Best Antivirus Program?

[Martin.S]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

 

[longknife]

AVG works for me....

Never heard of this before. Wiki says reports indicate that once it's installed, it's nearby impossible to remove. Also takes up a lot of RAM

 

[Martin.S]

AVG works for me....

Never heard of this before. Wiki says reports indicate that once it's installed, it's nearby impossible to remove. Also takes up a lot of RAM

The UI resident takes about 6MB of my RAM space. My laptop is a fairly old machine with only 2GM RAM. I've been using free version since 2007. Some experts thought AV is less important nowadays. Timely patching and secure online practices (e.g. don't download from untrusted sources, don't visit dodgy sites etc) are more important. Just my 2c.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

No such thing as best antivirus program. A virus to be concerned about is going to look at the currently available virus scanners and how they search for it, and simply design something nothing's currently set up to detect.

A "good" antivirus scanner though will be dynamic and constantly updating it's core program and virus definitions to allow for this reality.

Simplest method I've used after a lifetime online and on computers is simply not leaving default settings on computers at their defaults. As pcs come, they're like Swiss cheese are completely open and exposed. Can change these open door type settings manually and ensure a good deal of protection over what you started with. Another recommendation is to set anything and everything to "ask me" or "prompt me" or to that effect. Shouldn't let your rigs do anything without your conscious awareness and permission. Sorta defeats some of the point of a computer, but makes you a lot safer.

 

[Bleipriester]

No such thing as best antivirus program. A virus to be concerned about is going to look at the currently available virus scanners and how they search for it, and simply design something nothing's currently set up to detect.

A "good" antivirus scanner though will be dynamic and constantly updating it's core program and virus definitions to allow for this reality.

Simplest method I've used after a lifetime online and on computers is simply not leaving default settings on computers at their defaults. As pcs come, they're like Swiss cheese are completely open and exposed. Can change these open door type settings manually and ensure a good deal of protection over what you started with. Another recommendation is to set anything and everything to "ask me" or "prompt me" or to that effect. Shouldn't let your rigs do anything without your conscious awareness and permission. Sorta defeats some of the point of a computer, but makes you a lot safer.

The mouse pointer has been moved 5 inches away from its latest location.
If it wasn´t you, be lucky that you are protected by "Paranoid SysCare Tools".
If it was you, press Enter to allow.

 

[quorthon]

I use only free soft like avast antivirus or no antivirus at all. There's no need to buy antivirus protecting against viruses that were written by the same antivirus lab.

 

[Dajjal]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

My computer came with AVG loaded on it but I deleted it and replaced it with Norton. The main reason is that Norton offers protection against computer attacks as well as anti virus protection. I have always used Norton and it has protected me 100%. I do not understand why so many people knock it.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

My computer came with AVG loaded on it but I deleted it and replaced it with Norton. The main reason is that Norton offers protection against computer attacks as well as anti virus protection. I have always used Norton and it has protected me 100%. I do not understand why so many people knock it.

Norton has the worst record of all anti-virus programs when it comes to affecting PC performance (speed), however it also has one of the best protection ratings.
On older computers most people won't put up with Norton's habit of dragging the system down...particularly for power users.
It is also the most expensive of the top 10 antivirus progams.
McAffee and Kapersky both rank higher, but cost about half as much.

 

[Dajjal]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

My computer came with AVG loaded on it but I deleted it and replaced it with Norton. The main reason is that Norton offers protection against computer attacks as well as anti virus protection. I have always used Norton and it has protected me 100%. I do not understand why so many people knock it.

Norton has the worst record of all anti-virus programs when it comes to affecting PC performance (speed), however it also has one of the best protection ratings.
On older computers most people won't put up with Norton's habit of dragging the system down...particularly for power users.
It is also the most expensive of the top 10 antivirus progams.
McAffee and Kapersky both rank higher, but cost about half as much.

I usually get Norton at a reduced price from smiths. I have a new computer so it can handle Norton's system use.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

My computer came with AVG loaded on it but I deleted it and replaced it with Norton. The main reason is that Norton offers protection against computer attacks as well as anti virus protection. I have always used Norton and it has protected me 100%. I do not understand why so many people knock it.

Norton has the worst record of all anti-virus programs when it comes to affecting PC performance (speed), however it also has one of the best protection ratings.
On older computers most people won't put up with Norton's habit of dragging the system down...particularly for power users.
It is also the most expensive of the top 10 antivirus progams.
McAffee and Kapersky both rank higher, but cost about half as much.

I usually get Norton at a reduced price from smiths. I have a new computer so it can handle Norton's system use.

Back in the late 90's Norton had a software suite called "System Works"...awesome program. Had disk utilities, registry tools and system restore options before there was system restore. Before that was "Norton Utilities" running in DOS.
Norton was a very trusted name 20 years ago.

 

[Gracie]

I kept WebRoot. It is numero uno in pc magazine as best defense system. It isn't acting up now and hasn't since I started this thread, so I am glad I stuck with them.

 

[Bleipriester]

I have McAfee Antivirus Enterprise and Avira Antivirus 2015 but I don´t use it.

 

[Ringel05]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

I used AVG for years until they suddenly decided to become more "Norton like" in their heavy resource usage. Switched over to Avast (and Malwarebytes), never looked back.
Never tried WebRoot, might have to check it out.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Let's try this again.....

What do YOU use, folks, and are you happy with it?

I've been using WebRoot now for a year and haven't had one issue with it. Are you telling me this is what I have to look forward to?

AVG works for me....

I used AVG for years until they suddenly decided to become more "Norton like" in their heavy resource usage. Switched over to Avast (and Malwarebytes), never looked back.
Never tried WebRoot, might have to check it out.

I used AVG for years too and noticed the same thing. And switched to Avast also.
At the office I installed Panda Antivirus, nice and easy on resources, particularly rated strong on malware protection which is important in a biz environment.

 

[Ringel05]

Took a look at WebRoot, not bad but there are much better suites out there if one want's a full system protection suite. Avast is still better with even the free version as it offers more than WebRoot in it's free program, I'll stick with Avast.

 

[Bleipriester]

Aren´t free solutions bothering with ads?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Aren´t free solutions bothering with ads?

?
I don't believe I have ever seen an ad from an AV program?

 

[Bleipriester]

Aren´t free solutions bothering with ads?

?
I don't believe I have ever seen an ad from an AV program?

I did in free solutions. Avira just eliminated the ad on startup in the new version.

Far worse is this: AV Tools place ad and spyware on client computers claiming to erase such software:

"We just want to point out that this happened in the past, and Avast has cleaned up their act. They have a decent product, and while you can read this for historical purposes, you should know that many of the other antivirus vendors are doing worse things."
Avast Antivirus Was Spying On You with Adware Until This Week

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Aren´t free solutions bothering with ads?

?
I don't believe I have ever seen an ad from an AV program?

I did in free solutions. Avira just eliminated the ad on startup in the new version.

Far worse is this: AV Tools place ad and spyware on client computers claiming to erase such software:

"We just want to point out that this happened in the past, and Avast has cleaned up their act. They have a decent product, and while you can read this for historical purposes, you should know that many of the other antivirus vendors are doing worse things."
Avast Antivirus Was Spying On You with Adware Until This Week

I guess I wouldn't know that because I always, always choose "custom installation" when installing everything. These days I would wager 75% of all programs install browser extensions etc. of some sort.
Having said that, I read the article and Avast's response to it. Of course it is important for all anti-virus programs to store user visited URL's and placing those URL's into clouds servers. This is obviously a benefit to the user. This way very early detection of malware patterns can be discovered. I believe the Avast response that this was their primary reason for harvesting and storing user internet usage.
However, again like 75% of all programs/apps - they give in to the temptation of using this data to make money. Advertisers will pay good money for it.
And Avast did it. They don't do it now.
Now what about Pay antivirus like Symantec?...well...yes they spy on you.
You can find numerous articles and blogs showing how they do the same thing.
Norton will install the "ask toolbar" if you let it.
Is ask toolbar spyware? Was Avast SafePrice toolbar spyware? Both basically do the same thing. They track your usage and present you with ads and responses according to your browsing patterns.
So free antivirus doesn't hold a patent on abusing their users.

 

[Bleipriester]

Aren´t free solutions bothering with ads?

?
I don't believe I have ever seen an ad from an AV program?

I did in free solutions. Avira just eliminated the ad on startup in the new version.

Far worse is this: AV Tools place ad and spyware on client computers claiming to erase such software:

"We just want to point out that this happened in the past, and Avast has cleaned up their act. They have a decent product, and while you can read this for historical purposes, you should know that many of the other antivirus vendors are doing worse things."
Avast Antivirus Was Spying On You with Adware Until This Week

I guess I wouldn't know that because I always, always choose "custom installation" when installing everything. These days I would wager 75% of all programs install browser extensions etc. of some sort.
Having said that, I read the article and Avast's response to it. Of course it is important for all anti-virus programs to store user visited URL's and placing those URL's into clouds servers. This is obviously a benefit to the user. This way very early detection of malware patterns can be discovered. I believe the Avast response that this was their primary reason for harvesting and storing user internet usage.
However, again like 75% of all programs/apps - they give in to the temptation of using this data to make money. Advertisers will pay good money for it.
And Avast did it. They don't do it now.
Now what about Pay antivirus like Symantec?...well...yes they spy on you.
You can find numerous articles and blogs showing how they do the same thing.
Norton will install the "ask toolbar" if you let it.
Is ask toolbar spyware? Was Avast SafePrice toolbar spyware? Both basically do the same thing. They track your usage and present you with ads and responses according to your browsing patterns.
So free antivirus doesn't hold a patent on abusing their users.

Sure, like the article already tells. I am not going to purchase a program that just monopolizes its own malware.