Free Antivirus Poll

[DaveD]

If you had to choose only 1 antivirus which is free and provides real-time protection, which would it be?

This is intended to be a quick, simple and painless poll. Comments are not necessary unless you would like to describe why you prefer that choice over the others.

[DaveD]

Personally, I like both AntiVir and AOL Active Virus Shield. However, I prefer AOL Active Virus Shield because updates are much smoother then with AntiVir and are done hourly. AntiVir also lacks the mail scanning feature. I do, however, consider both to be equal when it comes to detection capabilities.

[Yannis]

Avast for real-time scanning

AVG for on demand

[TOMxEU]

My vote goes to Avira (which I would choose, if I wanted an AV), however I do not use it.

[yaggy]

Of the 4, i would choose in this order

AVS
Avira
Avast
AVG

[marcromero]

AVG 7.5

[ASpace]

-{ Quote: " Comments are not necessary unless you would like to describe why you prefer that choice over the others." }-

Nothing to write -> AV-Comparatives.org speaks itself ;) I vote for Avira .

[C.S.J]

AVG 7.5

[woobook]

-{ Quote: "Nothing to write -> AV-Comparatives.org speaks itself ;) I vote for Avira ." }-
AV-Comparatives only shows you the on-demand rate. Do you scan your PC everyday?
Which free antivirus has the highest real-time rate? I dont know. nobody can offer a reliable value.

[DaveD]

This poll has ended up closer then I had originally expected.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to vote or respond. If you have not yet voted, please feel free to continue voting. The more votes the better.

Thanks,
Dave

[Alphalutra1]

-{ Quote: "AV-Comparatives only shows you the on-demand rate. Do you scan your PC everyday?
Which free antivirus has the highest real-time rate? I dont know. nobody can offer a reliable value." }-
What do you mean ??? If a real-time scanner is set to the same settings as the on-demand portion, it should catch exactly the same things in real time as it would on-demand. That being said, antivir is my choice (I have felt that way since v6 BTW so I am not jumping on any bandwagon)

Cheers,

Alphalutra1

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,
Because different comparatives in different magazines show different trends, I'm using 3 top AV just to be sure - Symantec, McAfee and TrendMicro. Sometimes they catch a dangerous cookie!
But among the communist anti-virii, I like AVG. But I'm worried about its detection rate, because it never catches anything.
Mrk

[incursari]

i will choose Avira.

[King FN Kong]

i do use avg on my laptop.

[GS2]

Avast first, AVG second :)

[woobook]

-{ Quote: "What do you mean ??? If a real-time scanner is set to the same settings as the on-demand portion, it should catch exactly the same things in real time as it would on-demand. That being said, antivir is my choice (I have felt that way since v6 BTW so I am not jumping on any bandwagon)

Cheers,

Alphalutra1" }-
I think the real-time engine is different from on-demand engine. For some antivirus they are very different.

[Rickster100]

Avast! is a good all-rounder. Happy user for years. :)

Richie

[strangequark]

Avast! like Rickster I've been using it for a few years now and it's never let me down.

[dawgg]

My list in order of preference: AVS, Avast, Antivir, AVG ;D

[TonyW]

I used AVG many moons ago, but I wouldn't use it now as have a paid-for AV.

[Anti_Virus]

As for the free ones, AntiVir is the best. Its excellent heuristic detection level makes the whole difference.

[the Tester]

Avira AntiVir.

[EASTER.2010]

UPDATE!

Am settled on Kaspersky Suite and gonna stay with it.

[phasechange]

I currently use AOL AVS on my desktop and Antivir on my server.

Phasechange

[Macstorm]

If I had to choose between those 4: AOL AVS without a doubt :thumb:

[sweater]

AntiVir...its very deadly!!!

It search and destroys anything even the suspected ones without interrogations. ;D ;) :thumb:

It is also light. But the update is long and big, can be unsuitable for dial-up connection. But...anyway...it's heuristics guard was still effective even if I don't update them. I update it every other day..:D

[vhick]

antivir also here...

i try avast and it is good for a free with many function. but in my own experience. realtime scanning of antivir is much faster than avast.

but avast is a very good all around antivirus for free.

when my nod32 subcription runout i go for antivir.

im on dialup (56k) so i manually download updates in their site (perhaps before bedtime).