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Best anti Virus?

Last response: in Windows 7
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Windows 7 Expert

I don't know about best, or how to measure best.

But, look at microsoft security essentials. It is entirely unobtrusive, seems to be effective, and gets updated as necessary.

It is free. MS does a lot of research on viruses, and it is in their best interests to keep windows running well.
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Windows 7 Expert

I use Avira free edition and when I see the comparison studies it ranks among the best and has for years both in free and in paid programs. I put it on all my friends and families computers as well and not a one has ever got a virus.

Other highly ranked free programs are Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials and AVG ( AVG did just have some major issues recently ).
I also use Malwarebytes antimalware.

You can also add a free firewall like Comodo for extra safety.

http://www.avira.com/

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/firewall.p...


Here is some 3rd party testing you might find interesting.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/en/comparativesreviews/d...
Security Expert
Windows 7 Authority

Hi :) 

I own computer shops and we fix viruses ALL the time....several every day....

Once we have removed the Viruses we INSIST on installing Norton Internet Security 2012, to the extent that if the customer wont have the Norton to protect them afterwards we refuse to remove the viruses...

Also, ALL my machines both in my shops and my personal machines have NIS 2012...that should tell you something....

AV is always a contentious subject and you will get LOTS of opinions about it in this thread, you will get lots of people saying the "free" ones are best, etc...

All I can say to them is that we see more machines with the "free" av WITH VIRUSES than anything else...

So you pays your money and takes your choice.....

The Americans have a great saying that I use a lot, "There aint no such thing as a free lunch"....

That applies to Anti-Virus programs as well...

All the best Brett :) 

I used to use Avast and AVG free AV's on my Win XP computers and they were OK, I guess, although I would get many false alerts and warnings and immediately stop everything I was doing to run a virus scan, only to find nothing. I eventually had 2 occasions of virus infections in which I had to reformat and reinstall WIN XP. I purchased Norton AV and found that it did more harm than good to my XP installations. It would somehow scramble .dll files or other system type files until I uninstalled it and promised'Never again' will I buy Norton AV.
I've since moved onto WIN 7HP and use Windows and use Microsoft security essentials. On a 30 day trial I got Norton Interne Security and it seemed to be transparent so I eventually bought a 3-pack for my rigs. It works in the background and is invisible. It scans the system when idle and never gives false alerts.
I think a lot of gains in AV have been made since the WIN XP days and WIN 7 has a lot to do with that.
I still feel a lot safer using the WIN firewall and Norton than relying on a 'free' av program.
Windows 7 Expert

In recent years, one of my most common fixes when peeps bring in their computers for repair is to remove Norton, Trend Micro or McAfee. Most common symptom is unexplained 90+ % CPU usage which usually results from a 3 month trial that came with a new PC and has now expired, that somehow mysteriously disappears as soon as the Norton / Trend Micro / McAfee processes are shut down in Task Manager. But have to say that I haven't seen this in almost two years ....cant say it don't happen any more just that I don't see many people using either of them anymore.

The free ones are OK if you are willing to put up with:

1) The manual update requirement.
2) The need to use separate malware and firewall programs.

We're not very insistent on what people use, there are numerous good products out there. But the three I recommend most are:

Checkpoint Software's ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite ($40 for 3 PC's)
http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-compu...

Bit Defender Internet Security Suite ($70 for 3 PC's)
http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/internet-security....
http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/tests/test-reports/t...[report_no]=114803

Kapersky Internet Security ($80 for 3 PC's)
http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-compute...
http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/tests/test-reports/t...[report_no]=114864
Security Expert
Windows 7 Expert

JackNaylorPE said:
In recent years, one of my most common fixes when peeps bring in their computers for repair is to remove Norton, Trend Micro or McAfee. Most common symptom is unexplained 90+ % CPU usage which usually results from a 3 month trial that came with a new PC and has now expired, that somehow mysteriously disappears as soon as the Norton / Trend Micro / McAfee processes are shut down in Task Manager. But have to say that I haven't seen this in almost two years ....cant say it don't happen any more just that I don't see many people using either of them anymore.

The free ones are OK if you are willing to put up with:

1) The manual update requirement.
2) The need to use separate malware and firewall programs.

We're not very insistent on what people use, there are numerous good products out there. But the three I recommend most are:

Checkpoint Software's ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite ($40 for 3 PC's)
http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-compu...

Bit Defender Internet Security Suite ($70 for 3 PC's)
http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/internet-security....
http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/tests/test-reports/t...[report_no]=114803

Kapersky Internet Security ($80 for 3 PC's)
http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-compute...
http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/tests/test-reports/t...[report_no]=114864

sorry 'jack' too many free ones are just as good and the update function in Comodo is very hassle free..

Rogue77777 said:
I say get Norton Internet Security 2012.
Set it & forget it. It's good for a year. After that you need to update your license key, but they always have sales.

even though the new suite is easier on the system resources, it's still a heavy draw compared to others..

I'm new to the Tom's Hardware forums and this is actually my first comment! Though I'm new here, I'm not new to computers (been in the IT industry for over 14 years - degree in computer technology etc.)

I had read every reply above and felt like I had to step in...

While paid-for software is great for some people, I think it's totally unnecessary for most - especially if they have basic knowledge about what to do and to NOT do while accessing the Internet and using email. In fact, I completely lost faith in the Norton and Symantec product lines years ago when I found that they were not really any more effective than free products - AND they always seemed to drag my computer's performance down. Plus, the fact that you not only have to pay upfront for the license, you also have to pay any annual subscription for these products! This can be a lot of $$$ in the long run.

For years, I've used only free antivirus products with the built-in Windows Firewall... I use Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on my personal computers and our company uses Microsoft Forefront Security (client and server), which is basically the corporate version of MSE. I've used Avast! in the past and it's a good product as well - just seems that MSE is a bit more lightweight and less obtrusive to my computing experience.

Of course, no software can replace common sense. While there are many anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-adware, anti-spyware, etc software products out there, the best tool is knowing what to avoid and how to handle things like email attachments, pop-up windows, ads, and information from unknown sources. By coupling this knowledge with free anti-virus software, I've not had a single virus on any computer I've personally used in over 10 years.

In fact, I created an ebook which teaches people how to do the same thing I've done using only free software while also educating them by proving easy-to-understand tips.

I also wrote a free report that you can download right now. It's title is "How Do You Get Malware?"... I'd love to get feedback on it from anyone reading this forum. You can download it for free from www.howdoyougetmalware.com

Best of luck to everyone and thanks for all the expert info that's been posted here!

scubasteve526 said:
So I just finished my new computer and I'm looking to get some anti virus. I used to use avast all the time on my old PC. Anyone know of something that's really good or just better then Avast? Or is Avast pretty good?

I have just deleted avast and that was a problem. My comp geek swears by it but I am going back to AVG free or kaspersky if my new laptop shares

scubasteve526 said:
So I just finished my new computer and I'm looking to get some anti virus. I used to use avast all the time on my old PC. Anyone know of something that's really good or just better then Avast? Or is Avast pretty good?

Its too difficult to say which antivirus is best because every antivirus have some good feature in it. According to me i go with those antivirus who give best virus removal service to me i use this antivirus.

When it comes to save your data and personal as well as professional information from any virus or malware infection which generally gets into your PC via net, any external device, any mail, or any unauthorized access. There are many antivirus present now a days. You cannot choose the best one among them. While selecting your antivirus it is important to check your and OS requirements.
Some of the antiviruses good for your PC health are: -


    Immunet Plus
    Norton Security
    Kaspersky Antivirus
    Bitfinder Internet security suit

You can easily get the demo and paid version of the software.
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