best antivirus?

[ExoduS]

NOD32 has always been my favorite, efficient and doesn't ever bother you.

yeah im looking for a new AV, i've heard NOD32 is the best I can get, using less resources

[Zer0]

think i will be getting avast, had enough of AVG

[Giraffe]

Been using Avast! for a couple of years now. No probems, no malware, simple to use. Works well with Comodo's firewall.

[geb]

well i have been used to nod32 but then found Avast, been running it for 6 months and no probs

[boxnet]

Not Symantec then...

[TheReaFireblade]

Not Symantec then...

However... I've read that Symantec AV 2008 was meant to be quite an improvement over previous offerings, and that the new 2009 version even more so?

I'll leave testing it to someone else though

[itdoesntmatter]

I am using avast on Vista and it is excellent and seems light enough.

You get a funny American voice when you update too.

[Technogeek]

I have Nod32, best you can get and uses such little footprint you do not know it is running. Some slow your PC down so much at start up it is like watching paint dry.
My partner has kaspersky which is my second favourite but is takes ages to run up in the morning.

[BeoWulf]

Nod32 in my opinon, is the best single engine virus checker there is. Very little footprint, fast, and does it's job well.
The multi engine ones tend to quite heavy on the resources and very slow.

[Antagram]

Been a fan of Avast Home Edition (you receive a one year license key by email) for some time.

It not the easiest to use for options, but I've always changed the default skin to one called Blue_expe. And enabled scan archived files, and update for program and definitions.

Wanted to try Avira, but the free version doesn't include POP3 mail scanning.

[spiral out]

Im using avira at the moment and it seems good, with a small enough footprint. I did used to use eset nod a couple of years back and might give that a try again.

Are you guys using smart security or just the anti virus?

[tanpax]

i use symantec av... been usnig it for a few years now... no probs

[Koolpc]

Is it a good idea to have a good Spyware program (Which one) too with Avast and Comodo? Is that all that is needed to keep the PC protected

[acrobat]

Yeah it's a good idea.

There are loads to choose from, but I've never bothered paying much attention to them because I have a little combination of 2 which has never let me down. Lavasoft's Adaware, and SpyBot. Both you can get for free for personal use. Spybot complains about being used with Adaware but they both seem to work happily together for me. They both do scans of your computer and weed out any spyware and then remove it. For me it always finds a few things a week.

Spybot also has a feature called Immunize which seems to be a kind of library of bad web pages or pop ads etc. on the net, and then it instructs your browser to not open them. I've seen it work a few times too. I've been on a webpage, and an ad will try to load in the corner, and it's blocked it because it was in the database. I find that with both of those, I feel pretty covered.

You also need a firewall, but the one that comes with Windows is enough for most people.

[stevencage7]

Norton, never let me down Although i do agree there is no such thing as the "best"

[kinnth]

yeah i too really agree with acrobat, those two little beauties are the real things that protect your pc. If your not an internet idiot and visit porn / warez / dodgy sites alot the chance of getting a true virus or hacked are pritty slim.

The worst problems you are likely to have are spyware which in the short term far worse for your systems useability.

Think of it like this, "i want my computer running as efficiently as possible with as few programs open at a time so the stuff i do want doing is done quickly." If you keep that in mind then running both firewalls and virus software are taking those resources no matter how good they are will still be slower than a fresh install of windows.

Therefore, I use windows firewall as it does what it says on the tin and is incorporated with the OS so trusting microsoft here it should stay up2date and do what it says. I run spybot immunize every week to try and prevent spyware getting in and i run adaware + spybot when i feel it slow down or after around a month whichever comes first. Ive been doing that for years and so far my comps still going.

just get those 2 progs if you aint got them and see if that helps.