Paid AV Software worth it?

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Rustynuts

[H]F Junkie
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Feb 6, 2003
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Been using Eset NOD32 last few years. Seems to work fine. Just wondering if it's worth renewing again or just go with the free stuff like AVG or Avast, etc. Using Comodo firewall if that matters.
 
Depends on if you need to manage multiple installs from a single location. I install MSE on all consumer computers and stand behind it with a lifetime warranty. I'm not aware of a free centrally managed AV.
 
-1 on Avast! and +1 for MSE. Minimally intrusive, fast, hardly a false positive, low on memory, set it and forget it.
 
Yes it is worth it. There is more to PC security than just a AV. I use Kaspersky Internet Security, but I do not use the default settings. I have not paid more than $20 a year for my license for the past 6 years. I usually pick it up free after rebate. Most all the pay AVs are free after rebate at some point during the year. You just need to know when are how to look.

Slickdeals and fatwallet are you friends.

Good Luck.
 
+1 for MSE and Windows firewall, no really problems. I surf murky waters.
Also run Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, SuperAntiSpy. Might be able to dump 1 or 2 of those.
 
And I 'm an Windows admin of over 60 developers another 200 various engineers and other types of users with near 600 machines. Most of those uses are admins on their boxes. We lock down what we must, but our employees are not idiots for the most part.

The point is: IS it worth it to you?

What kind of tires do you put on your car?

Do you have life insurance?

Did you get a flu shot?

Some people would say these things are a waste of money, some say you're nuts to not have the best you can afford.


Lastly, No one tool does it all. I have Spybot search and destroy and Malwarebytes, esoft and a couple of other independant malware scanners/tools. No one tool can detect and remove everything.

Simple put, its a choice. That said if you throw a dart out and pick something free without doing your homework, Some people will have no sympathy when you encounter problems.


Personally I want the best, as cheaply as possible.

My opinion is that anyone not running realtime AV + a router that has NAT is an idiot who has no regards for the data on their computer of entered via their computer.

Anyone who can afford a Internet security suite and doesn't buy one, again does not deserve sympathy when they get infected by something that would have been covered by a comprehensive internet security suite.

If you can GREAT. If you can't, do the best you can.

If you don't care.....fine. but please "format C" after you get infected so you don't infect/spam the rest of us.
 
Mackintire said:
Anyone who can afford a Internet security suite and doesn't buy one, again does not deserve sympathy when they get infected by something that would have been covered by a comprehensive internet security suite.
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Money can't buy common sense.
 
Mackintire said:
Anyone who can afford a Internet security suite and doesn't buy one, again does not deserve sympathy when they get infected by something that would have been covered by a comprehensive internet security suite.

If you can GREAT. If you can't, do the best you can.

If you don't care.....fine. but please "format C" after you get infected so you don't infect/spam the rest of us.
Click to expand...

Not talking about the suite stuff, I have other programs running as well like Superantispyware, MBAM, and AdAware. All paid versions running in addition to the standalone AV and I do have MSE running as well.

Are you saying that the single point suites are better? This is for home use with 4 PC's behind a protected router. All are setup with similar security programs.

The problem I have is that every review you read says something different. Some have the free stuff at top, others not. Confusing. I haven't seen any NOD32 deals on Fatwallet lately and a SINGLE PC costs $30 renewal right now JUST for the AV not the suite. It used to be the best, but most reviews seem to only have it rated as decent.
 
it all depends on how many computers.
I use Eset on all my bus customers so everything is centralized, all my home users get MSE.
Although Ive been testing out Sophos business version and its not bad at all
 
MSE for general AV duties and EMET 3.0 at max settings to help handle the zero day exploits.

That is all.

Though remember MSE is only for up to ten computers.
 
dandragonrage said:
I switched from MSE to Bitdefender free recently personally.
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What's the difference between Bitdefender Free and their paid versions? I've been trying to find it, but don't see it mentioned on their website. Been considering switching to this over Avast.
 
For those of you recommending multiple AV products running concurrently, how do you feel abou the best practice which recommends against that?
Also, how can you claim security when you ignore another security best practice (don't run everyday tasks as Admin)?
Even if your users are the smartest and savviest out there, you are counting on discression and discernment, not security.
I can claim that ground-up unicorn horn sprinkled around my gateway protects me as much as some of your wonky ideas. Best practices are out there for a reason. Extraordinary claims (ignoring best practice) requires extraordinary proof.
 
RocketTech said:
For those of you recommending multiple AV products running concurrently, how do you feel abou the best practice which recommends against that?
Also, how can you claim security when you ignore another security best practice (don't run everyday tasks as Admin)?
Even if your users are the smartest and savviest out there, you are counting on discression and discernment, not security.
I can claim that ground-up unicorn horn sprinkled around my gateway protects me as much as some of your wonky ideas. Best practices are out there for a reason. Extraordinary claims (ignoring best practice) requires extraordinary proof.
Click to expand...

I also believe in educating the users on what they should and shouldnt do. Which can relate to popups, weird/unknown emails, and installing personal software.

I have visited some sites where they had limewire and torrent clients installed... :rolleyes:
 
octoberasian said:
What's the difference between Bitdefender Free and their paid versions? I've been trying to find it, but don't see it mentioned on their website. Been considering switching to this over Avast.
Click to expand...

I think it's just that the free one is only a "traditional" antivirus (including real-time scanning of course) and doesn't contain any special protections for browsers etc.
 
Rustynuts said:
Not talking about the suite stuff, I have other programs running as well like Superantispyware, MBAM, and AdAware. All paid versions running in addition to the standalone AV and I do have MSE running as well.

Are you saying that the single point suites are better? This is for home use with 4 PC's behind a protected router. All are setup with similar security programs.

The problem I have is that every review you read says something different. Some have the free stuff at top, others not. Confusing. I haven't seen any NOD32 deals on Fatwallet lately and a SINGLE PC costs $30 renewal right now JUST for the AV not the suite. It used to be the best, but most reviews seem to only have it rated as decent.
Click to expand...

I would never suggest running multiple AVs at the same time unless you are an expert at knowing what you are doing.

Running multiple AV's at the same time causes competition of resources, in many cases a poorer UI experience, and make diagnosing a AV related issue a nightmare. There are also many documented incompatibilities. TrendMicro with Spybots IP list protection installed comes to my mind.

I too use multiple products but I use ONLY one AV engine. one HIPS module, and one firewall at a time. If I choose to use a second scanner I will run it On Demand as needed.

I've seen EST for a single install on sale last Novembers for $9.99 after rebate. (I think it was at Newegg and I saw it on slickdeals.)

I agree education is in the top three for prevention.

Lastly I've mentioned this before.... The default settings for any brand AV may not be the best for you. AV comparasons tests their AVs at default settings. Ive been sticking with kaspersky Internet Security for a couple of years now and do not use the default settings. I've run the AV comparison tests on my machine when Kaspersky has done poorly and almost always score better than what is reviewed there. The difference is knowledge and correct application of the product to suit my needs.

One benefit of have a unified solution is that the AV can notify the firewall component and lock down the system, to prevent the spread of the malware/virus infection to other locations (local or remote) until a full scan has completed. Independent applications do not have the ability to communicate what they have detected to other programs installed on the system.
 
If you reported a problem with your computer that had multiple anti-malware installed, first thing I would do is un-install all but one anti-malware. If you want a thorough scan, run an offline scanner that allows you to boot to the scanner.
There are way too many hooks in the OS to be sure even a 'dormant' anti-malware is truly dormant. If you want multiple scanners, get a single engine with multiple dictionaries/lists. If your A/V A/M is dormant, it is also not up to date. If you are not scanning with an up to date dictionary, you are not scanning effectively.

I offer a lifetime gaurantee on my anti-malware service, and I do it by following best practices- not shotgun security, not spray-and-pray, not some secret sauce of scripts, tools and smacking the user upside the head.
My return rate is well under 10%, probably somewhere between 1 and 5%- for home users.
 
MSE and the corporate version (Microsoft Forefront Endpoint) are such poor products that they have not been receiving certifications from the top, indipendent antivirus review companies for the past year. Even more than a year ago when they were still receiving certification, they were towards the bottom of the barrel in protection.

MSE is simple and easy to use but the fact is better free AV exist when it comes to actual protection against threats.

+1 Avast

It includes the file and behavior scanning MSE has, but also has a significantly better network scanner and http scanner, at a fraction of the memory usage (around 16MB) compared to 50-75MB of MSE.

How anyone can even try to make the argument that a free product, designed by a company who does a million different things, offers better protection than a product by a company who's sole focus is antivirus, is beyond me.

All that said, I still use MSE on client and my parents computer because of it's ease of use. My personal computers have Avast Free.
 
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