Best pay for $ antivirus?

[allkindsoftime]

Just built a new system and am looking to make sure my cc information and whatever stays safe while online and also that I dont get any trojans or whatever. So what do you guys recommend is the best for the $ anti virus?

 

[hunter315]

Best antivirus to keep your information safe and keep your system clean is you being aware of what you are doing. If you arent using your credit card on sketchy sites and browsing random websites you reduce your risk a ton.

I havent spent any money on antivirus software in years, i was using AVG for quite a while, switch to Avast recently, i like it a bit better but AVG was quite good too, both have treated my systems well and kept them nice and clean. Running Adblock with a good browser like firefox or chrome(IE is far from good) reduces your risk too especially in the sketchier areas of the internets.

 

[enzo matrix]

Agree with avast, I've been using it for years and their more recent one is a bit less resource intensive.

If you really want to pay for an AV, you could buy Avast pro to get addition features you will never use.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Avast , Avira, Microsoft Security Essentials and AVG are all free and pretty much as good as paid solutions. Paying I say Kaspersky.

 

[loosley]

I have used AVG and Avast in the past, but I prefer Microsoft Security Essentials now. It is lightweight and unlike other freeware solutions, doesn't nag you to upgrade to the paid edition all the time. I don't really like any of the paid anti-virus solutions--they seem too bloated.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Another vote for MSE. I will probably never use paid AV software again.

 

[saaiello]

I use Norton Security Suite it comes free with Comcast High-speed. I know a lot don't like Norton, but I have never had a problem with it. I have yet to get a virus with Norton installed, but like others have said if you stay away from bad sites then you will reduce the risk of infection a lot.

 

[cjl]

The recent versions of Norton are pretty good, if you really want to pay for something (they used to suck, but they've become much, much better recently). MSE is pretty good though, and it's free.

 

[davcon]

I've used payed versions of Norton and Kaspersky in the past as well as Avast.
Since the release of MSE i'll never use another AV.
Been virus free for 14 months using MSE and i'm not a safe surfer.

 

[Wampbit]

Paying ZoneAlarm or Kaspersky, what you're really interested in is the firewall not anti-malware, the best protection is to prevent anything infecting you in the first place.
for a free firewall look into Komodo.

 

[hrdf]

hello

i am new here

 

[enzo matrix]

Another vote for MSE. I will probably never use paid AV software again.

A bit off topic, but am I the only one who has experienced periodic and random 100% on one core CPU usage with MSE? I've tried it on 3 different computers with windows 7 and had to uninstall and go back to Avast every time.

hello

i am new here

Welcome. If you have a question, feel free to start a new thread.

 

[king smp]

I use Norton Security Suite it comes free with Comcast High-speed. I know a lot don't like Norton, but I have never had a problem with it. I have yet to get a virus with Norton installed, but like others have said if you stay away from bad sites then you will reduce the risk of infection a lot.

I also have Nortons free with Comcast and I back it up by doing manual scans with MalwareBytes.
I have had this setup for close to two years with no virus problems and I visit alot of dangerous sites.
I used to use AVG and Comodo but they were too annoying and I got my OS wiped out twice with that setup.

 

[Herr_Koos]

A bit off topic, but am I the only one who has experienced periodic and random 100% on one core CPU usage with MSE? I've tried it on 3 different computers with windows 7 and had to uninstall and go back to Avast every time.

No such problem for me; at least, not that I've noticed.

 

[Wampbit]

I also have Nortons free with Comcast and I back it up by doing manual scans with MalwareBytes.
I have had this setup for close to two years with no virus problems and I visit alot of dangerous sites.
I used to use AVG and Comodo but they were too annoying and I got my OS wiped out twice with that setup.

1. Norton is just terrible, it does practically nothing, and negatively impacts your system. Never use it.

2. How the hell did you wipe your system I've spent a lot of time playing around with different security systems, malware testing, leak testing etc. and I can't say I've ever destroyed a system on account of the software, the malware I've played around with, sure, but the actual anti-virus system...?

3. They are 'annoying' if you don't have any security knowledge, but with some knowledge and effort to configure them they are entire inobtrusive and damn effective. Although AVG is no longer good at all.

4. http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php Take a look at that - bear in mind the version of each application, for example the listed version of ZoneAlarm is not current, hence the bad performance, although they did have a duration over 2 years or so lacking in results they are improving again, reviews are conflicting regarding their product, which is understandable based on the fact that security constantly updates. From my experience it's very good, but that has a lot to do with the fact that I set up security in a paranoid fashion rather than leaving it be and seeing what it can do.

 

[cjl]

1. Norton is just terrible, it does practically nothing, and negatively impacts your system. Never use it.

Have you used it in the past two years or so? It's gotten a LOT better recently.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

^ +1

Even though I stick with free anti virus I have read Norton is MUCH better than it was a few years ago. The comments on the page you linked to are 3 years old. That is like 50 tech years.lol

 

[mrmotion]

Norton Corp. was great! Currently use MSE cause my Norton corp. licence ran out.

 

[MadCatz900]

Its true that Norton has got a lot better in recent times but id say you go with Kaspersky, its what i use and love it because it does everything (the ad blocker it has is decent).

F-secure and Avira are supposed to be really good aswell.

 

[Wampbit]

@cjl - it's getting better, but it started very low, it still isn't at the top, and is bloated like hell. Although its latest performance as reported by anti-malware test lab ( http://www.anti-malware-test.com/ ) did positively surprise me.

I'm really curious as to how good MSE is, I haven't played with it yet, and I know that MS have really been improving lately (after our friends in the infosec community shouted at them for 15 years). Still, I'm not expecting too much when I eventually decide to play with it.

 

[gamerk316]

If I had to pay, then Kaspersky without a doubt. That being said, no reason to not use MSE.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If looking for AV, Malaware and Firewall, Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite @ $15 per PC is a bargain. With 6 PC's at home, not having to go around and manually to all the updates as I had to do w/ the freebies is easily worth it.

For AV only, F-Prot at $6 per PC for a home license of 5 puters is another popular option.

 

[wiinippongamer]

Two words: AVG FREE.

Paid antivirus only include a bunch of gimmick features you'll never use and won't make your computer less vunnerable.

 

[Wampbit]

Nonsense wiini, to start with AVG is terribly outdated now, it had its day, which is long gone. Secondly there is a difference between paid services and free services, most significantly in usability - you can get plenty of good free security solutions that have the prerequisite of good compsec knowledge, but good free and easy to use are very hard to find.

The paid versions are often the best and offer significant improvements over free products, especially regarding keeping at the top. If you take the free route the solution at the top of the game is always changing, and really requires you to keep an eye on when you need to change your installed software. You can reproduce the effects of a paid suite, but it's harder and takes much more effort. TBH I value my time more than to look around at the free stuff - it can easily take 2-3 hours to find the best free software for anti-malware, then firewall, then anti-rootkit, then OS-firewall, and even longer to configure. Following which time has to be spent periodically making sure your solution is still viable. Frankly for £45 I'll buy a good suite, which I know has been at the top for over 5 years, and actively updates to combat new threats.

The time spent looking for free good security reminds me a bit of spending an extra 15 minutes in a shop because an item was scanned at £1 more than the listed price due to some error in the system. The 15 minutes simply is worth more than the money saved.

 

[dextermat]

+1 avast: (got viruses with avira, avg)

don't buy ativirus: they slow down computers and they can't block most nasty viruses.

I install avast on all of my costumer's machine and they rarely catch any viruses. Only the one that download illegal stuff and such