Definitive Best Antivirus 2010

[Barney T. Administrators]

An updated "Best Antivirus" for 2010. 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.

[Buio]

Wonder why people say MSE is light and low on memory usage, when it is not? It uses a lot of memory, and it isn't especially fast either which the last test in AV-Comparatives show. Also its scores in AV-Comparatives could be better in the on-demand test, but it does very good in the pro-active test (recently published). It's free, non-intrusive, has a slick UI and is overall good, but it is not light.

Here are two result tables from AV-Comparatives Feb2010 test;

Total detection rate in the Feb on-demand test. MSE version tested was v1.0.1611.0

MSE had great false positive rating though, which is good.

The scanning speed is a large scan with the highest detection settings.

[Futura]

Kaspesky/MSE as I use both.

[Mazhar]

MSE all the way. I sometimes forget that I have MSE installed in my system!

[Ulpian]

Avira generally. Kaspersky is ok, but not freeware. MSE for Vista and Win 7 legal installations.

NOD32 is not good anymore. It missed trojan file, I sent this file to ESET two times, still w/o detection. IN general - NOD32 has quite low trojan/backdoor detection rate. There is no free version. I can't see any reason to still use it instead of Avira, Kaspersky or MSE.

About other products on the list - piece od s.....t ! Pesky AV programs like Panda, Sophos, Trend Micro are dangerous - low detection level, false positives for programs like Ultra VNC, false positives for UPX packed files. CRAP!

[i11usive]

Have used Sophos for years both professionally and at home - great software. We have email and web appliances from them too which work very well.

[th3rEsa]

NOD32 has still not lost me as a convinced user. :whistle:

[Awsta]

Beginning of this month, I just bought another 1 year license for nod32.

[bradavon]

Kaspersky Internet Security for me and Avast is the best of the "Free bunch" (although I'd not personally run it).

I like ESET Smart Security's low memory usage but it annoys me there is no White List/Black list, which means either you set it to Interactive Mode and get bugged by prompts or Auto Mode and it turns off security (such as the outgoing firewall). Neither are suitable solutions in my opinion. Kaspersky Internet Security has a White/Black list, so it knows (most of the time) what Apps to allow and what to block.

[Crono21]

Ive been happy with Nod32 version 3.. But when i tried version 4 it gave me nothing but problems, nothing but error messages. I wish they hadn't forced a firewall into it.

Thinking of trying G Data.

[stockwiz]

I use RVS 2010 free version so the antivirus is disabled, but that's alright because with the guard on all system changes are undone on reboot. I just wish these AV comparative sites would test RVS2010's antivirus to see how it fars to others.

[richardsim7]

Other: Mac :p

Nah really MSE is good and free :)

[coth]

avira, kaspersky, drweb

mse is good enough, but not as good.

[Zok-StaR]

MSE!! Small download, free and does the job ok!

2nd choice is NOD32

[+bomberh Subscriber²]

Microsoft Security Essentials :yes:

[LukeEDay]

The best antivirus is "You" ...

[Ryanjmchale]

Avira

[OverBrn]

Avira AntiVir Personal

[Phamtom_Bob]

None, if you know what you are doing. You don't need any. Haven't use one since 2008 :D

Last anti-virus I use was AVG

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

Tried the latest MSE v2 BETA (like I always do) and the bug where disk and cpu usage crawls when you open a folder with a lareg number of zip/executables (eg: My Software backups and disc images folder) still exists.

Such a shame they have still not fixed this.

No other AV has this issue and as such AVAST 5 will remain my recommendation and primary choice.

Phamtom_Bob

That's like saying you don't wear a seatbelt because you know how to drive and won't ever crash. Completely silly thing to claim.

Many legit websites now have adverts or linkthroughs to ad enabled pages that can hijack your PC via os or browser exploits, other times a simple image can contain executable code and the rest of you need an AV to scan a file you're downloading or have been sent.

Most AV (like AVAST) do not consume resources but are very good at picking out issues on websites and files and notifying you.

I download wallpapers from skins.be for example and I am an FF user with AdBlock Plus but still the site sometimes manages to pass through an ad that AVAST detects as malicious and blocks it before it touches my harddrive.

One example from the other day:

Like I said, even legit sites, even with adblocking enabled, you can still get infected - however rare it may be.

[nub]

NOD32 or kaspersky

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

kaspersky for now since I pay for it, but that might change when my time runs out and I will try MSE.

[WastedJoker]

I'm sticking with Eset Smart Security for the 4th year in a row - I just cannot tolerate any other software firewall out there as the Eset Interactive mode is just too damn good.

I tried Kaspersky but configuring the firewall was far too simplistic and I could not figure out how to exclude specific folders from real-time protection :/

[LukeEDay]

None, if you know what you are doing. You don't need any. Haven't use one since 2008 :D

Last anti-virus I use was AVG

I agree, I never used one. I have tested a few - They were on test a pc and never used long term. After 20 years of pc use I never got a virus.

My perception of Anti-Viruses are that they are snake oil sales men. They pray on fear and the dumbness of the PC user. I admit that some people do need them, but the majority of the people who know what they are doing will never need them.

[Benz0r]

Could someone recommend me a good antivirus that is free. Just not MSE.

[kawasabi]

Avast Free

My choice.