Best Antivirus?

[BlueMirror]

I'm purchasing an expensive laptop from pcspecialist and as such would like to protect it as much as possible. I am willing to pay a reasonable amount, does not need to be free.

Does anyone have recommendations for what anti virus to get, and should I only get one?

 

[tom_gr7]

I use kaspersky, it seems pretty good,

have used norton in the last year as well, again seems good.

many people use the free versions perfectly fine though, so i'd look at them before buying anything.

 

[cheshirecat765]

Kaspersky Internet Security, been using it for 2 years now and never had a virus in that time! Does not drain performance either, runs quietly in the background
http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ Check this out

 

[vanthus]

I use microsoft security essentials,it's free and does the job.the best paid for antivirus I've used is Eset.And yes only use one antivirus program at a time.

 

[Buzz]

Personally, although I am pretty careful what sites I go on etc, I have used Avast free anti-virus for few years now and find it great. Touch wood, have not come across any probs at all. It does scan for root kits also. I also use Zonealarm firewall free as its better then windows in my opinion. Again IMO no home user really needs a bought anti-virus, unless you really prefer to have an all in one suite. On a monthly basis I then use Advanced system care free to do a deep clean of all my crud out.

 

[BlueMirror]

. Again IMO no home user really needs a bought anti-virus, unless you really prefer to have an all in one suite.

Not entirely just a home user, I'm currently doing a master's degree in a very simulation heavy course and will likely be taking it onto a PhD as well, it will be a lot more convenient for me to be able to run some less demanding simulations on my own computer and if a virus breaks my computer the time taken for it to be repaired will make it very awkward for me.

 

[Simon]

Having fallen out with Symantec/Norton, Bullguard, McAfee over the years I find that the free Microsoft Security Essentials suite does the job for me. It is comparatively modest in its use of resources and in my experience more stable than the aforementioned players. It does not have a flashy user interface, nor are there a zillion options from which to choose. It just seems to do the job it is there for, quietly, efficiently and without the need for constant attention. If nothing else, why not try it before you splash out on a subscription? And for certain, under no circumstances have more than one AV product running. That will degrade performance significantly at best, and most likely cause instability.

 

[dlatimer]

I've been using Nod32 for years and love it - haven't got a bad word to say about it

 

[rickne]

I never use Mcafee , norton or kapersky. All dreadful system hogs and can be as bad as a virus at times infecting every part of your system with its tendrals. I use Avast antivirus after switching from AVG. AVG has some bad firewall problems with some new games. Avast ran seemlessly with minimal memory usage and no problems whatsoever.

Just instrall spybot and addaware SE as well to catch all that spyware.

 

[BlueMirror]

So I shouldn't have two anti virus programs? When I looked it up on the internet most pages recommended having Avast and malware bytes together.

 

[rickne]

I've never needed to. Spybot and adaware did a fine job. But it is a hugely supported piece of software too. Yes you can run it with avast as they both have different jobs to do. One is anti virus the other handles malware,spyware etc.

Do read this if you do ...


http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=99625.0

 

[Yamikotai]

So I shouldn't have two anti virus programs? When I looked it up on the internet most pages recommended having Avast and malware bytes together.

There is a difference between an active anti-virus suite (like Avast), and an on-demand scanner like Malwarebytes. You should only be able to use one active AV (and I wouldn't try using more than one), but you can use as many on-demand scanners as you like (I would use them consecutively rather than concurrently, though this shouldn't cause an issue other than slowness).
Some recommended free on-demand scanners:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (free)
Spybot Search & Destroy
(trying to remember the name of another... it's by Comodo)
I also recommend using CCleaner to get rid of other crap.

As for active AV, I personally use Microsoft Security Essentials. Particularly since Windows 8 comes with it built-in.

And if you have an Android phone, you could do a lot worse than Avast's AV solution.

 

[rickne]

There is a difference between an active anti-virus suite (like Avast), and an on-demand scanner like Malwarebytes. You should only be able to use one active AV (and I wouldn't try using more than one), but you can use as many on-demand scanners as you like (I would use them consecutively rather than concurrently, though this shouldn't cause an issue other than slowness).
Some recommended free on-demand scanners:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (free)
Spybot Search & Destroy
(trying to remember the name of another... it's by Comodo)
I also recommend using CCleaner to get rid of other crap.

As for active AV, I personally use Microsoft Security Essentials. Particularly since Windows 8 comes with it built-in.

OR I used to use driver sweeper when I had ATI cards. I guess itd work for Nvidia to. Nice clean install for each new set of drivers and removes clutter.

 

[vanthus]

So I shouldn't have two anti virus programs? When I looked it up on the internet most pages recommended having Avast and malware bytes together.

Malwarebytes is not an antivirus program,you can safely use it along with a full antivirus program,Malwarebytes is intended to find malware that anti-virus programs generally miss, including rogue security software, adware, and spyware.I use it myself along with microsoft security essentials,but don't attempt to use two full antivirus programs at the same time as this will cause problems.

 

[iPHAILZ]

So I shouldn't have two anti virus programs? When I looked it up on the internet most pages recommended having Avast and malware bytes together.

Malwarebytes takes care of malware/spyware which is different to viruses. And yest it is recommended to have both a dedicated anti virus program and a malware removal program as each program looks for different things.

As for the resource hogs, Kasperskys is quite light and norton has sorted itself out over the last few years, i do agree about mcafee though, it's carp.

My choice for paid would be nod32 or kaspersky and free would be security essentials or avast for any virus and malware i would choose malwarebytes anti-malware (free version) for malware removal.

 

[brukin]

Avast and Spybot are the tools I'd use. Free Avast. Never felt the need for the Pro version's Sandbox or other utilities.

 

[prodipopo]

I only use MSE and malwarebytes now. Its simple, uncluttered and free. The only other program i use sometimes is hijack this, if im really paranoid