Which is REALLY the best antivirus/ad/spyware?

[Paul Iddon]

There are so many.

Norton, AVG, Microsoft Onecare, Ashampoo, Avast, Kaspesky, to name just a few.

I am going to reformat on Wenesday and want the best protection for when I am online.

One trojan often gets through - Virtumonde - and it somehow gets past my AV on occasions, though it gets removed (by MS Onecare).


So I guess the question is which is REALLY and TRUTHFULLY the best antivirus/adware/spyware programme to buy and install?


Thanks in advance.


Paul.

[[GSV]Myocardial]

None could be said to be the best as it's always changing but Nod, Kaspersky and Antivir are all pretty decent if your willing to pay.

Take a look at this site for comparatives: http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Take a look at this site in relation to firewalls: http://www.matousec.com/projects/fir...ge/results.php

There are other considerations when talking about which is best such as how much resource does the product use when idle, scanning or in some resident protection mode for which I believe Nod to be pretty lean. Not sure what their all priced at but you can certainly get Kaspersky for free if you have a Barclays Bank account

[mikerr]

The best defence is user education, really

Keep your PC patched and up to date, and use firefox for browsing.

I hate resident checkers as they usually convert your nice 2Ghz dual core PC into an old 500Mhz celeron.

They are necessary for dumb users though, I have no idea how many people manage to get so badly infested,
do they wildly click every attachment going, and do they click alll silly web adverts as well ?

[peterb]

There isn't a 'Best' - if there was the others would be out of business. GSV sums it up pretty well.

[[GSV]Myocardial]

The best defence is user education, really

Keep your PC patched and up to date, and use firefox for browsing.

I hate resident checkers as they usually convert your nice 2Ghz dual core PC into an old 500Mhz celeron.

They are necessary for dumb users though, I have no idea how many people manage to get so badly infested,
do they wildly click every attachment going, and do they click alll silly web adverts as well ?

No they use information like you have just posted as reason for not having virus checkers and firewalls. My pc is not slowed down by anywhere near as much as your making out and I personally think that unless the box is only connected to the web to get updates then a free virus scanner at the least is pretty much a must have for most PC users.

You can pick up a virus very easily if you visit the wrong site or get sent an email without any protection, at least you stand a chance of not getting one with some. From my experience alot of people get virus infections from friends due to machines getting infected and using their mail client to spam their contacts or from people customising their OS or downloading small games etc.

I've had a couple of virus's on machines in the past so I'm definately a dumb user

[Paul Iddon]

I have ATM got Onecare running, and it quarantined this:

Trojan:Win32/Vundo.gen!M

I thinkits part of the Virtumonde trojans. It is the only AV that has ever picked it up and been able to quarintine/remove it. Even Spybot cannot do that!


That makes me favour Microsoft's AV over the other, and it is only £17 OEM.

If I use it, would I need a firewall too or does Onecare have a firewall built in (I'm a bit dumb too! ).



Paul.

[mightymouse]

microsoft av is designed from the backbone of trendmicro which is an amazing AV but i use avast and it has been flawless. i would say stick with the free ones and use firefox with noscript then you should be alright. i have not used a firewall forever so i am not sure why you would need one.

by the way avast doesnt really suck up your resources and i find that they tend to pick up on the littleless things. especially when you are copying stuff around from your usb stick to you pc. also i use spybot too and adware free edition.

[Blitzen]

The best defence is user education, really

Keep your PC patched and up to date, and use firefox for browsing.

I hate resident checkers as they usually convert your nice 2Ghz dual core PC into an old 500Mhz celeron.

They are necessary for dumb users though, I have no idea how many people manage to get so badly infested,
do they wildly click every attachment going, and do they click alll silly web adverts as well ?

What useless and ill informed advice.....that didnt help the OP at all. User education is no replacement for a resident scanner........they should act in tandem.

If you had a virus you wouldnt even know would you so who is dumb?

[staffsMike]

Generally speaking yes, it's good to not be a cretin while surfing. If you can resting paris hilton sex tapes, porn sites and such like... so much the better.

But not using one at all.. thats pretty.. dumb. Blitzen is absolutely correct in what he has said, that is simply terrible advice.

Personally I use Kaspersky net security and it's been flawless. Very light on resources, you'll barely know it's there if you spend a good 10 mintues settting it up on first install.

I hear great things about NOD32 but I couldn't be bothered with seperate programs for everything in the end so I went with Kaspersky which is around £12 on scan for 3 licenses

[Blitzen]

Yep...I took the 3 licence Kaspersky for £12 and its fantastic.

[Guy]

Ive been using Kaspersky for many years now, and it comes out pretty much as one of the top rated in tests each year.

Also very reasonable if you get the 3 user pack.

[kopite]

Im using nod 32 and its brilliant.

I am however tempted to for kapersky as it is so cheap

[Jay]

Kaspersky... i even use it in a corp setup.

[Paul Iddon]

Heres an odd one for you....


Installed Kaspesky Trial and once on, I couldn't open a single webpage, anywhere. I then uninstalled it, and et voila, all web pages back up.

Now why was that?


Paul.

[Sema4]

As any antivirus software review will confirm, Avira Antivir is currently the best antivirus software available and you can get the full premium version FREE for 6 months by following the link near the bottom of this post, but hurry, there is no telling how long this offer will run for...

While others seem to like Kaspersky, personally I have had considerable trouble with their software in the past...

They used to use a system that hashes each file and stores it's 'hash' code in the alternate data stream of each file, then the system can scan the files very quickly by comparing it's present hash, to it's stored hash, to see if the file has changed, files that have not changed are not actually 'virus scanned' again as it considers there is no need to, only if the hash has changed will it actually scan the file against the current virus database... The issue here is that a file may have a virus with a payload set for some date in the future, and that virus is not detected by the current database when it's first scanned and hashed, but the virus is then detected and is included in a future database updates, but that file is not scanned again as the hash has not changed since it's first scan... ummmmm.....

You can use a tool such as sysinternals 'streams' to view these hidden 'Alternate Data Streams (ADS)' stored on your computer, and google ADS or Alternate Data Stream to read more on the subject.

This is probably of little importance to those that have less than 500Gb of storage, but when you have closer to 4 terrabytes, the extra load placed on the disk operating system, is considerable.

This was a while ago and I'm not sure Kaspersky still use 'ADS' technology in their product, if you don't have a staggeringly large number of files to deal with then it won't matter if they do still use it and in practice, it is a fine product for what it does...

All the reviews I have read over the last couple of years have always pointed to 2 clear leaders in the field with regards to virus software, Nod32, and Avira AntiVir, they 'catch the most bad things', the catch them 'quicker than anyone else' and at the same time 'use the least amount of system resources', and you can't ask for more than that.

Both are payware and are not overly expensive provided you don't want the firewall option too, personally I don't like being asked every minute or so if 'such and such' can access the internet or not, others may like that level of protection I just don't happen to be one of them, my intranet is behind a router which is configured as a hardware firewall and so software firewalls are no longer required.

After trying most other virus software on the market at a 'research and development' level for my own companies use across it's intranet, I am now using Avira AntiVir and I can't in all conscience, recommend anything less.

The best news is, you can get it for FREE !! For 3 months... A promotional licence is available from them directly if you visit the Avira VNU Promotion Page

This includes antivirus, antispyware, rootkit protection, the lot, free for 3 months, does it get any better ?

No, I don't work for them, and I'm not on commission, I just know a good product when I test it and when you can get it for free, then it would be remiss of me not to post this for your consideration...

Hope this helps some of you 'stay protected' out there, as despite the views of some, it's not realistically possible to be without virus protection if you are connected to the internet in this day and age. You may not be the only person that uses the computer and you can't rely on everyone to stay off dangerous sites!

[staffsMike]

Heres an odd one for you....


Installed Kaspesky Trial and once on, I couldn't open a single webpage, anywhere. I then uninstalled it, and et voila, all web pages back up.

Now why was that?


Paul.

Stick it in training mode and it will ask you whether to block or allow things like most others do. Or just add a rule to the firewall (anti-hacker) that allows your browser to work. Like I said you need to take a little time figuring it out and setting it up but you get used to it quickly and after that you need do little else to it. Updates itself, scans itself.. perfect for me