AntiVirus, free or paid

S

Sarcasm

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Hi, so my Bitdefender internet security has expired, and I'm in search of a new antivirus, I could stick to Bitdefender but I think its time to have an open view on this, previously I have had bad experiences with Norton and AVG. I'm now looking at free and paid for alternatives as I don't mind paying for security. I'm looking for an AV that isn't bloated and something that I know will catch those bugs, any help will be appreciated, I have googled but found mixed views, I trust your opinions much more.

Thanks
S
 
MSE has yet to prove itself and there is a reason that paid for anti virus software is better than free software.
 
Earther said:
MSE has yet to prove itself and there is a reason that paid for anti virus software is better than free software.
Click to expand...

Er... it has.

Product Points Stars
AVIRA AntiVir Premium 9.0 199 ★★★
Kingsoft Antivirus 9 Plus 196 ★★★
F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010 195 ★★★
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 193 ★★★
Sophos Anti-Virus 9.0.1 193 ★★★
Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 190 ★★★
avast! Free 5.0 188 ★★★
Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2010 188 ★★★
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0 183 ★★★
McAfee VirusScan Plus 2010 174 ★★★
Norman Antivirus & AntiSpyware 7.30 169 ★★
AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 164 ★★
BitDefender Antivirus 2010 154 ★★
G DATA AntiVirus 2010 152 ★★
eScan AntiVirus 10.0 137 ★
Trustport Antivirus 2010 125 ★
Click to expand...

Can't help noticing that it ranked higher than Norton 2010 last year.
 
Is MSE really that great, I would prefer to stay away from MS products as far as possible haha, just want an AV that would grind my PC to a halt and catches as much as possible.
 
At work I use a combination;

MSE and Mcafee (can't remember which version)

At home I only use MSE.
I don't need anything stronger because I like to think I have enough common sense to know what to do with regards to viruses - however, NOD32 is a good one too.
 
Get Eset Smart Security Business Edition.You can never go wrong.Plus its not a hogger on resources.
 
Cant understand why so many people hate NAV. I've been using it for the past 4 years on at least 10 computers in my own office, sold it to about 200 customers this year alone and all of them returning customers from the previous years of using norton. They have really upped their game the last three years and I get infected computers on a daily basis that I clean up with NAV. My office PC I use to clean infected pc's has removed more than 5000 infections so far and is still running in perfect condition.
 
Avast works great for me but Antivirus software is like a condom. Whether you buy one at the pharmacy or get a free one at your local clinic, it really comes down to how you use it.
 
Earther said:
MSE has yet to prove itself and there is a reason that paid for anti virus software is better than free software.
Click to expand...

Since I switched to MSE, no problems. Also be careful of falling for the marketing crap that paid for is better than free.

But always do your security updates as AVs can only protect you so much.
 
ESET NOD32, low on system resources and does a great job.
 
Norton has really improved and is now effective & light on resources.

For a free AV, it's hard to beat Avira free version.

Myself, I don't use or need anti-virus as I'm a Linux user.
 
Earther said:
Cant understand why so many people hate NAV. I've been using it for the past 4 years on at least 10 computers in my own office, sold it to about 200 customers this year alone and all of them returning customers from the previous years of using norton. They have really upped their game the last three years and I get infected computers on a daily basis that I clean up with NAV. My office PC I use to clean infected pc's has removed more than 5000 infections so far and is still running in perfect condition.
Click to expand...

It is usually bundled free with new notebooks and it is the 1st thing that is uninstalled after boot. I have not seen their latest offerings but could not tolerate their constant in-your-face interface and notifications etc...notify, request user action, prompt, confirm prompt, launch NAV, prompt, request confirmation, confirm - aaaaargggh. It also tended to just soak up resources... slow the machine down and just kind of invade the operating system.

And then... just when I thought it could not get any worse, NAV would just throw a wobbly and some arb error code that required some sort of remedy from Symantec after a Live Update that, if lucky, only ended in a BSOD.

NAV = NO WAY, NEVER AGAIN. EVER.

Switched to NOD... small footprint, effective, never failed at all.

Now using MSE and it too is light on resources, effective, unobtrusive, and free!
 
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