Best Antivirus/Antispyware

[FillInTheBlank]

Hello,
It is that time of the year again where my old antivirus/antispyware program expires, and I search around online for ideas on if I should stick with it or buy a new one. I am currently running PC tools Spyware doctor with antivirus. I was thinking of getting pc tools internet security for firewall too. I was also looking at bitdefender and norton. What would be the best to get?

 

[davcon]

I stopped paying for security suites in the mid 2000's.
There are so many free anti-virus and spyware programs that are every bit as good as paid software.
Avira,Avast,and MSE are all excellent imo.
I use Super Anti-Spyware and Malwarebytes for secondary scans.
Haven't had a trojan or virus in years.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

I use free AVG for antivirus and Spybot Search and Destroy for malware.

 

[Guest]

The only program that stops rogue anti-virus crap is NIS 2011. I continually clean it off computers that have free AV programs. You get what you pay for.

 

[Sassy_Atasha]

I'm using a combination of AVG, MBAM and CCleaner. AVG is very easy to use and update, MBAM a great tool for malware detections and removal and CCleaner for optimizing your pc performances by cleaning windows registry regularly. And it's all can be downloaded for free.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

gdata internet security here and like grumpy said nis is awesome,i like malwarebytes,and superantispyware 5.0!

 

[soundguruman]

The free security downloads leave a great deal of the computer unprotected.

Loading multiple free security programs creates system conflicts, and slows the system down, at the very least.

There have been a plethora of problems reported, right here on Tom's hardware, concerning system crashes and data losses, after installing many of these free programs. Attempts to fix the problems frequently did not work.

Therefore, common sense might dictate that the worst method of protection is to install free security software. But those who did not study history are destined to repeat same.

For $15-20 every year, I buy a subscription to a professional antivirus, and this covers 3 computers. That is less than $7 per computer, per year.

It is worth while to me, to have multi-layered professional security for $7 per computer. I don't have any of the complaints that the free ware users posted here on Tom's hardware.

 

[ssddx]

kapersky internet security 2011.

the price might be higher than nis or other similar programs but i will use nothing but this program anymore. i'm that impressed. the new version is more user friendly while maintaining the same protection standard. i believe kis is one of the top 3 av/f.

as for nis, i know that it is on the lower end of the rated av/f. it is very user friendly but it just doesn't offer the kind of security i'd feel comfortable with. oh and add onto that the fact that if your subscription runs out.. you dont just get zero updates... the program stops working entirely. kip chugs along without updates just fine (until you get time to renew it or buy a new version).

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http/www.amazon.com/Kaspersky-Internet-Security-2011-3-User/dp/B003WT1KHS/ref=sr_1_1?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1305144565&sr=1-1

if you want kis!

3 user under 30 dollars!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

2010 and 2011 symantec products are very good!

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Gotta disagree with some people saying how Norton does not allow anything through. Don't get me wrong, they make a decent product, but I have worked on machines with more recent versions of NIS, and they have allowed things through. At work, we use Symantec Endpoint Protection on pretty well everything, and yeah, it does a good job on a lot of things, but we still end up having to remove things that slide past it.

At home, I personally use Avast. Knock on wood, I've not had a major infection. Also, as for firewall, for most users, the Windows firewall should be effective. I know it's not as extensive as say zone alarm or comodo, but on the other hand, you don't want users clicking allow for everything.

 

[Guest]

Avast??? I've never seen Avast stop anything. Every computer I've worked with Avast keeps telling me it found a virus but never removed it.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Have you used the new 6.0 version? The feature I like is their boot time scan. I've worked systems before and had boot scan pick up stuff that 3 other scans left. Granted, avast won't stop everything, but I've been happy with it.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Version 6 of avast also has the auto sandbox feature which is nice.

 

[techpro]

I use a free Anti-virus which misses viruses often, but at least I have Malwarebytes to try and detect the infections after it has done its work to my system. I'm a cheap skate so I don't mind my personal details potentially being stolen...if it happens then it happens because at least I didn't pay for decent protection like these other fools.

Seriously, Anti-virus sucks and is hopeless at stopping the nasties because of the sheer amount on the net these days. Commonsense helps first, but security suites have been upping their game by adding new technologies to help prevent infections other than just relying on crappy signature based protection. HIPS, Sandboxing and file reputation like Norton Insight is the future.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

I can say with Avast, I've not had a major infection that I'm aware of on my system, and one of my specialties is virus/spyware removal. Also, my pc is used for gaming, so I will generally know quickly if something is up(due to slowdowns, etc.) There are genuinely some products better than others, no doubt. However, if you read the blogs I believe the CEO at Avast used to be higher up at Symantec. In the end, a lot of things boil down to a user.

Security Suites, ah, they are ok. Windows has it's own firewall built in.

For Avast, it's real time shields running on my system are these.

1. File System(real time scanning)
2. Mail
3. Web
4. P2P
5. IM
6. Network
7. Script
8. Behavior

They also have their auto sandbox, as well as webrep to scan links online. As well as the boot time scan, which I don't see Symantec having. For a free product, sounds like they compete pretty well.

Again, Windows firewall is built in, so that solves that issue. If a firewall is a big deal to you, download zone alarm or commodo, then you have complete control over what goes in and out.

Also, keep in mind, companies like Avast or AVG are going to give you decent free products because they hope that you will upgrade to the professional versions.

I guess really, for home users I do not see a great benefit of paying for antivirus any longer, unless someone is a home user who needs tech support. But if you use a decent product such as Avast, AVG, etc, and are sensible, and especially combine it with a firewall such as Zone Alarm or Commodo, if you look at things, I would say you are getting comparable protection to other paid products, perhaps better.

 

[abar92]

Hello,
If you want to buy I will suggest you Quick Heal,here you can find free trials of various type quickhill anti-viruses from here:

http/www.quickheal.com/downloads.asp

If you want best security with a freeware antivirus you should go for AVG Free Antivirus and Avast!Free Antivirus,here they are respectively:

http/download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2011/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

http/download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html

I use Avast!Free Antivirus and get good security but not best,To get the best you have to pay.I hear that AVG Free Antivirus is better than any other freeware antivirus,it should be true,you can once check that out.But there are something for what I prefer Avast!free av,My PC is used for Gaming and photoshoping and little other works,You can be damn sure that your avast will never slows down your PC and ohiou_grad_06 has said very well,Avast! has all of those features.

 

[fpresiado]

MSE and comodo is a perfect combo. dont tell me comodo and mse sucks because they dont i have been using them for at least a year and i dont have one virus on my pc. mse is 10x better than any paid anti virus out on the market same goes for comodo. i have used allot of suites and none protected me. i used to use kaspersky but every since they got hacked i never used them again i also used to use norton its kinda a resource hog and not great of a protection suite. trust me i have tested allot and the best as i said above is mse and comodo firewall not comodo suite or anti virus.

 

[johnmathew395]

Hello,
It is that time of the year again where my old antivirus/antispyware program expires, and I search around online for ideas on if I should stick with it or buy a new one. I am currently running PC tools Spyware doctor with antivirus. I was thinking of getting pc tools internet security for firewall too. I was also looking at bitdefender and norton. What would be the best to get?

I'm a long time AVG free edition user and I have not had any problems. It's a bit clunky from time to time and the last upgrade (8.0) was very invasive and installed some crap on Firefox which I was very unhappy about, but past that it's been working well enough. I'd recommend it for anyone running Windows without any very serious security concerns.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_UwsRWb2gs

 

[nikorr]

Kaspersky Lab and Malwarebytes easy to use, they are fast and lightweight and one of the best to get. And they don't conflict with each other.