AntiVirus Recommendations? (malware, spyware, etc)

[Zen Monkey]

After some computer difficulties, I ended up blanking and starting over. Now I just have Vista, Firefox, and a couple of games. What's missing is something to keep my computer safe from the evils of the internet. Of course there are the recognized brands, Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc but nothing on the box is going to really differentiate them.

Can anyone recommend a good computer defense program, or say which ones to avoid?

[Syka]

I have TrendMicro and WebRoot on mine right now. I'm planning on axing TrendMicro, though, since I got 6 months of free WebRoot from BestBuy.

After that, I'm sticking with AVG Free and Malwarebytes. Those are both recommended by my university. I've also heard good things about Avast and Adware.

If you are looking at paid services, I prefer McAfee over Norton but either one does the job.

[Runestar]

I would personally recommend AVG. At least for me, it was the only one of 3 free software I used (the other 2 being adaware and search-and-destroy) which has actually managed to detect and remove malicious programs from my computer. When my PC was infected with a particularly pesky virus which defied attempts to remove it (even via reformatting), it was AVG to the rescue, locating, identifying and successfully removing them as they became active when I tried connecting to the internet.

From time to time, it will also pick up the stray malware in my PC and isolate it. The other programs, not so much as a whisper. :smallconfused:

I am also using Comodo firewall, but cannot attest to its effectiveness (due to a lack of info as to just how effective it has been), just that it can be a tad annoying at times as it will keep popping up messages asking if you wish to proceed with a certain task (for the first time).

[Serpentine]

On reviews I've seen, Avast and one of the other big 3 free ones were rated slightly higher than the third, but all rated overall very well. AVG was one of those. I also use AdAware, Spybot and Rogue Remover. Dunno whether the latter does anything, but oh well.

[Reinboom]

I use AVG and Spybot.

MoonSecure used to be decent... but now seems to error a lot depending the computer. :smallfrown:


On reviews I've seen, Avast and one of the other big 3 free ones were rated slightly higher than the third, but all rated overall very well. AVG was one of those. I also use AdAware, Spybot and Rogue Remover. Dunno whether the latter does anything, but oh well.

It helps stop sneak attack problems for those bad pieces of software with really really high hide checks.

[Icewalker]

I've got Avast, and never had any trouble, although I also don't do too much wandering on the internet. Still, sometimes it speaks up loudly that the website I'm on is trying to do something terrible, stops it, and tells me I should leave. So I think it's been working quite well.

[Legoshrimp]

I would personally recommend AVG. At least for me, it was the only one of 3 free software I used (the other 2 being adaware and search-and-destroy) which has actually managed to detect and remove malicious programs from my computer. When my PC was infected with a particularly pesky virus which defied attempts to remove it (even via reformatting), it was AVG to the rescue, locating, identifying and successfully removing them as they became active when I tried connecting to the internet.
Are you sure you fresh installed windows? because if you did, and the virus persisted then it wasn't on your hard drive, or you somehow re got it right after the reformat.

Also I use the Microsoft anti virus, but have yet to install it on my new system yet.

[Adumbration]

I have Avira Antivir, and at least so far haven't noticed any problems with it.

[lesser_minion]

I use Avast, which is absolutely amazing once you switch off the voice announcements. Also, don't let Avast! anywhere near mIRC. It doesn't exactly end well...

Personally, I'd recommend either Avast! or Avira antivir for free options (Avira is decent, but has a nag screen, and AVG Free seems too much like crippleware for my liking). As far as paid options are concerned:

Norton antivirus is useless. At best. McAfee is little better than Norton. Sophos is OK, as far as I'm aware. Kaspersky is decent, but slow. I've heard generally good things about ESET NOD32.


Microsoft Security Essentials is another choice, and is apparently pretty good.

In addition to an antivirus program, you should also get hold of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, which helps out with adware, spyware, and other crap that's not really in the range of things antivirus suites are equipped to deal with.

[IonDragon]

I would recommend you away from Norton. I personally use AVG just because I'm cheap. It's not perfect, but what gets through I can easily fix (most of the time, I had one key logger I never could find that got my WoW account hacked like 4 times). I like NOD32. I always use Spybot S&D and PeerBlock.

[Runestar]

Are you sure you fresh installed windows? because if you did, and the virus persisted then it wasn't on your hard drive, or you somehow re got it right after the reformat.

Also I use the Microsoft anti virus, but have yet to install it on my new system yet.

I suspect it was somehow able to transfer itself between the PC's RAM and hard-disk to escape being erased. My comp worked fine after reformatting, but then crashes whenever I try to connect to the internet (necessitating a reformat, because nothing else works).

So I went to my neighbours, got him to download AVG onto my thumbdrive, installed it onto my again-reformatted PC, went to the net, and voila, 2 malware detected and summarily disposed of. :smallamused:

I became a convert thereafter. :smalltongue:

[Winter_Wolf]

My personal preferences are Avast! free edition (i.e. personal use, not business use), and Spybot S&D. I also use CCleaner to clean up some registry stuff, and Ad-Aware once or twice a month to get the stuff that might be left over from a Spybot scan. All of these programs are free for personal use, and they've never really failed me.

I also use Comodo Firewall and Defense+, but it's optional, and also a bit of a pain in the butt to use.

[Cealocanth]

I use Adaware for cookies, RegCure for everyday errors, Malwarebytes: Anti Malware for major viruses like trogans or spyware, and Driver Detective for updating my computer.

This is what I would reccomend to any computer user out there. All of the programs only take up about 5 kb of space and can be run at the same time. If I were to pick just one? I would go with Malwarebytes.

[Superglucose]

I have TrendMicro and WebRoot on mine right now. I'm planning on axing TrendMicro, though, since I got 6 months of free WebRoot from BestBuy.
AVG is good but DO NOT RUN MORE THAN ONE AV AT A TIME.

Bad mojo :smalltongue:

[TheMightyBanjo]

AVG is pretty good as far as free virus software goes, but Banjo suggests Malwarebytes' anti-malware protection. Banjo has been well protected thus-far. (thus-far being the key phrase)

[Syka]

I know. :P Trend Micro hasn't been activated yet so I need to uninstall it. Webroot is what I'm running now. Once my 6 months is up, I'll be uninstalling it and going back to AVG. :)

[Runestar]

Yew...driver detective. I think that borders on spyware...:smallyuk:

Never got it to update anything, as it needs me to register or something. So I end up having to manually hunt for the drivers, some of which turn out to be flat out useless/unneeded. Uninstalled it out of sheer frustration a few hours later. :smallfrown:

[Cealocanth]

Yew...driver detective. I think that borders on spyware...:smallyuk:

Never got it to update anything, as it needs me to register or something. So I end up having to manually hunt for the drivers, some of which turn out to be flat out useless/unneeded. Uninstalled it out of sheer frustration a few hours later. :smallfrown:

I find it quite usefull. I used it on a really old computer that the user claims was "dying". Works like new now. Cost a bit to register it but I've never had my code expire. So far, it's been a good choice.