Best antivirus

Paul_Herring

Quite surprised no one's mentioned Linux or Mac's yet...

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baby_fuzz

I'd always used AVG, and I've been very happy that my computer has been secure. Although, I'd also like to mention that some common sense, like not opening silly attachements and downloading rubbish helps too!

Blackpool_Saver

So what exactly is the problem with Norton then? apart from it being power hugry and you have to pay for it?

Seriously I have used it for years and I have never had a problem..... it has caught a few viruses and other carp and I have either deleted or quarantined them.

NO sarcy comments please, genuinely why do people not like it?

MattLFC

baby_fuzz wrote: »

Although, I'd also like to mention that some common sense, like not opening silly attachements and downloading rubbish helps too!

This is the best way to stay safe online; my media centre only runs the Windows firewall, and I have never run any antivirus software on it (to be honest, its a P3 1Ghz, and is not a critical system, so as little CPU resources usage as possible is better), yet the OS install is over 5 years old and still running as sweet as a dream.

Just stay away from dodgy websites, dont download anything that you are not sure what it is etc, basically use your common sense when online.

Antivirus's are all well and good if you get a virus, but if you can do your utmost to avoid getting them in the first place, then you are already one step ahead of the game.

DatabaseError

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

So what exactly is the problem with Norton then? apart from it being power hugry and you have to pay for it?

er...apart from those 2 bad points (oh, and it's not a very good av)
better, less hungry, cheaper alternatives are available

5bellies_2

baby_fuzz wrote: »

I'd always used AVG, and I've been very happy that my computer has been secure. Although, I'd also like to mention that some common sense, like not opening silly attachements and downloading rubbish helps too!

Common sense is the best defence against viruses. Fortunately it's in short supply and I've been happily self employed fixing PCs for nine years!

Having done it for nine years, I can categorically state that McAfee - that used to be my recommendation for several years - is practically useless. Norton is little better. In fact if PC World have it on their shelf then it's very likely to be absolute crap. Kaspersky used to be OK, then PC World started stocking it.

I recommend Avast, I use it on my own systems and use it in the course of my work. I cannot recommend AVG purely on the number of machines I've seen that AVG has failed to protect.

Marty_J

Eternal_Life wrote: »

What is the best antivirus I can get for my computer?

Get a Mac.

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Quite surprised no one's mentioned Linux or Mac's yet...

</stir>

Happy now?

Blackpool_Saver

What do you mean it is 'not good', it works fine for me and always has done, do you mean there may be viruses in my computer that I am not aware of?
I am just trying to fully clarify what you mean by 'not good' ?

[Deleted User]

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

What do you mean it is 'not good', it works fine for me and always has done, do you mean there may be viruses in my computer that I am not aware of?
I am just trying to fully clarify what you mean by 'not good' ?

For a comparison of detection rates take a look at the table here (Select Comparatives on the left, then select Online results for the latest month):

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

You'll see how Norton fares... Surprisingly well. It's a complete and utter resource hog on the other hand and never recemmended or used by IT professionals.

Marty_J

Eternal_Life wrote: »

Why not Mcaffee or Norton? Are their detection rates really bad? A friend of mine used Nod32 but kept getting lots of popups about viruses and trojans and he found it really annoying, so I'm not sure i want to go for that.

You don't want to go for an antivirus because it actually detects viruses?