Whats the best anti virus protection for computers?

4 thoughts on “Whats the best anti virus protection for computers?”

1. Chrisallis says:

   May 3, 2010 at 10:24 am

   You’re asking the wrong question. It’s not which is "best", because there’s no such thing. They all miss things because virus scanners are reactionary. There’s always a lead time between when a threat is identified and virus scanner vendors have had time to analyze it and come up with a method of removing it.

   For netbooks Avast or Avira are probably the ones that are lightest on resources and will slow your netbook down less than most others. They’re both free.

   It’s a good idea to supplement your installed protection by scanning online from time to time with one of the reputable scanners. No need to remove or disable your installed security software to use them. Here are some of them:

   http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

   http://www.superantispyware.com/onlinescan.html

   http://www.bitdefender.com/scanner/online/free.html

   Personally I use Spybot for real time protection against malware and Malwarebytes as an on demand scanner. The basic rule is to only have one real time anti spyware program running.

   As for anti virus and only having one program installed and running – it’s nearly always not a good idea to install more than one. However there is a program which is specifically designed to work alongside other security software called Threatfire (free) and it can provide a significant boost to detection rates. It uses behavioral analysis to prevent threats – even unknown (zero day) ones and it also has a rootkit scanner. I use it with Avast – http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html and have had absolutely no problems at all. I’m sure that nearly everyone will say that you should never have more than one anti virus program but in this case it’s the exception to the rule.

   http://www.threatfire.com/

   http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/31722/review/threatfire_35.html

   http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/protect-yourself-against-zero-day-internet-threats-with-free-threatfire-from-pc-tools/

   It’s designed to compliment your existing security software – not to replace it.

   Another way of keeping malware at bay is to make sure that your software is kept up to date but more importantly to remove any old insecure files which automatic updates often do not remove. I use Secunia PSI (free) and it’s pretty good although it doesn’t cover every piece of software ever released. If you decide to use it keep an eye on the list of programs that is has detected as patched and update or remove then install only the latest versions of anything that it has missed.

   An example of how it works:

   http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/adobe-reader-and-adobe-flash-player-vulnerabilities-remain-unpatched/

   Secunia will automatically warn you if a program needs updating.

   http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning

   The personal desktop version is best. Scan in advanced mode then click on the + sign next to any issues found for the fix. If no fix is available the file path is shown for manual removal.

   There’s also some good advice on security on the following two links. Choose what’s best for you. I suggest some kind of link scanner http://www.mywot.com to prevent connection to known malicious sites and maybe use Thunderbird as your email client instead of Outlook Express if that’s what you’re using as it’s far more secure.

2. DylanC. says:

   May 3, 2010 at 10:24 am

   http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

   AVG Free is the best free virus protection.

   http://www.malwarebytes.org/

   Malwarebytes is the best free Malware program.

3. bushay18 says:

   May 3, 2010 at 10:24 am

   Your going to get a lot of different opinions, so here’s mine:

   Webroot w/Spysweeper – Also good for up to 3 PC’s
   http://www.cheapantivirus.com/Webroot-s/31.htm

   http://www.webroot.com/En_US/index.html

   I couldn’t agree more with the answer after mine. I actually use both of them at home and anyone’s PC I work on. Good Choices!
   http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

   AVG Free is the best free virus protection.

   http://www.malwarebytes.org/

   Malwarebytes is the best free Malware program.

4. Tie says:

   May 3, 2010 at 10:24 am

   antivirus tips and antivirus download:
   http://merakit-komputer.com

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