[marko]

For me it has to be Avast - but then again most of you will already know that :)

Apologies if we haven't listed your favourite, just reply with the name and we'll add it :)
Cheers
Marko

[sav]

Another vote for Avast from myself. I am presently using Microsoft Security Essentials and I'm impressed ... so far. :)

[James (Jim) Hillier]

I actually use two different anti-virus programs in a dual boot system. Coincidentally, both have already been mentioned. I use Avast in Vista and MSE in Win 7.

[Wolf]

I'm quite satisfied with Emsisoft antimalware guard & scanner.
Also known as A2-scanner.
Wolf

[onepiece]

Avira AntiVir Personal and Avast Free. Both are awesome.

[Boyfriend]

My favorite antivirus application is Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 CF1 (11.0.1.400a)

[grr]

Avast for me too.. :lol:

[Quantum D.]

I use Comodo Internet Security Premium Free as a combo Firewall/Antivirus.

Like many free solutions, it has some hiccups in the heuristics department but nothing too dramatic.


And it now incorporates a sandbox which I use from time to time.

[TheRaven]

Microsoft Security Essentials.

Used Comodo in the past and really enjoyed it.
Avast was also well done as I had used it as well.
Also used AVG extensively and liked it too.


Many others only seemed to trash my O.S., screw up my software, and leave me and RegEdit on our own manually uninstalling the crap -- not fun!

[Information Overload]

Another for Avast. But I have to say that antivirus is the one thing I don't entrust to get done by freeware/shareware. The one thing I'd recommend you purchase. Of course the one thing I recommend you buy I got for free. My favorite of the professional software is Norton. I haven't tried many other professional ones except McAfee which I also got for free. Both are professional but free if you go with Comcast. (I think Comcast is only in the States but I wouldn't know.) Of those two I'd recommend Norton over McAfee. I'll keep this post short as I've been haunting the forums with prolific posting. If your interested in why I'd recommend Norton and why I won't recommend McAfee I can do reviews on the two as they technically are free, just not free to everyone, and thus not freeware.

[James (Jim) Hillier]

I disagree:

Norton is not, by and and large, considered to be a great AV. It has always been a resource hog (which means it is generally only suitable for high end machines) and is known to insinuate itself into just about every nook and cranny of the system.

McAfee....much the same!!

In fact, I go the opposite. If any of my clients have a trial of those AV's installed or have a subscription which is about to expire; I recommend they uninstall the program and replace it with something like Avast (Free) or AntiVir (Free).

Of the commercial offerings, Eset's product is regarded by the majority of 'experts' to be the best. Mostly because it is not only effective but very light on resources too.

[Information Overload]

In truth I've actually been thinking about switching back to Avast or something free just so I could start testing out some other freeware. But I'm conservative when it comes to antivirus protection, I like the tried and true. One thing I have to say though is that Malwarebytes has saved me a lot of trouble and its freeware itself. The one thing I'd like to know before switching back to freeware is how do you test antivirus software as a reviewer? I really want to test and see which protects me more. I guess I have nothing to lose because the freeware is free and if I want to switch back so is Norton. I do see on cnet that Norton got lower reviews by it users but somehow it doesn't convince me that going professional isn't the best option. I me I download a lot and some of the things I download aren't from the most trustworthy sites. They aren't from obvious malware sites that warn me before I enter but there are just some sites that aren't the most reputable places. I know that to solve all this I should stop downloading and doing peer-to-peer sharing but I kind of need to to keep my reviews going, well the P2P could stop, but the downloading from disreputable sites is a risk I take every time I download. I know that all the freeware I download from here is free of malware but I want to push boundaries in the hopes of discovering something new.

Hmm... I'm on the edge I guess I just need a little push. I'm going to go find some reviews and see if that tips me over to the freeware side of things. Other than that, and the preinstalled Windows programs I'd be completely freeware independent if I shed my antivirus ties with Norton.

EDIT: (So I don't double post)
Here's my problem I have Norton's Internet Security Sweet and Avast is only and antivirus app not a full suite... could I replace my suite with a couple of freeware programs for the same effect?

[James (Jim) Hillier]

Quote

how do you test antivirus software as a reviewer?

That entails a long and somewhat complicated process. Most would start off by installing an OS in a virtual environment, install one of the AV's and then deliberately try to infect it. That would test preventative measures (real time protection). At the end, scan and see if anything got through. They would repeat that process, starting from scratch each time, for every AV involved in the testing.

AV testing is far from an exact science; there are so many different aspects and variables. What is missed by one may be picked up by another, and vice versa. Most users rely on established services for obtaining scores/results....such as this site HERE.

I always advise against using these test results as sole criteria for selection of AV's....as I said, it is a somewhat inexact science. Yes, it is important for AV's to rate highly in the detection/protection department but in many cases the differences in those rates are not considerable and there are other considerations; e.g. resource usage, ease of use (for many), availability and frequency of data base updates, etc.

Quote

could I replace my suite with a couple of freeware programs for the same effect?

Same or very similar...absolutely!! Avast plus Online Armor (Free) Firewall would do just fine for most. Any good free AV plus some sort of additional HIPS based software would generally do a good job. Most of the current AV's, including the best free ones, now include an anti-spyware component and heuristics (behaviour based) engine.

Quote

I download a lot and some of the things I download aren't from the most trustworthy sites

Then you really should not be relying on installed security software at all, freeware or otherwise. You should look closely at some of the free virtualisation software and do all that from within a virtual environment/machine. A virtual environment is completely isolated so any nasties encountered do not get anywhere near the main system. Have a read HERE and HERE.

[Information Overload]

So I guess I won't be doing any testing of antivirus software anytime soon. Those are good review points though and it'd be easy to install and review usability instead of breaking points and effectiveness.

As for the replacement of my internet suite with a couple different programs I'm glad I can do something to the same effect. This will also allow me to test compatibility between the programs. I learned my lesson, that not all programs can interact with each other well, when I tried to download Private Firewall and had my system become sluggish and overloaded.

As for my surfing and downloading habits they have changed. I no longer do as dangerous a things to my computer, but I will look into this virtual environment software. I still do a lot of peer-to-peer downloads and every once in a while I'll venture off the internet grid and into dangerous zones, but I'm hoping to curb these bad habits.

EDIT: I have one problem with virtualization... I have a netbook and I don't want to mess with the OS.

[marko]

Advertising the fact you download illegally isn't a great move, especially in such a public manner and especially on my site, it happens to be one of my major grievances. Piracy cost's jobs, it results in misery for hard working, independant developers, many of whom try to contribute to the freeware scene in an effort to promote their products and it also results in a lot of unnecessary hassles. The aftermath of downloading from such sites was something I dealt with in a professional capacity, and that was at corporate level, but at any level it's unacceptable, it's like insurance fraud, everyone considers it a victimless crime and where I often don't have a great deal of sympathy for the larger companies and media giants who overprice their software and material, it's usually the small guys who get crippled by piracy. Results? It further allows the big boys to continue pushing their products for a premium and the public rarely gets to see the fine work produced by these small independant developers.

Warez and file sharing is renowned for viruses, malware and all other manner of nasty surprises lurking around and there can be no such thing as a 'responsible' warez site, their very existence is illicit and attracts those downloads which do serious harm to PC's. I've stopped fixing computers of friends and family who continue to download from these sites because despite my best efforts to inform them of the issues, they persist in downloading or allowing their children to download, and I'm no longer prepared to spend a few hours cleaning their machine. This means they now have to visit and pay the local PC repair shop when their PC slow to a stop, false economy quite obviously but for some they 'just don't get it'.

As for reviewing commercial software, the option is there to review freeware alternatives and then contact the companies in question, direct them to your review and ask for a full copy to review - I can guarantee that if these companies found your site reviewing software which you had obtained illegally you would stand little chance of gaining any respect from the providers and could even find yourself in a lot of trouble should they decide to take it further.

If you wrote articles which were then simply copied by someone else on their website and that website performed 100% better than yours, wouldn't you be a little peeved?. Wouldn't you consider this theft?. All your hard work, yet someone else reaps the rewards!. Isn't that a warez site?.

As for FreewareBB, we're a freeware site, we don't have a need for shareware discussions as 99% of the people hitting the site are doing so after searching for "freeware" so let's try to stick to a freeware based discussion from now.

Cheers
Marko

[Information Overload]

Ugh! I don't mean to be a pest. I don't mean to break the rules every were I turn. Honestly I've never downloaded warez or pirated any copyrighted software. the worst I've done is get fansubs for shows that haven't, and sometimes never are, translated and brought overseas. The worst malware I've gotten was from downloading freeware. It was before I knew of this site and would simply do a Google search for the freeware I was looking for.

I'm sorry for causing so much trouble on the forums for you and your staff!