What is the best Anti virsu/spyware software?

[Inky]

I run naked with no problems for quite some time. but back when I was a scaredy cat I used NOD32. you do not need a software firewall if you are behind a router. a router IS a firewall.

[Weirdy]

yeah, I haven't used an av in more than a year

[KyokugenKiss]

use a MAC, its like enjoying unprotected sex with your spouse

[Rag]

I don't know what to do now.

 

Third time is a charm:

 

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

 

[VT-Vincent]

Over the last few years, this has been a tough issue for me as well. I've used several applications and this is what I've found:

 

Norton AV: Symantec has actually improved the product a lot, it doesn't suck up resources like it used to, it nags less and it installs/uninstalls much faster. The definitions always score well and it's fairly easy to use. On the downside (and the reason I stopped using it), the UI is over simplified and most control is taken away from the user. It basically knows what it wants to do and you're not going to tell it otherwise. I don't like tha type of design philosophy.

 

Kaspersky: Kaspersky is a tough one - their definitions are considered among the best as is their scanning engine. Unfortunately, it's issue is the polar opposite of Norton's. It presents too many options and by default it may not be configured optimally. Like many antivirus companies, they create their own terminology which can further obscure what certain options actually do. I've also experienced a plethora of stability issues and false positives using it and this eventually caused me to stop.

 

Windows Live OneCare: Utter crap. Luckily, it has been discontinued. It had some of the poorest definitions and it had some serious stability issues. This was actually my shortest antivirust stint.

 

Microsoft Security Essentials: I'm actually using this right now, simply out of laziness. On the plus side, it's almost unnoticeable as it never nags and doesn't seem to have any noticeable impact on performance... on the downside, that's probably because it's not actually doing anything. Seriously though, it looks promising and is a definite improvement over it's predecessor. You also can't argue with the price.

 

In the end, I really have to conclude that all of them suck. They are a patch to a problem that shouldn't exist and in order to function, they essentially need to exploit the host operating system much in the same way malicious software would. All of them have a tangible impact on performance by nature and have the possibility of detecting false positives and unintentionally damaging other applications. Antivirus is a bad thing, but it's unfortunately a necessary evil.

 

My suggestion would be to use the evaluation periods of any products you're considering and think long and hard before putting down any cash. I also wouldn't purchase any AV subscription for any longer than 1 year increments. You'd be surprised how quickly a good application can go down the toilet.

[kalekume]

If I were you, I'd get the NOD32. It's the highest recommended and has excellent reviews.

 

+1

 

works very well

[The-Ice-Man]

I recently uninstalled Zone Alarm Internet security suite and am now running with just Avast! and Windows firewall. No problems at all. A lot less memory usage. Can be set to update only when you tell it to (Zone Alarm updates every two fucking seconds, slowing things even further). Avast! does most of what full security suites do, has a higher detection rate than all of the commerical avti viruses, and it's completely free. I'm glad I made the change.

[smithjones]

As per my review kasperskey is the best antivirus software. Kaspersky has historically been one of the most effective antivirus software around, often among the first to detect new viruses in the wild. It can detects viruses based on the packers used to compress code.Kaspersky Anti-Virus is quite simple to use, with an easy interface and user-friendly navigation.

[Robert]

Aha, you ARE a bot. Silenced!

 

and closed