Which antivirus do you use?
By argie713
@argie713 (1809)
Philippines
November 3, 2008 8:36am CST
My computer crashed three days ago. It was just fixed this afternoon. The technician told me that my computer should have internet protection to avoid crashes in the future. There are many internet protection software available. I'm having problems deciding what to get. I don't really like strict protection software, it almost blocks everything I open in the net. What antivirus do you recommend?
28 people like this
171 responses
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
5 Nov 08
To lubi570: Where do you download open source and freeware from? I'd be willing to bet you're downloading from the wrong people. I suggest you install McAfee SiteAdvisor on your computer, and avoid downloading anything from any Web site that has a red or yellow rating. This would help keep a lot of those adware and Trojans off your computer.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157494)
• United States
3 Nov 08
I am waiting to see what you learn. A store person told us AVG. I have downloaded some free security from time to time, but am not really sure that it is the best. It does beat Norton and McAfee.
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
5 Nov 08
Trend Micro? NO WAY!!! The only things I ever go to Trend for are their free HouseCall online scanner and HijackThis (originally developed by Merijn). They don't even compete in AV-Comparatives. When their software was tested once, it detected 85 or 87% of samples, placing it close to One-Care, which was rock-bottom at that time. And Microsoft had an excuse...they were new in the arena. Trend Micro was not.
1 person likes this
@mighty2007 (53)
• Nigeria
3 Nov 08
well, am not good at such issues. sorry i cannot help you with that right now. I dont even have a computer of my own. i use a public one.
@doctorpapa (1)
• Malaysia
5 Nov 08
i am using eset smart security.. its very smooth
1 person likes this
@maroseqf (3657)
• Philippines
3 Nov 08
We use the AVG anti-virus software. It was installed in our computer by the computer shop when we had it reformatted.
Aside from being free, it has a lot of other components such as anti-spyware, email scanner, link scanner and resident shield. I think it is enough to protect our computer from crashing.
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
5 Nov 08
The free version only has LinkScanner Lite. The paid versions have the full version of LinkScanner, which prevents you from visiting infected Web sites. The free Haute Secure fills this void, but you could use this with any antivirus/antispyware. AVG's heuristic detection rate is nothing to scream about. It used to be rock-bottom at AV-Comparatives; now it's just average.
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
6 Nov 08
I too prefer McAfee, but not only because it is less intrusive than Norton. McAfee has ScriptScan.
@sreejithsreenivas (10200)
• India
3 Nov 08
I am using Nod32 and i think it is one of the best anti virus which requires less system resources.
@trinihd (996)
• United States
5 Nov 08
Nod32 is not free although they do have a 30 day trial. I've always used AVG and it's what (I've noticed) a lot of techs put on systems they fix as well. I've never had problems with AVG except the one time it was not being updated so it didn't catch a trojan. I like free stuff that works, even if it may not be the best in terms of using less system resources. It's never caused my system to crash although it slows down somewhat when the scan is working.
@stardustcdsd (1856)
• India
4 Nov 08
honestly,i tried almost every antivirus software available because i use it from browsing centers..avg..well its good but everytime i tried to install a new one,it takes forever to install and i couldnt even do other activities with the comp for one hour and most of the time,its out of date but a good one among the free softwares
antivir personal:i tried it twice and it really made me mad..sure it works good but it asks me everytime to allow/block something and if i dont use that manual stuff,it almost allow everything...bit defender...somewat good...i cannot exactly say anything about it because whenever i use it,it works well but when i come next day,someone else uninstalled it but as far as i have seen,its good..its sometimes use one of those trial versions of maccafee or kaprisky(not sure about the name).they work reaaly well during those trial period..i havent yet found a good anti virus software that is free and satisfying..may be someone can tell me about a good one..
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
5 Nov 08
Avira is currently #1 in heuristic detection (the ability to detect a new virus with a vague pattern, without always requiring an exact signature match). In the most recent retrospective/proactive test at AV-Comparatives in May, Avira was able to detect 72% of 11,509 recent samples with a 3-month-old signature database. That's darned good!
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
3 Nov 08
sorry to hear about your computer. i use avg, it's free & has done well. i am not reccomending it because i wouldn't want u to get on account of what i said then something happen. grettings from tennessee.u.s.a.
@nankum (48)
• Sri Lanka
3 Nov 08
What I am using is avsat home edition.It's home edition is free to use.It has protect me so far from every thing.It have not block any thing i need to do.It,s on access protection has saved me several times.And I about once a month do boot time scan to be more confident.
2 people like this
@damned_dude (23)
• Malaysia
3 Nov 08
if you are willing to pay, then i recommend you to get kaspersky [ www.kasperky.com ]
it gives you a full protection, and has been nominated as the best anti virus of the year [2008]
however, if your computer can't meet the recommended system requirements, then your computer might run slow when using this anti virus as it needs a lot of RAM.
if your computer do run slow, then you have to upgrade your RAM. refer to the website for the RAM needed.
if you want a free version, then the best choice is AVG 8.0. Although it is not as good as kaspersky, at least it protects your computer from virus. while kaspersky protects your computer from virus, malware, spyware and others.
other than that, there's actually another free anti virus that gives you good protection, which is Avira. but i don't recommend you using that, the updates were really damn slow!it slow your system too!unless you have a lot of ram.
lets make it short.
willing to pay? - then choose kaspersky.
want a free version?want an anti virus that requires less RAM? - then choose AVG 8.0.
do notify us which one you choose ^^
1 person likes this
@Raja_Franklin (683)
• India
4 Nov 08
You are 100% correct. I too use kaspersky for the last six months and it really works well. So you can try it.
@EAStanley (2688)
• United States
3 Nov 08
I use Norton. It used to be horrible. But now I guess they upgraded or something. I tried AVG but it turned everything into a total mess! 
So, I had to get rid of it completely! Norton is still a pain sometimes, but it is much better than it used to be, so I guess that I will continue to use it for now. 
So, I had to get rid of it completely! Norton is still a pain sometimes, but it is much better than it used to be, so I guess that I will continue to use it for now.
1 person likes this
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
5 Nov 08
I wouldn't venture to call it paying Symantec (Norton) for something that is free elsewhere on the Internet. AVG does not measure up to Norton, and Norton isn't even the best.
@olivia18888 (33)
• Australia
6 Nov 08
I use McAfee, run a scan every day and delete all the viruses. Works very well.
But apparently Norton is the best, my laptop is too dumb to handle Norton, and Kaspersky is the second best.
1 person likes this
@chck111 (3)
• United States
7 Nov 08
Norton is EVIL! I use AVG and I'm happy with it. There is a version you pay for but the free version works great. Norton programs work but they are costly, tight, and don't play well with others. Norton has a habit of detecting other system maintenance programs as a threat. Also it is very difficult to fully uninstall Norton. It works its way into your system and no matter how many times you run the uninstaller or delete the files, somehow it still manages leave a few files behind.
@Aevelor (53)
• United States
7 Nov 08
AVG has been the best anti virus program I used. I started out on Norton Anti Virus, but it was just so slow and it lagged my system to the point where I just resorted to uninstalling it. AVG is much faster and light weight on the computer, and offers stronger protection. Unlike Norton, I haven't had the experience where I've been told I had a virus, but it can't remove it.
1 person likes this
