Do you use : No Antivirus , FREE Antivirus , or PAID Antivirus and why?

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Trend Micro has really taken off for the past year or so , I installed it on my mothers computer , she loves it.

 

[Derp88]

I use An Adblocker for Google Chrome,Malwarebytes Anti-Malware(Free Version), and Norton(I just have it for the real time protection and I get it free because of my ISP, Comcast/Xfinity)

 

[hozaif]

i use webroot internet security.
pros
Extremely small and light on resources. Fast install and scan. Top marks in two independent lab tests and PCMag tests. Very good malicious URL blocking. Full-featured password manager. Mobile support. Remote management. PC optimization. Online backup and sync.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Webroot is decent , have used it on my son's setup.

 

[AsmaJamil]

I use Free Antivirus. Mostly Avira antivirus because it helps protect my system.

 

[EvooHD]

Using only MalwareByates right now, without AV, reason i dont need it, Also i have HitmanPro so if something is gona hurt my system i gona do full scan with these 2 badboys and my system will be clean (All Licensed) HitmanPro and MalwareByates.

Also thinking mybe soon get Bitdefender Antivirus (Also Licensed) So that im 100% live-protect

 

[MarkJohnson]

I just use whatever win10 has in it for my gaming rig.

For my HTPC I use win7 built-in as well as it is only using media center and itunes.

My main surfing rig uses OSX and whever it uses, with firefox with adblock plus and ghostery.

Sometimes I use my free Norton's from Comcast and MBAM paid, but I find I get infected just as often as without it.

I probably get 1 virus a year. I typically reinstall windows once a year anyway, so I usually do it at this time.

Currently my biggest issues are with PUPs. These aren't even being used removed by some programs (Comcast) and others you need to enable removal of them (Avast).

I find it odd they are being ignored. I get calls all of the time of fixing someone infected system, only to find it's just overloaded with hundreds of pups. I hear there are now some malicious malware getting through PUPs. Maybe they will be taken more seriously now.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I currently use KIS , Malwarebytes Premium m Hitman Pro , Win Ransom.

I use KIS and Heimdal on my other PC's.

 

[zthomas]

I currently use KIS , Malwarebytes Premium m Hitman Pro , Win Ransom.

I use KIS and Heimdal on my other PC's.

I just reupped my Norton subscription just the other day. As I have said all along subscribing to Norton is a good deal. no headaches or in your face unwanted interactions.. like some other virus programs love to push up little boxes.. begging to click upon.. Then there the recent impending doom that Norton is full of holes, people love writing spam to hook others on products that aren't selling..

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Norton re-coded their whole lineup about 5 years ago , they have first rate software and light on resources.

 

[RAZER Gamer]

In my spare time I do a lot of malware testing in VirtualBox and have discovered the importance of good anti-virus/internet security software since without it you really are in trouble. Windows Defender has horrible detection rates and will not save you from most threats (had about a 45-50% detection rate for file detection when I last tested it on Windows 10).

The top 5 Internet Security Suites in 2016:

1) Kaspersky
2) Bitdefender
3) Norton
4) Trend Micro
5) F-Secure

I have tested all of these and concluded that overall these are the top 5 in order (1 being the best - 5 being the worst out of the others). Kaspersky, Bitdefender & Norton are all very close in terms of performance, protection & usability and I would say that Bitdefender is perhaps better than Kaspersky other than for the Firewall.

I personally use:

Norton Internet Security 2016 - which is incredibly fast, updates & scans automatically, has an amazing firewall, has saved me plenty of times and is in the top 3 internet security suites.

MalwareBytes - daily scans but only using the free version

Spybot - weekly/sometimes daily scans using free version

AdwCleaner - Weekly scans

Winja - great tool for downloading file since it quickly checks files, process, etc to VirusTotal's database

Process Hacker - a better version of Task Manager

Cleaning tools:

CleanMaster
Ccleaner
Glary Utilities
Wise Registry Cleaner
Advanced System Care

Browser Security:

Norton Internet Security 2016
Avira Browser Safe (The best extension I have ever used - 100% malicious URL blocking on my tests)
AdBlock Plus
AdGuard
LastPass

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http/chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php?chart=chart2&year=2016&month=Feb_Jun&sort=0&zoom=2
Real World test results , a great site for reference.​

 

[RAZER Gamer]

reason for not any antivirus is because it slows down the system....

This is a terrible terrible reason not to have an anti-virus since you are now vulnerable to attack and then your PC will be even slower!

All it takes (even if you don't use your PC for anything other than emails) is a friend or family member to send you an email with a malicious link or file attached and then your PC can be infected. If you get any type of malware (Trojan, Backdoor, Worms, Virus, Spyware, etc) your system will become even slower and then the malware will spread through your network.

There is no real good reason not to use an anti-virus, even using Windows Defender is better than nothing but Windows Defender is still awful and always will be until Microsoft bothers to improve it.

 

[RAZER Gamer]

http/chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php?chart=chart2&year=2016&month=Feb_Jun&sort=0&zoom=2
Real World test results , a great site for reference.​

I sometimes use that site but do my own tests with new malware samples between 1-5 days old. You can never be sure if these websites are telling 100% the truth since companies could pay them to change results slightly.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I have test systems too , lately my best results are Trend Micro. 3 months in a row in my scenarios.

 

[LonelyMan]

I like Emsisoft Anti Malware the best. That antivirus is so good!!!!!!!! I tried others, and I like this one the most.

 

[Guest]

No, I just use the Window's one.

Because most of the others are crap / crash / slow the system down and die when you get infected anyway. So whats the point in paying for one

And this has already been discussed / posted in here

ofc they slow the system LOL, it's a new program running, cosuming CPU ram and disk usage, no matter what you use: a 1MB antivirus or a 100GB one, it will always consume resources... so speaking about this is a dumb thing to do, it's inevitable...

 

[Ubrales]

This is a great reference thread!

I used Norton when Peter Norton was in charge, and got rid of it when Symantec took over and messed things up. Maybe it is time for me to reconsider Norton and I will. Currently, I am relying on Malwarebytes (paid version) and Microsoft Defender. They work well in conjunction with each other.

Now I will plan on adding Norton to the fray.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I might be getting Norton soon myself.

 

[LukeFatwalker]

When I worked at a computer shop (first IT job) the owner would always load a program called Comodo Time Machine on the machines and no Antivirus or much else. I asked him why, he said "Because Antivirus is as reliable as my junkie brother"

While crude, he was right. I had never had any luck with AV programs. Maybe they'd stop some of the common stuff but nothing that was relatively new, simply because there's no guarantees that the definitions have that.

Either way, I found out about Rollback Rx (it's EXACTLY Comodo Time Machine, but it is the original) and I've used it. I let the viruses run their course then I just recover the machine. Better then me fooling myself that the definitions will work.