BleepingComputer.com: Avira, Avast, AVG, or Kapersky Anti Virus'? Which One is the Best?

I'm wondering which one to get.

Kaspersky is the best of these.... BUT not free. The others are free or have a free version (Kaspersky has a trial period of 30 days I recall).
If you want a free one I would recommend Avira.

Independent comparatives of Anti-virus Software
click on the "Comparatives" link on the left
TopTen Review: AntiVirus Software Product Comparisons

These types of comparative testing results will vary depending on who is doing the testing, what they are testing for, what versions of anti-virus software is being tested, etc. There are no universally predefined set of standards/criteria for testing and each test will yield different results. Thus, you need to look for detailed information about how the tests were conducted, the procedures used, and data results. Read Anti-virus Testing Websites: An overview of testing sites

Choosing an anti-virus is a matter of personal preference, your technical ability and experience, features offered, the amount of resources utilized, how it may affect system performance and what will work best for your system. A particular anti-virus that works well for one person may not work as well for another. You may need to experiment and find the one most suitable for your use. There is no universal "one size fits all" solution that works for everyone. Another factor to consider is whether you want to use a paid for product or free alternative. My personal choice is NOD32 Anti-Virus .

From the choices given : Kaspersky and Avira are best.

Does Kaspersky take up a lot of memory?

IMHO - Kaspersky is the best (and worth the money), but I have had good luck with both AVG and Avira. I would add that the best solution is to get a Kaspersky and supplement it with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. I have been running these three items for about a year now and haven't had a single issue with any of the computers I own. I also installed them on all of my family's computers and likewise haven't had any issues.

Kaspersky requires atleast 256MB available RAM for Windows XP and 512MB available RAM for Windows Vista.

Available means available to Kaspersky operations. So for normal operation you need to have a little more RAM than that.


http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_anti-virus?blocknum2_3=4

quietman7, on Apr 27 2009, 11:59 AM, said:

I'm a bit confused. In the information about how tests are conducted link, AV-Comparatives states "Tests influenced by money /AssociateID Referals...[include] TopTenReviews...[TopTenReviews] stitches up a web site with more or less junk info...Additionally the tables contain wrong and outdated information." Isn't it an untrustworthy site?

quietman7, on Apr 27 2009, 11:59 AM, said:

I completely agree.

Of the 4 you mentioned .

Kaspersky is great but not free.

Avira is great and you can get it free.

Avast is really great because it has a re-boot scan for boot sector viruses and you can get it free.


Oh an AVG is total garbage.


Having just one AV Scanner just isn't enough anymore.

koolkat, on May 8 2009, 03:45 PM, said:

I use Avast and have for many years on all my systems. Its always detected issues and removed them without a problem. Best of all, its free:)

Quote

No its not but so that no one reading that statement gets the wrong impression...

Using more than one anti-virus program is not advisable. The primary concern with doing so is due to conflicts that can arise when they are running in real-time mode simultaneously. However, even when one of them is disabled for use as a stand-alone scanner, it can affect the other. Anti-virus software components insert themselves into the operating systems core and using more than one can cause instability, crash your computer, slow performance and waste system resources. When actively running in the background while connected to the Internet, they both may try to update their definition databases at the same time. As the programs compete for resources required to download the necessary files this often can result in sluggish system performance or unresponsive behavior.

Each anti-virus will often interpret the activity of the other as a virus and there is a greater chance of them alerting you to a "False Positive". If one finds a virus and then the other also finds the same virus, both programs will be competing over exclusive rights on dealing with that virus. Each anti-virus will attempt to remove the offending file and quarantine it. If one finds and quarantines the file before the other one does, then you encounter the problem of both wanting to scan each other's zipped or archived files and each reporting the other's quarantined contents. This can lead to a repetitive cycle of endless alerts that continually warn you that a virus has been found when that is not the case.

Anti-virus scanners use virus definitions to check for viruses and these can include a fragment of the virus code which may be recognized by other anti-virus programs as the virus itself. Because of this, most anti-virus programs encrypt their definitions so that they do not trigger a false alarm when scanned by other security programs. Other vendors do not encrypt their definitions and they can trigger false alarms when detected by the resident anti-virus.

Keep in mind that dual installation is not always possible because most of the newer anti-virus programs will detect the presence of others and may insist they be removed prior to download and installation of another. Nonetheless, to avoid these problems, use only one anti-virus solution. Deciding which one to remove is your choice. Be aware that you may lose your subscription to that anti-virus program's virus definitions once you uninstall that software.

This is not entirely true with all AV products. Believe me I tested tried almost all the legit AV products.

For example I have ran Stop-Sign Threat Scanner, Windows Defender, Malwarebytes all at the same time with
no slow down or problems.

Ok here are the facts :

Some AV or Anti-malware products intentionally make themselves not compatible with the competition.

For example PC Tools Spyware Doctor & AntiVirus , detects Stop-Sign Threat Scanner as add-ware ( a false positive )
and is totally incompatible with Mcafee. Also uses up a lot of power on your PC.

Stopzilla not compatible with the competition.

Spybot Search & Destroy again not compatible with the competition.

Now this isn't the case with all AV or Anti-malware or Anti-Spyware products . You will have to experiment yourself
to find what works & what doesn't.

Slow-down comes from having too many programs on your PC, not defragmenting your PC, malware, or flat out your PC
is too slow and you need a faster processor.

False positives usually show up intentionally to make the other competing legit AV program show as malware
( this is usually a false positive and a cheap tactic to whip-out the competition ). Unless you were foolish enough to
download Rouge-AV-Ware like Virusremover2009.

Also false positives may show up during a heuristic scan ( this is when it really scans your computer for everything ).
False positives show up during this because your AV,Anti-Malware or Anti-Spyware comes across a legitimate file
that happens to share the same name as a malicious file. So until your software is updated then it doesn't really
know if the file is good or bad.

Now in the case that 2 or more AV products detect the same virus. This is not a problem just delete it with one
of them and it's gone , no big deal. If your not sure then just rescan with the other AV product that you
didn't use to delete the virus. Or if you deleted it with both now the virus is really gone unless it's in your
system restore folder.

In the case of quarintining a virus. You should only have one AV product doing this and have your other software
ignore it.

Now with firewalls is a different matter. You should only have 1 firewall or your going to have serious problems.

To only have 1 AV product is like committing suicide.

koolkat, on May 8 2009, 03:45 PM, said:

Explain please what "total garbage" is to you. I'm curious.

Hey if that piece garbage works for you then "Here,Here".

koolkat, on May 10 2009, 07:00 PM, said:

You didn't answer the question. Explain your rationale for labeling it as you did. I'm not the only one reading this thread, remember.

Others are curious too. Enlighten us as to the specific facts that made you come to your conclusion.

Waiting . . .