Best Anti Virus Software - Free or to buy?

asot

jack_daniels wrote:

A proper comparison that isnt reviewed by magazines who sometimes write biased reviews because of sponsorship deals, in saying that I didnt say Zonealarm isnt any good just not the best

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Firstly I agree Kaspersky is the best pure AV solution. What I am saying is Zonealarm SS is the best security suite and that doesn't take into account purely AV but also firewalls, spyware etc. etc.

Secondly the link you have given doesn't feature Zonealarm on the comparison although it does feature a product featuring the same engine. This doesn't give it a fair comparison however as the product in the review doesn't have anti spyware for example and has been marked down for this. Zonealarm does include anti spyware though.

On the subject of sponsorship then your website could be subject to the same kind of deals. Also I doubt that they could strike deals over so many sources especially against a much larger competitor like Symantec Norton.

jack_daniels_2

Ooops its late but yes I will say as a "Security Suite" Zonealarm is quite good actually, as on that independently run website it comes out top but as a stand alone firewall only or AV only I dont rate as much as others but hey thats my personal preference.

I must learn to read late at night

angelatgraceland

I used Norton for 5 years and was happy, until it started letting me down. It didnt stop the viruses that Avast was able to detect. I now use AVG plus PrevX which detects changes. My main problems lately have been spyware and the pc being slowed down as a result of programs being installed without my knowledge. Norton made my PC very slow and didnt solve any of these problems. AVG updates on startup and is easy to use, PrevX is also free and lets me know if anything is changing on my system, and I can either allow it or deny it. Very useful. Now and then, I also scan for spyware. I never pay for any of this though-all free.

996ducati

In the last few years through work & home I have used the following:

Norton, was very heavy on system resources.

PC-Illin ,Easy to use & regular updates.

CA EZ AV (free for 1 year). Worked well but seemed to occasionally bring up false positives on java based temp files?

ZoneLabs Security Suite. Lots of updates & many functions but sometimes a bit buggy (since latest upgrade).

AVG. Gave up using this a couple of years ago when they were having update server problems.

Panda Titanium Antivirus. Available very cheaply as a OEM product & easy to use with lots of updates. My favorite of all listed.

Browntoa

used AVG for 6 years now with no problems, used to use Zonealarm free but found it slowed my PC and was a so + so to set up networking on so currently use Sygate , will swap to Kerio when Sygate fails the GRC firewall tests

rygon

Personally i find kaspersky internet security the best. Never tried zonealarm SS. Norton took way too much resources up. Kaspersky internet security is a firewall, anti virus, anti spam, anti phising.
you can try it out here http://www.kaspersky.com/uk/trials and will cost £40 to buy

xbox

oh, whilst I'm thinking (thanks to the OP)

Am I "missing" anything I really ought to have installed

Currently have

ZoneAlarm Pro
NOD 32
Ad-Aware SE Personal

and CCleaner

:coffee:

Rex_Mundi

Windows Defender wouldn't be a bad addition to the software you already have. It has had fairly good writeups. This would complement Adaware.

jack_daniels_2

I would have a look at Ewido http://free.grisoft.com/doc/ewido-anti-spyware-free/lng/us/tpl/v5

garcia

I'd rather pay for good malware protection(e.g. ewido) than pay for good av protection. Not everyone gets viruses (can't remember the last time I got one).
But almost everyone will have regular run-ins with malware.

P.S. I'd rather have a free bicycle than pay £70,000 for a ferrari.