Definitive Best Antivirus 2008

[kinetix63 Veteran]

A fresh "Best Antivirus" poll for 2008. Please use this as a reference when researching antivirus utilities. As time goes on, the poll can be updated to add further options.

Happy voting!

[alisalem]

Trust me even the sites you think are safe, could have some bad stuff.

Who would think that my college has a trojan on it's homepage? :D

[tpor_again]

Linux... :laugh:

[DRS-Travis]

Nod32 for ever - just for the fact of its FREE if you want it to be !

[splicer707]

Nod32 for ever - just for the fact of its FREE if you want it to be !

I used to do that. Just reinstall every month.

[alisalem]

Just bought myself a 1 year license of Kaspersky AV. :)

[xankazo]

the latest AV-Comparatives test is out (August-2008) and there are quite a few surprises. what stands out the most is that Norton is a great contender now and NOD32 came out 8th with no longer an Advanced+ certification. this complicates things for me now that my NOD32 license is about to expire.

I see three options for me:

- Stay with NOD32.

- Go with Avira that is number 1 right now.

- Go with Norton which has improved quite a lot.

[RootWind]

I will have to admit, Symantec is finally getting it's revenge. Vastly improved detections, successful implementation of HIPS-like features, and extremely light now in 2009. They also fixed their biggest weakness of slow and infrequent updates with the new pulse updates (thousands of micro-updates a month). Good to see the competition has finally forced them to improve their product.

[Blaine]

I have swayed from the nod32 side to NAV 09 (Y)

[RadishTM Veteran]

NAV 2009.

Radish?

[splicer707]

The only thing that worries me about NAV 2009 is the Activation scheme, what if I need to rebuild my PC. How many times can NAV 2009 be re-activated on one PC?

[Eric Veteran]

Firefox blocks it.

Yup...

This web site at www.antivirusxp2008.com has been reported as an attack site and has been blocked based on your security preferences.

I'm using OneCare... It's keeping my computer un-borked just fine and I don't notice it's even there. +1 for Avira for free options though. :)

[Eric Veteran]

Recently found interesting antivirus: Antivirus XP 2008

Somebody knows anything about it?

Just in case someone isn't reading all the pages in this thread: DO NOT visit this site. AVXP2008 is malware.

The only thing that worries me about NAV 2009 is the Activation scheme, what if I need to rebuild my PC. How many times can NAV 2009 be re-activated on one PC?

I think you can go to the Norton Account site and remove a PC from your list so you can put it on another.

[splicer707]

I think you can go to the Norton Account site and remove a PC from your list so you can put it on another.

Ok. That would make sense. I might get myself a 15 day trial of Norton AV09, just to play with.

[zheng.93]

I tried these antiviruses:

AVG

Trend Micro

Kaspersky

ESET NOD32

AVG Came out with a lot of virus notifications, though the file didn't contain any potential malicious software. I created a .exe file by myself and AVG came out telling me I put a trojan inside. Wow.

I used Tred Micro for a very long time. It was great, if you aren't the typical gamer. Those sudden pop-ups for virus updates can be a pain. Not to mention, these pop-ups do take memory which can be very taxing, especailly playing something like Red Alert 3.

I tried Kaspersky for a day, after reading the reviews. I thought it was good with all the options. But as usual, too much security already. Used up the most amount of memory even when stagnant. And it prevented me from accessing Firefox.

ESET's NOD32 works best for me. It's the kind of AV that everyone should have. It sits at a corner using very little memory, and quietly gives you a notification when it's updated. No sudden pop-us, this notification can even be seen while playing.

By far, NOD32's the best best best. It represents the kind of AV that you can install and forget about it while it does the work for you.

AVG - 6/10 for trying to stop potential viruses

Trend - 8/10 for a good firewall, bad way of updating by pop-ups though

Kaspersky - 2/10 for user-unfriendliness (Kaspersky fans, I understand what you mean :) but I really can't get used to it. sorry)

NOD32 - 9/10. lost the last "1" for it's slow scanning when you want in-depth and everything scanned (not quick)

[splicer707]

Meh. Tried Norton. Just don't like it. I tried a .zip file with some spyware and Norton missed all but 1 out of 10 samples.

NOD32 picked up all but 1, so I'm very happy to be staying with NOD32. (Y)

[ServerMechanic]

Well I was using AVG until they came out with version 8 which I didn't like so I removed everything AVG related.

Then I started using Avira for the last couple months. The freaking nag screens are annoying and I hate them. It also stops right in the middle of a scan to tell me that an old version of Unreal Tournament GOTY Edition has a virus (which it doesn't. I know this.) So I tell it to ignore everytime and always ignore but it still comes up and stops at 6% and asks me. It will not continue without user input (sucks). And yes I've tried all the tweaks about the nag screen.

So, today I uninstall Avira and install Symantec AV Corp. Ed. 10.1. It takes up so many resources that it slows my computer down substantially. Annoying. So after 40 minutes of annoyingness I uninstalled it.

Right now I'm rolling with no AV protection and I am considering OneCare or Avast.

I'm not paying for jack anymore. I'm going to either run no Antivirus, deal with a nag screen, or run something free with no nag screen.

So right now I don't have a good vote. ;)

[alisalem]

^ If you want something free, go with Avast. I'm using it on my laptop.

If you feel like paying, get Kaspersky or NOD32. Both are excellent.

[Unkoil]

I'm currently using PcTools antivirus for my lappy

AVG free for my desktop (btw - unhappy with avg free version 8, looking to switch)

testing Avira AntiVir on a desktop I built for my roommate. We will see how that goes...

[Yume]

I use ESET Smart Security which is the bells and whistles version of Nod32 anti-virus

[AbandonedTrolley]

On my second yeah of using Kaspersky Internet Security, can't complain and have converted a few people too :)

[splicer707]

Abandoned my license of NOD32.

Lack of any acknowledgment from ESET when I sent in a sample. And still no detection. Even after a week!!!

See thread @ Wilders Security.

[Skulltrail-old]

Wow. NOD32 creampied all other competition.

I've used it before and lost interest after issues with my license key.

[splicer707]

Wow. NOD32 creampied all other competition.

I've used it before and lost interest after issues with my license key.

:/ ESET really need to get the **** together. I find it hard to believe how average they have become.

[Skulltrail-old]

:/ ESET really need to get the **** together. I find it hard to believe how average they have become.

+1

Look at Google Chrome! Less than a month since its release and already a top 5 web browser.

[splicer707]

+1

Look at Google Chrome! Less than a month since its release and already a top 5 web browser.

ESET needs more threat analysts and some new blood in the programming team too.

I have a three year license for NOD32 and I hate to think I wasted a lot of money on a product that fails to step up when it's required.

Got my fingers crossed that NOD32 V3.5 or V4 (whatever major release is next), really does something amazing.