here and you see that norton is rated 9th compared to 4th for NOD32. kaspersky does come in at number 2 with bitdefender being number 1

Who the heck runs this site? Never heard of it. It's probably a fake research site to get you to buy products they commissions on. Check the links, they're all commission links like CJ.

Check Web of Trust, this has been reviewed as a fake review site and a SCAM!:
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorec...view.toptenreviews.com

So before you discredit me, use LEGIT sources please! Like this:


http://www.av-comparatives.org...ndret/avc_report21.pdf

Although in this particular test I will admit Kaspersky does poorly compared to the rest.

I have some performance comparison PDF's on my HTPC at home, but I'm on vacation so I can't post those for a couple weeks. Check PC Mag, PC World or AV-Test's results

 

[M0RPH]

Originally posted by: hclarkjr

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

what are you basing that statement on? read the top 10 here and you see that norton is rated 9th compared to 4th for NOD32. kaspersky does come in at number 2 with bitdefender being number 1

That site's rankings are just fluff. Do you see any data there about detection rates? No, they didn't do any testing, just made up rankings based on features.

Here's a better review where they actually did real testing:
http://www.pcworld.com/article...ng_for_protection.html
Norton wins overall, although Avira had the best detection rate.

 

[Majic 7]

http://www.av-comparatives.org...ndret/avc_report22.pdf Here is a follow up to the report Scouzer posted. It is what I used when I decided to go with Nod32. Actually after the fact, but it confirmed I hadn't made a total crap choice. Tried Kaspersky before and it irritated me, Nod 32 just sits there quietly and does its job. It's on start up scan takes about 10-15 minutes on my system. Nod32-4, just renewed a few days ago. Nod 32-3 stopped the Virus 2009, or a variant, before it screwed up my computer a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: Majic 7
http://www.av-comparatives.org...ndret/avc_report22.pdf Here is a follow up to the report Scouzer posted. It is what I used when I decided to go with Nod32. Actually after the fact, but it confirmed I hadn't made a total crap choice. Tried Kaspersky before and it irritated me, Nod 32 just sits there quietly and does its job. It's on start up scan takes about 10-15 minutes on my system. Nod32-4, just renewed a few days ago. Nod 32-3 stopped the Virus 2009, or a variant, before it screwed up my computer a couple of weeks ago.

Well that's a slightly different test, that's a purely heuristic test. That's the protection against zero day malware with 2 week out of date signatures. In my opinion this test has less meaning than a traditional test like I posted.

 

[Majic 7]

Nod 32 still does well in the first one you linked to, I have tried all the Advanced+ AVs in that test at one time or another and didn't like them for one reason or another. I know Norton is much improved since I tried it, McAfee was irritating as hell a couple of years ago, and I have already mentioned Kaspersky. Can't try them all again and no matter which one you use it might miss something. For my internet habits Nod 32 is sufficient and doesn't bother me, Vista does enough of that. Of all of the usual suspects Avira is the only one I haven't used or tried. May some day.

 

[M0RPH]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

http://www.av-comparatives.org...ndret/avc_report21.pdf

That is a nice test. To summarize for the lazy, they rated 17 different antiviruses based on detection rate, false positives and scanning speed. The top rated ones,in no particular order, were:

Symantec (Norton)
ESET (NOD32)
Kaspersky
McAfee

 

[Majic 7]

To explain my preference for Nod32, it's mostly about false positives and and UAC-like prompts for stuff you know is safe. The AVs I mentioned all gave me too many of them. After a while you stop listening just like Vista's UAC. Haven't had one in the year that I have used Nod32. That is why I like it.

 

[hclarkjr]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: hclarkjr

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

what are you basing that statement on? read the top 10 here and you see that norton is rated 9th compared to 4th for NOD32. kaspersky does come in at number 2 with bitdefender being number 1

Who the heck runs this site? Never heard of it. It's probably a fake research site to get you to buy products they commissions on. Check the links, they're all commission links like CJ.

Check Web of Trust, this has been reviewed as a fake review site and a SCAM!:
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorec...view.toptenreviews.com

So before you discredit me, use LEGIT sources please! Like this:


http://www.av-comparatives.org...ndret/avc_report21.pdf

Although in this particular test I will admit Kaspersky does poorly compared to the rest.

I have some performance comparison PDF's on my HTPC at home, but I'm on vacation so I can't post those for a couple weeks. Check PC Mag, PC World or AV-Test's results

just do a search for best anti virus and NOD and will be in all of them. i bet you never even used it

 

[Scouzer]

Yes I have used NOD. No, it's not the best suite. I've read basically every legit AV review on the web, NOD ranks mid upper pack, especially in their suite.

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

AVC shows the detection rates are better than Kaspersky, and honestly I don't mind have a slightly slower scanner if it detecting more...

Edit:

On top of that Kaspersky is rated a 13.3 MB/s while NOD is 13.2 Mb/s... not exactly a huge difference. Also Kaspersky is rated at more false positives in the review while note by much (1).

I'd still choose NOD32 over your choices sure it's a fraction of a MB slower but it has better detection rates and less false positives. I still wouldn't touch norton with a 10 foot pole though, I had one too many bad experiences on my own PC's and fixing family members PC's that had it.

 

[hclarkjr]

plus adding to that you do not want the anti virus speeding through the scan possibly missing stuff. another note also we are talking about just the anti virus here not the suite with firewall. the OP just asked for anti virus not the suite.

 

[Arkaign]

Norton was once terrible, but has gotten much much much better recently, back to the lean sensible reliable product that existed in 2002/2003 era. 2004+ and all of their 'Internet Security' suites in that timeframe were massively bloated messy fails.

McAfee I avoid like the plague, perhaps it's also improving. No comment there.

NOD is a solid product, perhaps slipping a little, but nothing really wrong with it that I can see.

Avast makes an awesome freebie, haven't tried any of their other products other than server. Scan is slow, but the sounds that play from Avast are unintentionally hilarious, and detection / removal seem pretty decent.

I like Avira, but it's not all that helpful if you are trying to clean an already-infected unit. It will find the files, but often be unable to actually remove them. If it's installed on a clean unit, then it will do an admirably good job preventing the infection in the first place.

Hands-down the best AV program I've found for cleaning units that are already infected is Panda AV (just the AV, not the IS crap). The 2008 and 2009 products were weak, but 2010 is back to as good as 2006/2007 were. Stuff that the trial NOD/Avira/Avast/AVG wouldn't clean, Panda wiped out. Panda also seems to be outstanding at stopping malware/spyware. Too bad there's not a free version of Panda though. The only annoyances I've run into with Panda is that sometimes on a fresh install either Panda AV won't turn on, or won't update. Usually reinstalling/rebooting fixes this, and once it's working properly, it stays that way.

AVG is becoming bloat/nagware sadly. I really liked the free 7.0 and 7.5, but the 8.0 is a big sluggish pig.

 

[bX510]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: hclarkjr

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Free - Avira
Paid - NOD32

NOD32 has poor detection rates and is no longer the fastest scanner. Norton and Kaspersky are the fastest.

what are you basing that statement on? read the top 10 here and you see that norton is rated 9th compared to 4th for NOD32. kaspersky does come in at number 2 with bitdefender being number 1

Who the heck runs this site? Never heard of it. It's probably a fake research site to get you to buy products they commissions on. Check the links, they're all commission links like CJ.

Check Web of Trust, this has been reviewed as a fake review site and a SCAM!:
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorec...view.toptenreviews.com

So before you discredit me, use LEGIT sources please! Like this:


http://www.av-comparatives.org...ndret/avc_report21.pdf

Although in this particular test I will admit Kaspersky does poorly compared to the rest.

I have some performance comparison PDF's on my HTPC at home, but I'm on vacation so I can't post those for a couple weeks. Check PC Mag, PC World or AV-Test's results

Exactly. It's a fake review website for the sake of affiliate marketing.