One thing I always hate to do is to find the best Antivirus program that will protect my computer. The two best paid versions that I have always heard about are Kaspersky and NOD32. For free software, I always look towards Avast or AVG. Of course, that is what I knew before but it looks like there may be some new people climbing the ladder.
Virus.gr tested quite a few different software companies to see how they would stack up against each other. How did the 147,000+ virus test pan out? Here are the results (the ones in bold are the ones I expected to do good):
1. Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303 – 99.62%
2. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299 – 99.62%
3. F-Secure 2006 version 6.12.90 – 96.86%
4. BitDefender Professional version 9 – 96.63%
5. CyberScrub version 1.0 – 95.98%
6. eScan version 8.0.671.1 – 95.82%
7. BitDefender freeware version 8.0.202 – 95.57%
8. BullGuard version 6.1 – 95.57%
9. AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02 – 95.45%
10. Nod32 version 2.51.30 – 95.14%
11. AntiVir Classic version 7.01.01.02 – 94.26%
12. ViruScape 2006 version 1.02.0935.0137 – 93.87%
13. McAfee version 10.0.27 – 93.03%
14. McAfee Enterprise version 8.0.0 – 91.76%
15. F-Prot version 6.0.4.3 beta - 87.88%
16. Avast Professional version 4.7.871 – 87.46%
17. Avast freeware version 4.7.871 – 87.46%
18. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 – 86.03%
19. Norman version 5.90.23 – 85.65%
20. F-Prot version 3.16f - 85.14%
21. ArcaVir 2006 – 83.44%
22. Norton Professional 2006 - 83.18%
23. AVG Professional version 7.1.405 – 82.82%
24. AVG freeware version 7.1.405 – 82.82%
25. Panda 2007 version 2.00.01 – 82.23%
26. Virus Chaser version 5.0a – 81.47%
27. PC-Cillin 2006 version 14.10.1051 – 80.90%
28. VBA32 version 3.11.0 – 79.12%
29. ViRobot Expert version 4.0 – 76.22%
30. UNA version 1.83 – 75.44%
There’s the list and as you can see there are several towards the top that really shocked me. The one I am most happy about is the Active Virus Shield by AOL because it is offered to the public for free. Sure it branded as AOL but underneath it is all Kaspersky and this goes to show it.
I expected NOD32, Avast, and AVG to perform a little better than they did but NOD32 and AVG definitely fought back at the heuristic testing. Heuristic testing is extremely important because that is what gives an Antivirus the ability to catch a virus even it is not in the database. Here are the top 10 from that list:
1. Nod32 2.51.30 - 41503
2. Vba32 3.11.0 - 32911
3. VirIT 6.1.9 - 16469
4. AVG 7.1.405 Professional - 13624
5. AVG 7.1.405 freeware – 13624
6. Rising AV 18.41.30 – 12214
7. McAfee 10.0.27 – 10708
8. Ikarus 5.19 – 7191
9. F-Prot 6.0.4.3 beta – 6247
10. Ukrainian National Antivirus 1.83 – 5506
One thing is for sure and that is Norton needs some work for as much as it costs. So many people rely on Symantec’s software because that is what comes installed on most computers but it obviously won’t provide the protection that is needed.
I fix computers for people all of the time and when I find that their Antivirus subscriptions have expired I normally install Avast. After seeing these tests it definitely makes me ponder using Active Virus Shield by AOL because of the high ranking. Avast does have the Web Shield which stops malicious attacks through your Web browser and I really like that feature. I wonder what is more important, the overall ability to find a virus or being able to block Web attacks?
| Update: |
For more great antivirus and firewall information, please read our most recent article. It highlights many of the free antivirus, firewall, and anti-spyware solutions that are currently available to you.
|
| Update 2: |
We have done a follow-up article on this one with more up-to-date rankings for the antivirus software listed here. In that article you’ll also find hyperlinks to each of the antivirus solutions listed.
|
| Update 3: |
Unfortunately AOL’s Active Virus Shield is no longer available.
|
| Update 4: |
There are some new stats available as of December 6th, 2007: VB100 test and Retrospective test. The first test checks antivirus applications for known viruses, while the retrospective test sees how well the apps can do against “unknown” viruses.
|
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Tags: Software
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Nice. I’m glad they finally updated their ratings.
I’m actually not surprised at all about AVG. I’ve never been impressed with it and have always been amazed at how much it is recommended, simply because it’s free. If you look at a lot of reviews, AVG has always performed poorly even compared with the other free anti virus software.
I’ve seen so many computer repair techs install it on their client’s systems and frankly, those people who need a computer repair tech, need AV software that can perform better than an 83% detection rate
In my opinion, an AV program shouldn’t be only rated by it’s detection rate. Performance and the usability are important aspects too, which should be also rated.
Yes, I do agree that usability is a good way to rate a program – AVG may have been reasonable at catching viruses, but the interface looked straight out of Windows 98, it installed serveral processes and services and was generally confusing for any normal computer user.
NOD32, on the other hand, installs just two processes which don’t change regardless of which options you enable or disable. It updates automatically in the system tray, has a very simple menu interface for when you do open it up (since getting it I’ve only done this once and that was to mess with some settings) and found a virus in a folder the instant I opened that folder. No surprise it was my downloads folder.
So NOD32 for the win everyone.
Been quite happy with Avast. Used Norton a long time ago, went to AVG then to the current Avast. I am uneasy of using anything that is branded by AOL.
May be it has to do with bad experiences dealing with AOL and trying to remove their software off my PCs.
For me Antivir is one of the best free options around. Lightweight, updates at least 5 times a day and have catched many trojans while surfing the web. OK, the free version doesn’t include e-mail scan but the attachment will eventually be scanned before be opened.
I’ve been using Zone Labs products like their Internet Security Suite for years because Zone’s Firewall is awesome, but now that I see it’s not rated I’m going to switch to Zone’s Free Firewall and get one of these AntiVirus solutions listed. Thanks Ryan!!!
I am glad everyone is finding this useful but the bad part is that most of the Antivirus solutions are good at something. I think seeing this list makes it even harder to pick which one to use. NOD32 has always been good to me when I have used it and hopefully with version 3 they will really step up their overall detection performance.
Good detection rates are the heart of an antivirus but there are many other things to consider as well such as:
1. What is the likelihood of contracting any or all of those thousands of viruses?
2. False positives.
3. Ease of use.
4. Configuration possibilities like excluded files.
5. Speed of scan.
6. Integration with download managers.
7. Impact on system performance.
In light of the above and many other variances not mentioned, an antivirus choice should be made on more than just detection rates.
Just my humble opinion.
False positives are easy for tech savvy users to notice, but I do agree that an ordinary user may have difficulty. NOD32 has never produced a false positive for me.
Previously NOD32 has always come top in the detection test as well as heuristics. Maybe it was just a bad time for their update team.
Can I have 2 anti-virus programs installed on my machine at the same time?
You sure can…providing that they let you install two. I know several people that do that but I think certain programs will not let you install the Antivirus software if you have another installed.
I want to install AVG and Avast! on one PC. And I want to install BitDefender Free Edition (or Avast! – I’ll try both) and Norton AntiVirus 2006 on my laptop. Do you know if I will have problems with either of those?
I haven’t heard about any problems between AVG and Avast but I think Norton is pretty picky about other Antivirus installations. They should warn you before the installation starts whether there will be any problem.
Hey I’ve changed my configuration. Now it’s the free Avast antivirus and the free Comodo Firewall.
My next two questions are, do you think this is a good security solution and if not what is the best standalone free antivirus on this list and what free firewall should I be using?
Thanks for the advice!
I’ve heard great things about the Comodo Firewall and using it with Avast sounds like a perfect solution. I don’t think I could come up with anything better.
Sounds good, I really like the combination of them also. I like the GUI of Avast! and Comodo and they both work perfectly to boot.
Rock on! We’re suck geeks!
I meant to say such…
#17
I finally registered, I don’t know why I put it off for so long, but I’m all good now!
So how does Comodo compare to Sygate? But first I should ask is Comodo free?
Yes, the Comodo Firewall is free…
[personalfirewall.comodo.com]
I haven’t used Sygate in years so it wouldn’t be fair for me to compare them but Comodo has been receiving a lot of awards lately and you can’t beat the price.
I’ll have to take a look. I had tried Sygate on my folks computers and both reported different problems from not being able to get a network connection to having the hard drive going non-stop. I’ve had no problems, but as we know, no 2 computers will act alike even if they are the same exact model.
yes, Nod32 is the best, i’m using it~
I’ve been PC tech for many years, and have recommended Avast over any other antivirus software for the majority of my career. The interface is awesome, and the skins make it really easy to use. We use AVG at work, but I have never been impressed with it, this just reaffirms that…. Though my workstation is the only one running Antivir (I use Antivir for work because it has a great combination of usability and speed, and I also wanted to try something new). I recently installed OneCare on my second home machine so I want to see how that compares with my Avast and Antivir impressions.
I actually haven’t had a chance to try OneCare out but I am curious as to how it would stack up to the other Antivirus solutions. Unfortunately it is not free so I don’t feel that much of an urge to try it out.
My vote is with Nod32 also. The fact that it uses few system processes and, therefore, is among the least intrusive commercial AV apps available is important, methinks.
Kaspersky rocks! I’ve been using it for 3 years noiw and no virus has infected my computer since(not that I know of)
you totally forgot ZoneAlarm
why didnt u test windows onecare?
I’m actually not the one that did the test which I mentioned in the article. [virus.gr] is the one that did it so I’m not sure why they didn’t include OneCare.
Active Virus Shield by AOL is actually a stripped down version of Kaspersky
The AOL vesion is just a stripped down version of Kaspersky. Also AVG uses very little resources unlike Kaspersky.
I don’t trust any firewall programs out there. A firewall is only as good as its filter and the user of the firewall. You can actually turn windows firewall into a good firewall with the proper settings but users tend to be the main flaw in firewalls. If a user gets click-happy and always clicks “ok” on everything then many firewalls won’t do them any good. If a user allows everything due to ignorence or just plain stupidity then there is no point in having a firewall at all.
Firewall programs also use your computer’s resources so I suggest using your router’s firewall and customizing your filter to block everything but what you need. This is hard for most users to do but it is the best solution for home protection.
On the subject of Anti-viruses I wouldn’t recommend Mcaffee or Norton to anyone b/c of 3 reasons:
1-They will decrease your computer’s performance drastically (with default settings)
2-They usually don’t catch modified versions of viruses
3-They charge you good money for poor protection
I would recommend AVG-free as a good antivirus, it manages to protect my computer very well and has yet to fail me. While AVG may use several processes these processes are not CPU or RAM intensive. On the other hand AVG has been giving me trouble with the update process forcing me to re-install the program about every month.
But in the long term it all comes down to the user. If the computer is 2-3 years old and it is taking several minutes to login it is not always viruses and spyware. Many programs can be set to run on startup and will load (and slowdown) your computer when you login. Anti-viruses do need to be updated regularly, with most anti-viruses you can set the program to do this automatically but it is always a good idea to check for updates manually. If you are convenced that viruses have taken over your computer the fool-proof way to get rid of them is to reformat and re-install windows. While this is beyond the skills of the average user there are many small computer repair shops that can do this for you.
Some good facts to know:
-Windows XP always runs faster durring the first 2 months than any other time (guess why)
-Many viruses are spread through networks so check the other computers in your house or LAN
-File sharing and e-mails are major sources of viruses and Spyware
-Getting a good Internet browser (I recommend firefox) will act as a good first line of defence against viruses
-There are lot of viruses that use JAVA to execute
I was surprised that nod32 missed ~5% in the test, if you listened to their marketing they would have you believe 100%.
I wanted to point out one problem with nod32. When I am on holiday or away on business I use a mobile phone for my laptop internet connection – nod32 doesn’t have an option not to download, so you end up paying heaps of ££££’s for bandwidth usage when it downloads 8meg of AV data, and the only way to stop it doing it is to kill the process nod32kui.exe – not ideal. When I mailed their support about this they chose not to respond.
I’ve also noticed the advantages of using Avast. It works well for me and I love the web filter, it’s saved me several times.
i use AVG, it does me just fine. i never get infections.
i think a lot of the time people don’t realise they are the anti-virus aswell.
Gosh…Some people never learn. The test(s) from Petrakis/virus.gr have been the laughing stock for all AV companies for years – whatever the outcome. Wrong/polluted/damaged testbed, wrong amateurish way of testing, you name it.
Contact your AV vendor and do ask for their opinion as these test(s) are concerned. Very illuminating….
[av-comparatives.org] (see “comparatives”) from Andreas Clementi and [av-org] from Andreas Marx are the only tests taken serious by AV companies.
you don’t notice any infections because AVG is
horrible (in every somewhat legitimate test under the sun). In need of free AV? = AntiVir. As far as AOL branded Kav/anything – read the eula carefully.
much better testing =
[av-comparatives.org]
These days computer failure, financial loss or identity theft are much more likely to be caused by spyware/trojans/malware, not viruses.
Don’t think that you are necessarily protected if you have one of the antivirus utilities that tested well.
You already know the two things that are most likely to reduce your chance of having your identity stolen and having to reformat your computer. If you are unwilling to do either of those (for the dummies: Linux and/or Firefox), you’d better make sure you have a good firewall and anti-spyware utility, and apply the windows update patches promptly.
I’m not saying antivirus isn’t good to have. But focus your attention on the biggest risk- trojans.
Best antivirus?
*NIX systems!!!
You missed out Sophos, a superior product in my opinion.
Virus.gr have been under the spotlight previously for poorly testing products.
They are not an authoritive body, and as such should not be relied on at all for any reliable type of testing.
What about [my-etrust.com]? (formerly VET, now owned by Computer Associates)
best antivirus for windows? – limited user !!!
How come they didn’t test Symantec Antivirus, it’s way better than Norton Antivirus??
How about links to all the top ones cited in the article?
piece of crap
no facts, no metrics, no testing methodology, no even clamav, just PR, only loosers will trust this page
Windows – the only virus with a GUI
what you mean the metrics listed on virus.gr which is linked to at the start of the article (this being the highlights)
[virus.gr]
what virus scanner does zonealarm use under the hood?
Where’s Sophos antivirus?
i use avg and i haven’t gotten a virus since then. it works fine for me because i don’t go and download crap on the internet. one of the main reasons people get viruses
are from hacks that they download for stuff, my cousin downloaded hacks and got so many viruses that his computer took like 20 minutes to open the firefox.
I have tried 2 options. AVG Free and Trend Micro Corporate Edtion.
I first had Trend Micro, the GUI wasnt easy to navigate, updates were large and slow and I did get a Virus while using it.
Now use AVG Free, updates are small and Fast, GUI is easy to use even if it is a bit dated. I havent got a virus yet.
From an IT POV, I’d say web attacks would lead to the most frequent need for repair.
Select in left menu “Tools / Scheduler”, a list of scheduled tasks displays in right panel. Uncheck the “Update NOD32″ checkbox. Later, when you change your mind, just check it again (or just sometimes click “Update Now” in the “Update” menu).
There is a 90 day free trial of OneCare, I’m sure that’s ample time to test it.
Anyway, good article despite not including OneCare.
I’d be forever in your debt if you did a similar thing about firewalls and preferably include ones available on other platforms, mostly Linux *BSD.
the acticle the post references is not something I could trust as a point of reference for deciding on an AV program for a business. There is no listing of how they test, what controls are used, etc…
Also, the leave out many bigger name AV programs and show a bias in testing versus others.
For example: Where is trend micro?
Example 2: they test McAfee Enterprise and Personal… but test Norton AV Pro… not the correct version called Symantec (which could be a typo on their part) but also ignore the Symantec Enterprise…
These are just what I notice right off the bat. I’m sure there is a lot more.
One consideration, I don’t see in the ratings is how much memory/cpu cycles the programs use. I’m tired of AV programs like Norton and McAfee slowing down my computer. Which of these programs is the least noticeable when running?
I don’t think relying on just Anti-virus program is sufficient to deter all these viruses and heuristic worms. Users will also need to depend on firewall and watch what they surf. Patches are updated on regular basis, so all these are required.
The best antivirus is not to use Windows at all!!
Omar
Go avast!
I say install the better antivirus and install Firefox – you’re getting the best of both of your concerns taken care of.
I’m gonna get flamed for this, I know, but the fact that you have to test 147,000 virus and no virus program protected at 100% just makes me that much gladder that I’m now using a Mac.
But out of curiosity, of those 147,000 , how many have actually been known to cause widespread or major problems or are truly destructive? A virus that pops a windows with some stupid message is annoying, but not destructive. Is there any classification of these 147,000 and if so, how about a breakdown of performance by classification. If there are AV programs that catch 100% of the severe or major categories and miss on a few of the annoyance categories, I think I’d be a lot happier if I were a PC user. By this, I mean that .33% of 147,000 is still about 500 viruses that could get through. If those 500 are among the most destructive, then is that AV solution really doing me any good?
You can’t determine the best anti-virus from incompetant testing. Virus.gr state that they use AV producst to determine if the files are viruses. This means if one AV product has a false positive the others are punished for not detecting a clean file. Virus.gr states that they do not replicate their samples. This means they really aren’t sure what they are testing. Competent testers validate each and every sample in the collection. You can write a batch file that will perform better in virus.gr testing than any AV product. All it has to do is echo “this file is infected” and you detect 100%.
And yet there comes a time when you become a computer grown-up and don’t need a babysitter anymore.
You misread what they wrote on the heuristics section:
“Rank Antivirus – Detected using only heuristics (this is the total of samples that would not be detected by each antivirus if heuristics were not used and not the total of samples that are detected by each antivirus using heuristics!)”
Which means that tools that have a good database are penalized for it in the heuristics section. It’s a bad method of ranking, but probably the only way to get a statistic on the heuristics.
I’m going to call shenanigans on this one. I have seen Sophos score higher than everyone of those products except for Kaspersky.
one must note that the heuristics ranking is slightly off as stated on the virus.gr site:
Kaspersky happens to not have that ability, it could very well be the best at heuristics.
I do wish that it did do heuristics because I believe that is the one thing that is really holding it back from being amazing.
NOD32 definitely wins the gold in that arena but I am sure other companies are trying to come up with something just as solid. Eset really needs to stay on their game.
OneCare is touted by Microsoft but I used it on my computer and it sucked pretty bad.
I installed it originally and thought it was great, very integrated into XP of course and worked very well, sleek interface etc.
Then came a virus – couldn’t have been worse protection. It could not remove the virus, kept telling me there were variations of the virus and the virus turned out to be a trojan horse so it was duplicating. I had security concerns and OneCare wasn’t helping me at all take care of my problems so I uninstalled and installed ZoneAlarm again, even though the CA virus engine isn’t that great either, it worked better and I got it cleaned up.
Eventually ended up reformatting my HDD. Now I’m using Avast! and we’ll see how it goes!
You forgot ClamWin !!!
Well, guess that answers my question whether I should try OneCare. I’ll stick with Avast as my free solution and NOD32 on my primary computer.
And G Data AVK ? And Sophos ?
u could give a better description than that
and have you even tried it? just because it failed to be the top on the list doesn’t mean itz a horrible anti virus.
there is nothing wrong with avg if you kno how to use it.
i know its not the perfect anti virus but just because you have the best anti virus doesn’t mean that you won’t get a virus…
[scotsnewsletter.com]
Sorry, but… I CHOOSE LINUX, [ubuntu.com]
Me too. I use Ubuntu Linux. Who needs Windows when you can get everything and more in Ubuntu? I run ClamAV. Also, I have friends on Windows who use ClamAV for Windows, but this was not even tested. Note also that a bunch of upstarts are upseating McAfee bigtime. F-Secure was the only well-known virus scanner in the 1 to 12 range.
Yes, but only one active or real-time enabled. Use the other for on-demand.
What you’re asking is do-able quite easily. Not sure who you emailed, but regardless if you need to find out anything about NOD32 you can ask at the support forum – [wilderssecurity.com]
Cheers
Am I not looking at these numbers right? For example they list NOD32 as catching 95% of the 147K viruses. That means it missed a little over 7K viruses in the virus DB right?
But then in the “heuristic testing” were they are rated on what they found that was NOT in their current defs NOD32 found over 41K viruses.
Doesn’t that mean there is a lot of overlapping going on? At most only 7K of those 41K can be viruses that were not in it’s defs. I think we are to assume that all 41K are viruses it found that were not in it’s defs but that can’t be the case can it?
Am I looking at this right?
Join the BitDefender forum and register there,
[BitDforum.com]
Regarding Kaspersky, my biggest complaint is that it has the highest incidence of false positives.
Here is a summary of the best free options for antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall, etc., based on this and other reports:
[edtechdev.blogspot.com]
[quote]oin the BitDefender forum and register there,
[BitDforum.com]
…since SOFTWIN declared that particular forum totally illegal and runned by foolish amateurs as well – those interested in BitDefender better [b]stay away[/b] from that place and contact support@bitdefender.com [b]directly. If only to avoid your system being wrecked.
whats actually the best free anti-virus?
I would have to say that the best is probably Avast. That’s just my personal opinion though.
ok… thanks & any other thoughts on the best free anti-virus?
I am a BitDefender fan & user. Antivirus, antispyware, firewall… While I had 512RAM, when Bitdefender was updating, my computer was almost frozen, for almost a minute (several times per day). But for some weeks I have 1Giga RAM and I do not feel Bitdefender. Just its protection, which never failed me. This is my recommandation!
Ok thanks but it may not be any good for me as i only have 256mb ram. hows Active Virus Shield by AOL? is it any good?
I guess every piece of software have it’s own advantages and disadvantages, nothing is perfect at all levels.
here is a useful resource page for review:
[freeantivirus.freehostia.com]
You missed out Sophos – how come?
I use Nod32 too and it works great! I hope to try Kaspersky too sometime.
Thanks for the good post
I use Kaspersky and although it’s hyper-secure (and is very nit-picky about running processes/DLLs/services; annoying at first, but once the software gets used to your program usage it’s less irritating), it’s an extreme resource hog. 20 minutes out of every hour I see it taking upwards of 80% CPU resources. I’d like it if Kaspersky had a “game mode” where it suspends its live scanning and hourly updates. I can’t do it manually, because Kaspersky’s 2 processes run marked as suspended processes in Process Explorer (I use it instead of the Task Manager). Clicking Resume does nothing. Can anyone tell me how to suspend live operations without disabling anything so I can play my games without being choked down by the software? Thanks.
I wonder where ClamWin would fall into this equation? Its nice b/c it has no restrictions on when or where it can be used.
have you ever wondered if the people that charge for anti
virus (norton) are the ones responsible for the viruses we have out ther today.
I am Uninstalling BitDefender from my machine. This software has caused nothing but problems since it was installed. And the recent update had a huge bug in it that downed my pc for a whole day. I had to use Windows System Restore to back out the changes they made. I work from home and I can’t afford to be out of business for a whole day. The customer service sucks, the management does not care about the problems they cause, and the software doesn’t work. I’m getting a refund from them and I think I will stick with something that actually works and a company that actually tests their code BEFORE they send it out.
Bad link posted. Try [av-test.org] instead.
BTW, I’ve used AVG on other family member’s PC’s for a while, and I don’t plan to switch them. But my personal PC runs Debian Linux, and I have Slackware v11.0 on a 2nd PC to play with.
HI there… you can use Panda Scan to check and clean your computer. It´s free and online. You don´t need to download anything. You only need to use internet explorer.
[pandasoftware.com] Hope you like it.
Good post.
Hey you guys do you want to download kaspersky antivirus for free…
**CONTENT REMOVED BY CYBERNET ADMINISTRATOR**
i was thinking to change my antivirus. could u recommend a name please?
from what i’ve read, u said that u personally think avast as quite good. which avast is it? is it free?
and is it heavy? does it makes ur computer slower?
because that’s the problem with my computer right now. there’s this annoying spyware from winantivirus and i don’t know how to remove it.
I would definitely recommend the free version of Avast because it is both light-weight and effective. If you don’t like that program you can also try out AVG, which is also good (and free) but Avast is a little better in my opinion.
I prefer avg freeversion the best. I’m very particular when it comes to performance impact from antivirus software and avg hasn’t given any noticeable impacts.
Thanks for the nioce post and infO!
I still like Norton Antivirus better.
AVG is the best. Kaspersky isn’t my style and the rest just plain suck compared to AVG.
I used to use Norton, but I found that it let some viruses through. Anyone else had this problem? Kaspersky combined with various spyware tools (adaware, spybot, etc) has kept me relatively clear since then.
AVG FTW! So much better than the others.
Just wanted to post a general comment here. I am still a bit worreid about which antivirus to choose. As I expected ZoneAlarm rated well, they have what I consider to be the best firewall, and that I have been using for quite some time now, without a single disappointment, although I wouldn’t recommend the free edition… Maybe the ZoneAlarm Firewall + Antispyware, but I just use it as a firewall. It’s anti-spyware feature didn’t really impress me, and the anti-virus, nothing at all….
We had been obsessed with Norton for a long time here, and it was quite uncommon when we got on topic and said I didn’t use any of Norton’s products. I am growing to hate their stuff. Sorry! I mean, recently I installed the 2007 version just to see how it works, and was entirely disappointed that it didn’t find a single thing ,even though Windows had failed too boot up properly due to virus (and had to initialise safe-mood and a lot of stuff). Moreover, what upsets me more is that Symantec has taken over a great program of HD partitioning (PartionMagic) and was disappointed to see that they no longer provided any updates, barely cared to change the date and brand information…
AVG was fine but had some false positives, together with Avast, but I am happy with Avast. I didn’t quite like NOD32 due to certain features such as the always-on feature of scanning files, it’s not much system-consuming but it is… but I was really impressed with it’s heuristic techniques, totally awesome.
One last thing (this is getting too much haha) I would never ever recommend using two anti-viruses simultaneously on the computer. A firewall and different brand anti-virus and different brand anti-spyware / adware is acceptable, but not two of the same… I have my reasons why ( got tired of writing everything up lol).
In my opinion, virus programs and software need to start looking at Malware and Adware seriously, in terms of how it finds and scan viruses. Many of them do pick up certain Malware files, but they don’t seem to be able to get rid of the full malware. You have to rely on external or different programs to do this. Why is Malware not being considered as a virus? I think it should definitely go under that definition.
mmm…um usin Kaspersky n i feel really good.seems very good..gud perfomance..i love it..it detect viruses soon.contact me at my website.[aqmalahsan.tk]
aqmalgsmart@gmail.com
Where to get the activation code of Kaspersky Antivirus
We don’t do anything illegal here, so you won’t be finding information on pirating Kaspersky from us.
I download and test a lot of programs. For preventative measures and malware, I use SpyBot and Spyware Blaster (both free).
I’ve found Zone Alarm Pro to be the best firewall because it lets me know when something is trying to connect, either incoming or outgoing.
I’ve tried about every anti-virus program out there. The two that I’ve found to be the best and use the least amount of resources are ESET32 and Avast Professional and I have both loaded. The thing I like about Avast is that it monitors everything and you know it’s working. I have set it off many times downloading something suspicious. I like an anti-virus program that taps me on the shoulder once in while.
To be safer, use Firefox as a browser. With it’s Safe Download extension, you can set your anti-virus program(s) to check everything downloaded through it. Internet Explorer just isn’t secure. (duh)
As far as Norton’s, McAfee, Kaspersky, & BitDefender, all bloatware. Kaspersky and BitDefender, although they may be good, can make your system slow down to a crawl. What good is a computer that crawls?
I read a lot of reviews and do a lot of testing. The above mentioned items keep my computer running fast and clean.
I agree with just about all of your recommendations, although when I’ve tried Kaspersky I didn’t have it affect the performance of my computer.
i use Kespersky 7.0 internet security.it is best antivirus software.its realy good.
Ive been using Bitdefender for a couple of years now with great results.
Never thought I’d be using a all-in-one.
i think norton 360 it the best antivirus yet.
Many of us get caught by virus is when we surf from the web
And Awast web filtering is simply the best, block anything ( virus, spyware, trojan, suspicious port etc )
this is very simple , zone alarm is truly one of the best if not the, so how come it never got rated ? , corporate idiots backing the money behind the software again , if you really want to be protected log off or else zone alarm from zone labs the real no.1
Isn’t it true that avast and nod32 share the same database?
I would think that puts the combination of Avast’s web filter and Nod32’s heuristics as the best….combo per se. I’m not sure.
My dual-core can handle both running, and I’d have to say that’s thanks to Nod’s invisible system footprint. Avast does have and EXCELLENT web filter.
What is a personal firewall compared to a web filter?
Well I use this combination and it fits good with no crashings at all: Avast, ClamWin and Comodo anti-virus (all free), Comodo firewall plus Comodo BOCleaner. They worked together with no problems and they’re all free.
That’s a lot of antivirus protection there!
just changed from avast to Kaspersky..had about 90 viruses cleaned up..PC is a lot faster now!
but still i am not able to see the “Folder Options” at “Tools”.. any suggestions on how to restore it??
I’m currently using Norton Anti Virus, are there any other programs better than this?
Norton really bogs down the computer, so I would recommend Avast! if you’re looking for something free and ESET NOD32 if you don’t mind spending a little money.
I’m now mainly using KIS6 and I really love it. Low on memory, but it provides good protection.
i’m using Avira AntiVir on my PC but i want to try something new.. i’m choosing between NOD32 or Avast!
what do you guys think of bullguard version 8
I have always used norton antivirus without any problem.
AVG , Avira now the best ,
according to this report ;
[virusinfo.info]
i’m using avast home edition and it’s doing great with me. but is it location (country/nation) have any conection? if it’s yes.. then i need a better input.
what is the best antivirus for indonesia, singapore, and china?
The only solution is to reformat your pc it happened to me during my thesis days.tsk tsk. ive been using mcafee enterpise 8.5i + zonealarm pro. no problems for me and also it’s not a memory hog.
Interesting… Yah, I’ve used AVG for a few years now and been happy w/it. No viruses that I know of
I used to use Norton / Symantec years ago, but it just seemed to get so large and cumbersome that it took up so many resources and slowed things down that I didn’t care for it anymore. And the yearly subscription… switched to AVG and been using it since 
Good review / writeup
I use only mozila firefox browser, and I don’t download from unkown sites. And hoever if something bad hapends I scan with superantispyware.
It’s not called an antivirus exactly but it will block anything suspious and it is really good at not giving false positives, it is recommended to use it with traditional antivirus but i use it by itself because i trust it, threatfire.com free.
I have mainly 3 seperate things that i run, for virus protection – Avast! For spyware – Webroot Spy Sweeper and to put it all together a Firewall – Comodo Firewall Pro. How you all think im doing with protection?
forget windows and use Linux!!
I suggest that you try the new antivirus that i’m using. BULLGUARD!! why dont you all try this.
There are a handful of European EE studnets that do some independent AV software studies on a quarterly basis and they publush their results on an independnet website [av-comparatives.org] They are pretty adamant not to use their findings for advertising and only allow to refer or link to their main page from other sites. Click on the comparatives link and then select the newest comparative test results.
In short, they throw the signatures of >25,000 virus, malware, spyware, etc. on each of the most famous AV softwares and check for detection numbers, speed & false positives. This is probably the truest test of all (I am always suspicious of AV test results in PC magazines… Hm? Which advertiser put the most bonus money into the pot)
Anyway, their test results are rather sobering. No AV gets even 90%. The best result is 81% the worst 3% of the >25,000 detected. Even the many favorites discussed here in this forum come out rather lame.
Read and be sobered…
U
Ryan my man. Could you enlighten me on the good and bad of kaspersky AV system and it’s comparison with Bit defender and NOD32
if i buy nod antivirus is there a certain amount of time i have until it expire or what? i want a antivirus that last a long time until my cpu doesnt work and my new computer. its vista also but do it scan by itself or do you have to do it everytime?
Ryan:
“You sure can…providing that they let you install two. I know several people that do that but I think certain programs will not let you install the Antivirus software if you have another installed.”
I tried to install Avast Antivirus this morning and the following window popped up:
“The installation program has found another antivirus in your system. If you decide to install this program, there could be some conflicts with the following programs: Symantec Antivirus. Do you want to continue?”
Is Symantec Antivirus the same as Norton Antivirus? What will happen if I continue and disregard the message?
Thanks in advance.
Omar.-
I’ve been going with AVG lately and it works quite nicely. Good read though, I’ll look into some of these others.
Why is that trend micro not included??? it’s one of the best…
My vote is with KIS-7. The fact that it uses few system processes.
Kaspersky Internet Security 7 is the Best AV in my opinion. I tried a few other Av’s, but Kaspersky suits my need and have the following features :
>> 99% Threat detection.
>> Low consumption of system resources.
>> Registry change detection, process scanning, hourly updates, self-defense, scanning of malicious scripts in web pages, phishing alerts and a load of other features.
>> Costs about $23 per license ( 10 licenses )for a year.
>> Lots of useful alerts and warnings.
If you are changing your AV, you can try Kaspersky Internet Security 7.
NOD 32 – hte best !
The best AV is Avira AntiVir. It has more detection than AVG and avast.Many people didn’t realize this. And Avira updates about 3-5 times per day.And the sound when it catches a virus is pretty good. When Kaspersky catches a virus , the sound scary me.
Kaspersky 7 is my choice hands down!!
I heard that the Security Shield 2008 is the best right now and uses Kaspersky like the Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299
Can anybody confirm that
Linux is the best Anti-Virus. Hands down!
Well I use a full version of BitDefender Total Security 2009 and the 90-day trial pack of Windows Live OneCare. I find the duo to be an effective combination. I put in some infected pendrives and both the applications at once detected them. Yes both do have a slight problem of scanning a little slowly but what the heck! As long as they keep viruses at bay. The BitDefender 2009 firewall can get a bit bugging though! AVG sucks though.Not something I would recommend. I would advise all PC users to please buy atleast one full version of any antivirus, preferably BitDefender or Kaspersky and/or Windows Live OneCare. It will reduce your anxiety levels exponentially.And don’t forget to keep your AV updated!
It’s the war here in!
Check last new at cynernet: Free Antivirus, Antispyware and Firewall downloads.
But I would’nt want to invite you to continue the war…
I’m using Kaspersky 7.0 and I absolutely love it. I’ve used many antivirus programs and this is the best I’ve come across.
i am using bitdefrnder v2008, kaspersky v7 and eset nod32 v3.0.672 in my three computer. and i thing those three are king of kings.before using those i was use several of anti virus .those all let me down.
If you want to go with a free program, then AVG, AVAST and ANTIVIR are the best. Otherwise go with Kaspersky or Bit Defender.
Try Combine Free Antivirus,
like AVG and AVIRA in 1 pc, but lil make ur pc slower…
Or try AVAST and AVIRA…
Think it’s a perfect combination for free antivirus for 1 pc / laptop with windows version…
i am from Russia.i am using Kaspersky on my office computers about 3 years and i really loved it. recently we’ve got a virus
which deleted all docs and media files. it is so strange for me. this virus was deleted only by bootable kaspersky disk. more interesting thing was in 1 month… exactly the same problem. we’ve lost all. this is first time i feel myself very stupid. what is the BEST antivirus???? 
after all this i installed Dr.Web. it works very well and after Kaspersky it found 2 virus (worms).then i uninstalled Dr.Web and downloaded Nod32 (trial version).what do you think happened? 8 threats!!!! my choice is Nod32. i am practic
NOD32, or ESET NOD32 Antivirus v3 in it’s current version is my choice. The originlal findings can be validated against many other leading, independant reviews so it’s NOD32 here for sure.
Cheers
Use NOD32 myself.
i won a virus which deleted all my media files and office files with Dr.Web CureIt (you need to exit your antivirus untill CureIt finishes it’s work). it is free for downloading from official site. i made conclusion, only combination of antiviruses is the best way to defend your comp.
can any of this antivirus delete “virut” trojan?