Microsoft Flunks Antivirus Tests. Who Aced Them?

[M0j0jojo]

Is Avira free? I currently have AVG 2014, and its absolute shit. I liked the old AVG.

 

[codo]

the best antivirus is yourself. if you don't know what you're doing it don't matter what you have. more than happy with mse/defender, not taxing on the system and not annoying you all the time

 

[omnimodis78]

Proudly using MSE, have been for a while. But I also have a full system image which I restore every now and then, update everything, and make a new image. Free solution. Those expensive and not 100% guaranteed turds won't have my money.

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

makes me suspicious when Norton ranks so high. We've been close to taking it off our approved antivirus list (for campus resident students) for quite some time due to it being so problematic. And then seeing ESET so low. . . smells fishy. Never been a fan of av-test. My own testing has never lined up even close to their results. . .

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

Norton in fact used to do better in AV-TEST's rankings. The real news with this round of evaluations is that Avira and Qihoo scored so high -- tied for second place. Avira Pro uses the same malware-detection engine as Avira Free, and Qihoo uses Bitdefender's, but is free (though possibly with ads, and you'd be trusting a Chinese firm).

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

The only reason Norton is on this list is that it's so intrusive that it literally stops you from using your computer entirely.

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

That was definitely my experience with it around 2006-2010. But it seems to have gotten much lighter since.

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

Is Avira free? I currently have AVG 2014, and its absolute shit. I liked the old AVG.

 

[junkeymonkey]

''Proudly using MSE, have been for a while.''

me to -- from when it first came out and never had any issues with it as I did with paid... if anything a better experience and use ...[knock on wood ]

I guess if I was offering something for free that you wanted money for you would bash me to as the do Microsoft ... like the one guy above said '' anti virus company pays AV-TEST to produce a report and may even provide the test cases . The reports are rigged (carefully selected tests). Microsoft does not pay them.''

cant complain about mse , all I see from it is so far so good ..

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

Avira has paid products as well as a free one. AV-TEST evaluated Avira Pro, the lowest-end paid product, for this round. But both should use the same malware-detection engine.

For what it's worth, Avira Free was our favorite free antivirus product: http/www.tomsguide.com/us/avira-free-antivirus,review-2207.html

 

[zodiacfml]

As some have mentioned, I don't depend on this type of software anymore. The annoying viruses usually can't be detected or remove by AV software.
I only install when an average user insists that he has to have one other than the MS windows defender.

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

''Proudly using MSE, have been for a while.''

me to -- from when it first came out and never had any issues with it as I did with paid... if anything a better experience and use ...[knock on wood ]

I guess if I was offering something for free that you wanted money for you would bash me to as the do Microsoft ... like the one guy above said '' anti virus company pays AV-TEST to produce a report and may even provide the test cases . The reports are rigged (carefully selected tests). Microsoft does not pay them.''

cant complain about mse , all I see from it is so far so good ..

MSE is easy to use and has a very light system load. The user experience is very good. However, it is useless at stopping the nastiest malware.

If you use it and haven't noticed any strange behavior, it doesn't mean you're not infected -- it could just as easily mean that whatever you're infected with doesn't want you to know it's there.

If you don't want to pay for AV software -- and I think it's worth paying for if you're a Windows user -- then at least use something like Avira Free that does a good job of stopping the stuff you would otherwise never see.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I always use PAID and I never go to any sites that are even close to sketchy , gives me peace of mind.
I'm running Trend Micro Maximum Protection right now. Trend Micro has come along way their new software is first rate and has minimal affect on your system resources.

 

[mikenygmail]

Here's the truth everyone - just use free: Avast, Avira, spybot s&d, superantispyware and one paid program: lifetime Malwarebytes Anti-malware. ($10 on sale) Perform frequent scans with all, auto if possible. By using all of these programs, you can catch viruses/malware that one or more of them may miss.
Finally, restore entire system to a perfect working and clean state via clone from a backup every 3-6 months, if this scenario is realistic for you.
Another tip, don't ever go to any porn site on a PC. Use a Roku for that. (Nowhere porn, etc) Otherwise, keep "clean" movie files available.

 

[mikenygmail]

Some of the "premium" antivirus programs offer free antivirus scans if performed via online interface.

 

[whiteodian]

I work in IT Support and we use Symantec. Let's just say I'm constantly having to clean or re-image systems. On my personal desktop, I use Avast. It works much better, but I am more cautious than the typical user. I also poke around on the interwebs on a Linux machine to avoid drive-bys.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Symantec did recode their software lineup a few years back , it is decent on the consumer end , and very light.

 

[KnightHarm]

Avast and MalwareBytes.. and a brain.. all you really need. 8 )

 

[ohim]

They forget the best Antivirus out there ... the user behind the keyboard. I don`t use antivirus since 2009. Did a check once in a while with Bitdefender.. always clean.

 

[brainkick]

Like many commentators I use MSE + my own common sense and have had zero problems, but I thought I'd give Avira a try.

After a thorough scan lasting a little over 8 hours it detected 86 problems, all false positives, and completely missed the keylogger I installed prior to the test.