[Bille1]

What is the BEST Anti-Virus software on the market?

I now use AVG Free, but have always used Norton SystemWorks in the past.

There are a lot out there but I need some sort of evaluation help, because they all say they are the best.

Thanks in advance.

[sup2a]

http://forums.techguy.org/general-se...nti-virus.html

[carefreecomputer]

Originally Posted by Bille1

What is the BEST Anti-Virus software on the market?

I now use AVG Free, but have always used Norton SystemWorks in the past.

There are a lot out there but I need some sort of evaluation help, because they all say they are the best.

Thanks in advance.

One thing to bear in mind is the power of your system.
Norton has always had a reputation for using a great deal of resources (RAM and CPU). It is undoubtedly a very successful product but does not always come out on top of independently run group tests. I my self have had TWO experiences where Norton did not spot a spambot infection that had run over whole weekends.

I would only advice people to use AVG ONLY where they could not afford to install a real antivirus. AVG's detection rate is simply too low to be taken seriously.

I advice my clients towards two products.

Zonealarm and Kaspersky.
Both have an excellent antivirus engine that also includes spyware detection (no having to buy a second product to provide complete cover) and a firewall.

I would include NOD32 which is also an excellent product and uses the least resources of any antivirus Ive seen but their interface is a mess and is not very user friendly.

[sup2a]

well i would recommend Avast!, it has been reliable as far as ive seen has realtime protection too, ,much better detection rate than AVG and (as far as im concerned) much better than Norton. It all comes down to personal preference... Some people swear by by AVG but ive seen it fail many times before. Zone Alarm is a great program... but ive found its AV, a little weak, never picked up much compared to Avast!

[carefreecomputer]

Originally Posted by sup2a

well i would recommend Avast!, it has been reliable as far as ive seen has realtime protection too, ,much better detection rate than AVG and (as far as im concerned) much better than Norton. It all comes down to personal preference... Some people swear by by AVG but ive seen it fail many times before. Zone Alarm is a great program... but ive found its AV, a little weak, never picked up much compared to Avast!

Yes I would have to agree with Sup2a on the Zonealarm antivirus engine having been weak in the past but they *changed virus engine at the beginning of 2007* to the Kaspersky engine and that has consistently come out on the top place or joint top place in many group tests Ive read in the last year.

[masterjim]

NOD32 version 3 is simpler and more user friendly than version 2.7. The heuristics of NOD32 is better than Kaspersky and all the rest, meaning it detects viruses before the definitions come out. It is also written in machine code so it is not bloated like Norton and other security suites. They've won more 100% Awards than any other company. Microsoft,Dell and Canon trust NOD32 and so do a lot of gamers.

[sup2a]

yes NOD32 would have to be the best (sorry if im wrong) but dont you have to pay for it? Oh and as for ZA all ive seen in the way of improvement is it started to pick up tracking cookies... dunno maybe its not updating as it should be, at the time i had a few trojans and worms (i let em in accidentally ) it didnt pick them up... of course i was stupid enough to let them in, in the first place and Avast! picked them up preatty quickly...

[BrianMJC]

Yes, NOD32 is not free ($40 for a 1 year 1 user license and up). You get a 30 day trial, though, if you want. Check out AV-Comparatives.org for lab testing, NOD32 seems the best to me, overall, though an anti-spyware/adware backup scanner would be advisable since it did relatively mediocre in this department. I posted more about this here at post #17.

[avengeda7x]

Willing to pay = Kaspersky

Free = Avast

=]

[masterjim]

Kaspersky is good for Vista, however NOD32 is the best for XP. They are both better than free antivirus programs from Avast,AVG,etc.

[zergpc208]

Kaspersky is free:

I have AVG and zone-alarm and malware has come in.But I only update it 2 or 3 times a year..

I guess its what you pay for.The free stuff only works 70% of the time..So in the end you need other programs like spybot and adaware..


Or pay the $$ and do away of all the other programs.

[smeegle]

I have AVG and SuperAntiSpyware. I had thought about switching to Avast but the ratings on each is about the same.

[Gizzy]

Kaspersky isn't free, They had a free offer going on about a month ago but I'm not sure if it's still going on,

and even the paid programs don't catch everything, I used to use paid programs and the spyware scans still picked things up that the paid program missed,

for free my vote goes to avast because of all of it's shields and avast detects virus's and spyware/adware where avg free only detects virus's.

[masterjim]

You need the triangle of protection: Anti-virus program(one only), Anti-spyware program(as many as you want), and firewall(multiples OK). Hardware firewalls are better than software firewalls,but you need to be on broadband,not dial-up. I am behind 3 firewalls; XP SP2 firewall,the firewall built-in my Linksys router,and the firewall at the server end of my ISP. I use NOD32 for AV and Windows Defender,Spyware Terminator,Spyware Doctor,and Super AntiSpyware. Also use AVG Anti-Rootkit Free, Rootkit Revealer,and AntiRootkit as second opinions.

[j-mcallister]

avira is amazing and i cant believe it hasnt been said so far, has a far better rate of findings thats Avg ( well on my pc any way)