I have searched and searched for good AV...

[alyarb]

I need some free AV to recommend to friends and family and AVG's detection rate and overreactive UI continue to disappoint me. I've read over a dozen inconclusive threads and roundups as well and am at a loss. I'm surprised there isn't an ongoing debate stickied at the top of some forum. Is avast my only alternative? I love bitdefender's boot cd. it scans fast and detected everything I gave it, but the client products aren't free so it's a deal breaker. is it too much to ask for the forum goons to recommend a free suite? is there a good roundup that you guys recommend I read (although I likely already have)?

I do not care about speed or RAM usage, all I care about is detection rate and to a lesser extent, false positives and user obfuscation. if you guys can't agree on apps, at least tell me what you run. I would like to know how outdated I am for clinging to AVG.

thanks

 

[NetGuySC]

Microsoft Security Essentials for me

 

[Chiefcrowe]

i converted over to MSE also when i got my new PC in spring. Works great for me!

 

[Schadenfroh]

I just use Windows Firewall + Router and MSE in a limited user account with a passworded admin account.

Kaspersky and AntiVir are the "top" antivirus products out there as far as detection rates go. Norton 2010 is actually pretty darn light on system resource use, as is NOD32. Kaspersky and AntiVir are rather lean themselves as well.

MSE is great for ease of use.

 

[BW86]

antivir

 

[lxskllr]

I like Avira, and to a lesser extent MSE. You couldn't pay me to use AVG; well I guess you could, but nobody's gonna give me $10 a month to use it :^D

 

[Pardus]

free av apps are not as good as there commercial versions. i like avg, been using it for years with my linux dmz. never had a problem.

 

[heymrdj]

Norton right now is one of the best, and the 2010 version is extremely light. I'm honestly thinking of getting a 5 user pack of 2011 if it comes out just as good for me and the family since I can get it at discount.

 

[Dryfter]

MSE here for home use. and MSE for all the computers at work. Haven't had any issues with it at all.

 

[MrColin]

I like NOD32 so much that I signed up as an affiliate. It would be tacky to post an affiliate link here though as I think it violates the TOS.

 

[Ken90630]

I like NOD32 so much that I signed up as an affiliate. It would be tacky to post an affiliate link here though as I think it violates the TOS.

I like NOD32 also and have been using it for awhile. The GUI isn't the best, but once you get it configured, you don't have to do much with it besides run scans every so often. I love the fact that it updates sigs hourly.

BTW, what does it mean to be a NOD32 "affiliate"? Just curious.

 

[Scouzer]

I like NOD32 also and have been using it for awhile. The GUI isn't the best, but once you get it configured, you don't have to do much with it besides run scans every so often. I love the fact that it updates sigs hourly.

BTW, what does it mean to be a NOD32 "affiliate"? Just curious.

Norton updates signatures like 20 times an hour

 

[Ken90630]

Norton updates signatures like 20 times an hour

That's news to me. When did that start? Maybe last year, when they finally got their act together with NAV 2009? Last time I checked, they were doing them daily.

 

[thescreensavers]

Anti-Vir for me.

 

[coloumb]

If you had a choice - MSE or norton 360 (free via comcast) - which would you recommend?

 

[us3rnotfound]

Doesn't matter, you still get malware with antivirus installed.

 

[Scouzer]

If you had a choice - MSE or norton 360 (free via comcast) - which would you recommend?

Norton 360 is superior to MSE.

 

[Binky]

Installing free AV on other people's computers means that THEY have to make sure that it stays updated. To my knowledge, only MSE will continually update without some re-registration. I think AVG, avira, and Avast all require annual registrations. Some people just don't do it, not matter how many times the warning pops up.

 

[Lemon law]

I am somewhat amazed this thread is still going. Diagones has been searching for an Honest man for 4000 years and still has not found one, but somehow someone is arrogant enough that we will find the perfect AV now?

Maybe the perfect av exists in heaven but it sure does not exist on earth. Lots of AV choices on earth, none of them perfect, some of the choices mentioned on this thread are fairly good, but some of them quite frankly, IMHO, stink. And price is often no predictor of quality.

The other thing to mention is that an AV is only only one part of a computer security system, with an AV an important part. But no AV can, by itself, can become a total computer security system.

But in terms of a total computer security system, we all make our choices and take our chances. The bad guys are a trying to hack us, and at best we can stop them from hacking us. If the bad guys hack us, its earth to us, our security system is not working. And hence time to enhance our computer security.

 

[Ken90630]

I am somewhat amazed this thread is still going. Diagones has been searching for an Honest man for 4000 years and still has not found one, but somehow someone is arrogant enough that we will find the perfect AV now?

Maybe the perfect av exists in heaven but it sure does not exist on earth. Lots of AV choices on earth, none of them perfect, some of the choices mentioned on this thread are fairly good, but some of them quite frankly, IMHO, stink. And price is often no predictor of quality.

The other thing to mention is that an AV is only only one part of a computer security system, with an AV an important part. But no AV can, by itself, can become a total computer security system.

But in terms of a total computer security system, we all make our choices and take our chances. The bad guys are a trying to hack us, and at best we can stop them from hacking us. If the bad guys hack us, its earth to us, our security system is not working. And hence time to enhance our computer security.

When and where did anyone in this thread say they're looking for a "perfect" AV solution? The poster simply said he's looking for a "good, free AV for friends & family." Nothing more. Excluding newbs, we're all well aware that no AV product will be a "perfect" security strategy. That doesn't mean we shouldn't choose the best one for our needs as part of an overall, layered approach to security.

 

[billyb0b]

kaspersky is quality. though not for noobs

 

[Mem]

kaspersky is quality. though not for noobs

It's all relative ,Avast 5,Bitdefender,Avira beat Kaspersky ,MSE,NOD32 in latest AV comperatives tests,http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests ,amazing how well Avast did .

 

[Ken90630]

It's all relative ,Avast 5,Bitdefender,Avira beat Kaspersky ,MSE,NOD32 in latest AV comperatives tests,http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests ,amazing how well Avast did .

Agreed that it's all relative. And the results fluctuate from test to test -- usually slightly, but sometimes significantly. For example, Kaspersky has been very good about having a low number of false alarms until this recent test -- for whatever reason, they went thru the roof. But for the last 2-3 years, it's been excellent at it. One thing remains constant, however -- McAfee is horrible (and has been for years).

You also need to take into account the app's heuristics (or "proactive detection") abilities. In their recent test for that in May, Avast did poorly, only catching 29% of new malware w/o sigs. That's almost useless. So does it make sense to get Avast over, say, MSE or NOD32 just because it's overall malware detection is ~ 1% better than them when it's proactive detection sucks? I'd rather have an app that catches ~98% overall and ~50% of new malware via heuristics than an app that catches ~ 99% overall but only 29% of new malware via heuristics. But that's just me -- obviously, the choice is subjective.

Some apps -- GData, for example -- slow down the PC significantly more than others. So that should be taken into consideration too IMHO.

Like you say, it's all relative (to what the user views as most important for him/her).

 

[Luddite]

It's all relative ,Avast 5,Bitdefender,Avira beat Kaspersky ,MSE,NOD32 in latest AV comperatives tests,http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests ,amazing how well Avast did .

I don't know about you but I can't make heads or tails out of all those tests. I scrolled to one page where it posted the winners. Gold went to Symantec (I assume this is Norton. But there are all kinds of different security products Symantec makes, and it doesn't say which version of which product), Silver went to Kaspersky, and Bronze went to ESET. AV-comparatives has got to be the most confusing site I've ever visited.

Google 'best antivirus' and you will get a slew of review sites. Each site has picked a completely different winner. There is no consensus, not even a majority, not even a pattern.

Yep, it's all relative, and seemingly random.