Antivirus Recommendations

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dmsm76

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Joined
Jul 29, 2007
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I'm sure everyone has a different answer, but what is a decent all around antivirus/firewall solution?

In the past I've always used Avast which lately seems to slowdown the computer.
I've tried Kaspersky which doesn't seem too bad, but had problems configuring the firewall.
Norton and McAfee are just plane out and I don't think are very reliable.

I am going to be installing on a netbook that will be used in different secured and unsecured networks. The other computers are a bit more powerful and will be used under the same conditions. I've read reviews on toptenreviews which recommends BitDefender while pcmag recommends Adaware or webroot.

Thanks
 
why is it this question gets asked at least once a week?

is the search button broke?
 
j-sta said:
why is it this question gets asked at least once a week?

is the search button broke?
Click to expand...

Well actually I did a search and 40+ pages came up all with subject lines unrelated to what may be an antivirus.

Edit:
Just call me a dumb noob! I figured out what I was doing wrong in the search!
 
Last edited:
Another vote for MSE. Also a vote for the search function not always working out like it should.
 
dmsm76 said:
Edit:
Just call me a dumb noob! I figured out what I was doing wrong in the search!
Click to expand...

you shoulda just lied and said the search button was broke ;)
:p

but yeah, MSE tends to be the big winner here
 
Never had any negative performance from Avast myself.
Use MSE then.
 
OP is looking for firewall solution as well.

I use MSE and Windows 7 and router.
 
I will have to go against the grain. I use AVG and haven't had any problems. I do concede that it is getting more and more bloated. I was using MSE until I got a virus and had to reformat. Be very careful on what sites you click on while searching for erotic bakeries.
 
molson3530 said:
I will have to go against the grain. I use AVG and haven't had any problems. I do concede that it is getting more and more bloated. I was using MSE until I got a virus and had to reformat. Be very careful on what sites you click on while searching for erotic bakeries.
Click to expand...

AVG has been rated at the bottom for some time now, you may not of gotten something, but why use the bottom of the barrel av these days.
 
MSE has the smallest foot print. However, 6 mths ago I got a virus and the computer could not be re-claimed.

Symantec works okay, much to my surprise. But I still like MSE because I'd format anyway if I were to get a virus of any kind.
 
MSE for Windows 7 and a router. You all can commence the hating.
 
MSE Pro Plus 2011: Enterprise Edition ;)

molson3530 said:
I will have to go against the grain. I use AVG and haven't had any problems. I do concede that it is getting more and more bloated. I was using MSE until I got a virus and had to reformat. Be very careful on what sites you click on while searching for erotic bakeries.
Click to expand...

On a serious note OP, avoid AVG. It's nothing like it used to be many years ago, and is in fact a giant pile of crap now.
 
Another vote for MSE here, but I also like Avast as well. I've used Avast on multiple machines, going back years, but my newest desktop I decided to give MSE a try. You can't go wrong with either, in my opinion.

As far as a firewall is concerned, I just use Windows 7's built in firewall.
 
Another vote for Norton. I don't get why there is so much love for MSE here. It's not that effective and isn't as light as everyone claims it is. Is free the magic word?
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
Another vote for Norton. I don't get why there is so much love for MSE here. It's not that effective and isn't as light as everyone claims it is. Is free the magic word?
Click to expand...

Free certainly helps, but also because it's very low impact (lightweight) and has a solid detection rate. Plus, Norton spent all those years fucking everything up for everyone. They can suck it.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
Another vote for Norton. I don't get why there is so much love for MSE here. It's not that effective and isn't as light as everyone claims it is. Is free the magic word?
Click to expand...

I trust MSE since it's a Microsoft product, and honestly, there isn't another company on the planet that knows more about Windows - down to the very bits themselves - so if Microsoft can't produce an antivirus/malware application that can protect their own bits, oh well... ain't nobody else going to be able to do it any better I'd say.

MSE has yet to let me down, and no matter what I use to 'test' whether or not I might potentially be infected by anything always comes up spotless: no rootkits, no virus activity, no trojans, no worms, no malware of any kind based on recent scans with MalwareBytes, TrendMicro HouseCall, Eset's online scanner, Hitman Pro, etc etc.

Everything comes up 100% clean, not even one damned tracking cookie.

What else matters?
 
Since when did MSE become the win? Not so long ago people gave it shit for not stopping things that other commercial and free antivirus apps caught along with false positives. Not to mention that uninstalling is as easy as uninstalling IE.

On one box that I don't care about I do have MSE installed on it. On my main box I have Nod32 and couldn't be any happier with it.

Commercial App = NOD32
Freeware App = Avast
 
bAMtan2 said:
I have no opinion. but that is the first time I've read a phrase like that on the internet. first time for everything I guess
Click to expand...

When you've used their products since early 1980s and they've never let you down (for a variety of reasons), you can say such things. As I've used their products since the early 1980s and they've never let me down, I said such a thing.

Can't help it that so many people have so many problems with Microsoft and their products - I'm just not one of those people.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
Another vote for Norton. I don't get why there is so much love for MSE here. It's not that effective and isn't as light as everyone claims it is. Is free the magic word?
Click to expand...

8megs memory usage isn't "as light as everyone claims it is?"
and not as effective as everyone claims? av-comparitives.org disagrees.
MSE has consistently scored "Advanced" by their testing

BurntToast said:
Since when did MSE become the win? Not so long ago people gave it shit for not stopping things that other commercial and free antivirus apps caught along with false positives. Not to mention that uninstalling is as easy as uninstalling IE.

On one box that I don't care about I do have MSE installed on it. On my main box I have Nod32 and couldn't be any happier with it.

Commercial App = NOD32
Freeware App = Avast
Click to expand...

wait, so you mean there's AV apps out there that get absolutely 0 false positives and 100% detection rate? Which ones?
Sure, MSE defs have probably screwed up a few times. But so has Symantec/Norton, Sophos, AVG, and probably just about every other AV out there.
 
j-sta said:
8megs memory usage isn't "as light as everyone claims it is?"
and not as effective as everyone claims? av-comparitives.org disagrees.
MSE has consistently scored "Advanced" by their testing



wait, so you mean there's AV apps out there that get absolutely 0 false positives and 100% detection rate? Which ones?
Sure, MSE defs have probably screwed up a few times. But so has Symantec/Norton, Sophos, AVG, and probably just about every other AV out there.
Click to expand...



http://www.csoonline.com/article/681403/microsoft-security-essentials-struggles-in-antivirus-tests
 
j-sta said:
8megs memory usage isn't "as light as everyone claims it is?"
Click to expand...

MSE uses a lot more than 8MBs. There are two different running programs for MSE, with msseces.exe being only the GUI and MsMpEng.exe the actual program. It can use up to 100MBs easily on a system that stays up for extended periods of time.
 
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