What is the Best Antivirus and Why

Dear bigdg,

What you have asked is a very general question. More people seeing thread would give their own responses.
With my experience Norton and Mcafee are both really good. Both have their own pros and cons ..

Thanks,
Sunray

I found Norton Anti virus is the best.
I have been using this for years but have seen no problem if u keep updating the latest updates.

People says that it is system hog, but not for me, some time, if it conflict with some other devices or other device/this is not installed properly then it might create some problem, but then norton help/support is aviable for that and it worked always for me.

also with Anto virus u need to have firewall, adware/spyware and a registry cleaner.

if u keep running firewall and antivirus all the time.
and run adware/spyware/registry cleaner once a week. it will be good running system all the time.

for registry clean i use Iolo system mechanic once a week.
my system is up and running for more than a year all the time up, no problem at all.

People have different experiences with different software.

I have tried running Norton and McAfee in the past and found the antivirus unreliable and Norton firewall unprotective and both were expensive.

I now use Panda Antivirus - www.pandasoftware.com  - It comes with lifetime daily updates and 1 year tech support for the cost and is very easy to install/configure. Also if you do get any problems their techies are available 24x7.

Updates are automatic and about 50-60k in size and performed daily whenever you are on the internet.

It is a powerful antivirus and firewall solution all in one which saves you £ as you don't have to buy antivirus and firewall software.

However, more importantly it doesn't let viruses in ! and it doesn't hog all of your system resources. I've been running it at home and work for about 4-5 years and have not had a virus get through Panda yet.

I'd def recommend running AdAware as well - www.lavasoftusa.com as its a life saver.

For registry i use RegSeeker - www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

Kaspersky is my favourite, also AVK by GDATA (using the Kaspersky and RAV-Engine). Both have excellent results for ITW, Trojan-Hosrses.
The Kaspersky-engine knows over 100 different package-fomrats.
Daily updates, sometimes twice a day.....

First of all, if you have such a SUPER PC as you fully described on your thread why would it bother you if Norton Antivirus is a system hog ?

Indeed it is a system hog for most PC's (aka., PIII or PIV 1Ghz) But for a PIV MultiThread 3.06 Ghz PC it is ZIPPO !! Its like saying you are afraid your car alarm might slow down your brand new ferrari.

If Norton is good enough (like many ppl seem to agree here) then you shouldn't be concerned about a slowdown (system hog) .... even more if you actually intend to protect it !

However if you were actually looking for some guidance, in my personal opinion , i would recommend KASPERSKY Antivirus  or McAfee Antivirus 2004. I got rid of Notron bec i believe those two are WAY ahead of Symantec.  I also heared AVG and G-DATA are just as good as KASPERSKY.

Last word: If I were you I would go for KASPERSKY .... no doubt about it !

Thanx for the post bro......yeah I do have a ferrari......but I haven't taken it out of the garage yet........-)

The best hands down no question ... is SOPHOS..... Sadly unless your company is using SOPHOS you wont be able to buy their product. The company only sells to Businesses.... but if you work for a company that uses SOPHOS then ... its free for your employees to use...  This company has by far the best customer support in comparison to anyone out there, Their product is upto the min.... and definition files are made available as soon as they detect a virus in the wild. The best part is even if you have dial up... their definition files... are like 4kb's at the most and you can use them on every single OS that you can think of... I don't work for SOPHOS but once i saw its performance ... any company that i go to .. i will recomend it. I will put my job on the line... ... its that... goood..... we have been trying hard to infect one of our test systems for 8 months now... without any luck.....

Eset NOD32, folks..(go to Virus Bulletin for confirmation)

I Agree with Picoz.
After long-term experience with lot's of A/V software (Most of all Norton AV - simply cause it was the most common and known one, but I was tierd of it slowing down my computer through I/O, CPU and memory hogging) I decided to finally conduct a search over to the best suitable software for me. My requirement were (As I thought Virus discovery will be the same with each of them) :
1. Speed.
2. Frequent updates
3. Nice and comfortable interface
4. Light in resources and user disturbances

After tried AVG, Mcafee, F-Secure, Avast32!, NAV etc. I discovered Eset NOD32 (Never heard of it before) - and what I've found blew me away.

In their site - http://www.nod32.com they claim to have the fastest AV product and boy do they right!! It is blistering fast!

And while searched for the fastest its seemed that I've found the Best!
(I know it's sounds like a commercial but I dont care doing one for products I love that much)

Apart from being so fast their GUI is really beautiful and pleasant (and there IS option to switch to a simpler graphic-free interface, I just adore softwares with slower computer awareness) and it's virus detection engine seems to be above lots of others!
For example - By the time the Bagle worm and it's variants were spreading wild, While every other A/V software makers rushed to make updates and so does Eset, but it didn't need to as NOD32's superb Heuristic engine detected the malware without any updates!!

Just read the "press" - http://www.nod32.com/about/press.htm

It is definitely worth a shot! (There is a live demo available if i'm not wrong)

I have been using VCOm for four months without a glitch, but I am curious?  Not one mention or post on this software?  It it really that obscure?

Hello....I would like just to give an advice..

I have tested all your antivirus softwares...  NOD32,  NORTON, PCCILLIN, MCAFEE, SOPHOS, AVG and etc....

There are lots of new antivirus softwares that pop up in the market.. but for me I protect myself with PANDA ANTIVIRUS PLATINUM 7.. it has no hassle for updates..and scans so fast...it has built in sygate firewall... if you need an spyware scanner.. you can use Panda Internet Security.. or use System Mechanic or Webroots Spysweeper.. they are very good ones....

For me there are no best antivirus.. There are pros and cons for every antivirus out there...Just use the antivirus you are comfortable with and you trust on..

I've been using the pay version of AVG pro for a decent time now and I have to date, remained free and clear of problems.
I also use it over my small network to disinfect customers PC's by using a bootable CD with WinXP pe 2004 on the target PC so that the operating system on the target PC is not up and running and therefore not protecting files by both the OS and the infection.
So my preferences lay with Grisoft's AVG pro.

P.S. AVG pro recently found 148 instances of trojans and virii on a customers laptop where a fully updated copy of norton system works (inc. the anti-virus) was running, and I have had the same happen on systems protected with McAfee.

Try BitDefender. Just see : http://www.anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

I am using Solo antivirus from http://www.srnmicro.com for the past two years and haven't faced any problem. It works great and updates automatically. Solo monitors registry, and protected my system from adware programs promptly.

Eset NOD32 is best by test, but has service problems in real world. Sophos is best for business if used client-by-client. Also good for centralized. For centralized AV try TrendMicro.

TrendMicro is certainly on the rise. It's pretty much a contender for the top three or four now
according to VB (you need to subcribe to get the full info on these products and how well
they do in the real word ('wild') - expensive.)  I've had no 'service' probs with NOD32 because
I've had no problems - ever (3 years.) But there may be local agent hitches. I wouldn't use
the one in my country. Any queries (I've had a few), I go straight to the source & have the
answer in a day. Sophos is good. So is Norton for all it's Windows hooks.

I've used them all and my money is on Panda.  Great product, great support, low memory usage, fast scan, very friendly user interface.

Panda perhaps better for home usage ( I recommend it) than for business usage.

This is an old thread, but I want to add something unsaid.  I'm a computer tech, and I've quit using any Norton product post-2003.  I've had so much trouble with NAV and NIS (I've had to reinstall the operating system after removing N Internet Security) that I steer as clear as possible away from them.

Same goes for McAffee, except it seems to be a little less effective as well as less likely to actually ruin your computer.  So I would actually go for anything other than those two.  I really like NOD32, and have had positive experiences with AVG Free, Panda, PC-Cillin, Antivir.

I recommend using a free antivirus over Norton or McAffee.

PC-Cillin has risen to the top of the heap now. I have reached the same conclusion as thegnu!
Thanks for the post.

I have been using NOD32 for over a week now & after using Norton, McAfee, AVG and PC-Illin, I say NOD32 wins hands down.  Fast scanning, very frequent updates and great detection rates, along with a small footprint (use of resources) makes it a winner.

NOD32 is the current champ, I think -- their threatsense technology makes them the ONLY one to consider for full threat detection and prevention. I've followed them since  early 2002 years, and the fact that they have ALWAYS been the top-rated by Virus Bulletin and in other independant tests for detection and speed is now matched by their improved tech support and full-spectrum detection. They ALSO the best at detecting threats BEFORE their signature is known, and thus the only real contender for emerging Zero-Day Exploits.

I would rather debate a woman on fashion or a man on politics before I will debate which AV product is the best all around.

With that said I personally have used Symantec's Corp. Edition Products for the past several years successfully.  Have there been viruses that still hit these protected environments?  YES.  

Each month you have a new winner as to who did what best.  Symantec, McAfee, F-Secure, Sophos, Innoculan, etc.

Each environment is different.  You have to look at all your access points to the outside world.  Floppies, CD-Roms, E-Mail, Web traffic, Web Access, portals, IM's, etc. etc.  Then figure out which products to use and where.  Most large environments have multiple AV's solutions in place.  On the workstations they usually have one.  On the gateways they might have multiple running at the same time.

HTH

Oh an another thing, I love Symantec's products but I stay far far away from their retail versions.  

Norton Anti-Virus is the retail side and Symantec AV is the corp side.

Where I work, we use Sophos, Ad-aware, Spybot, and Microsoft Antispyware, and we keep getting infected by rbot and NTRootK-F.


I wouldnt trust sophos too much. Thouhgt their updates are great, it takes forever. about 10 minutes. And it's definition files are rather large, though I couldnt say how large.

That, and it copies over ALL it's program files every time it updates.


I would stick with panda and Microsoft antispy.

Thats what i think is the best :)

I ended up selecting Trend Micro PC-cillan Internet Security.  Best I have ever used by far!  Flawless.

I will have to agree with Nod32 as being the best. I was a very big Panda fanboi because I love there Tru-Prevent but its kinda bloaty and instable on some systems. Nod32 is rock solid and to show its true low resource marvel try downloading it on a Win98 machine... you will be shocked that you can still protect these OLD systems on this OLD OS with all these very NEW threats.

Total Security 2008 or PC Doctor.
Both were awarded best antivirus of the year

That wonderful that they have been awarded that title.  I hope that most understand that internet ratings of products are kind of reminiscent of Wrestling/boxing titles..... I dont' trust any of them. It is such an easy thing to test for yourself. Setup a couple of machines and have some fun. Then in the morning you can also hand out an award and rate one of them the best of class.

Kaspersky rocks!

Trend Micro is the best Antivirus and the technical support for the product is very good.

I'm using Avira antivir free. and found the best ofcource

We used to use Sophos, it cannot remove the Trojan. They give a solution on their website, which means you create a disk and boot of it then so on..  I installed Macafee it dealt with it.  Norton seems to have a very bad press from loads of people.

I am gone try Kespersky, Panda, Bit Defender and maybe Mcafee.

I have studied the best of the best of everything since I was 7 years old, I took about 3 weeks trying all these virus programs,  #1 Eset Smart Security, #2 BitDefender....thats it. ENJOY :)

Yes, I agree with Eset. We had a virus attack recently and the docile Sophos could not even detect it. We tried Avira, Kespersky and then Eset. Only eset got rid of all the viruses and efficiently, the scan was fast.

Their support was first class.

The eset product is simplified, as servers and worskstation have the same software except Exchange.

I would still rate Avira and Kespersky  but eset was the best.

It is also light on the PC.

Yes, im going to have to say AV wise, Avast is the best. I havent seen any other AV implement a VRDB (Virus Recovery Database) such as Avast. Compared to norton and others, Avast in my opinion takes the cake.