A free AV war

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by no13, Mar 10, 2005.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. TAP

    TAP Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2004
    Posts:
    344
    Yes, according to informations you get from the website and from many security forums.

    But I'd recommend you to read these threads thoroughly (especially the first one) about things we've concerned that avast! has no so-called heuristics and then what method avast! uses to detect unknown malware.

    http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=4979
    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=388517#post388517
     
  2. Firefighter

    Firefighter Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2002
    Posts:
    1,670
    Location:
    Finland
    AVG 7 had 17 "May be infected", 19 "Suspicion" and 277 "Could be infected" labeled detectings, quite many!

    "E:\Infected_3624\Trojan like Malware_1734\Exploit_124\Exploit.Win32.MS04-028.b.zip:\2.jpg" "May be infected by unknown virus Exploit.JPEG" "Infected, Embedded object"

    "E:\Infected_3624\Script like Malware_516\Bat_90\BAT.Bumble.zip:\BAT.Bumble.a" "Suspicion: unknown virus .EXE.COM " "Infected, Embedded object"

    "E:\Infected_3624\Virii_1098\Worm_731\IRC-Worm.IRC.Ahack.zip" "Could be infected IRC/Generic" "Infected, Archive"

    Actually, from NOD with AH detectings only 10.9 % were labeled as "probably" when from AVG 7 detectings 13.0 % were some kind of heuristics as above.

    Best regards,
    Firefighter!
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2005
  3. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2003
    Posts:
    2,448
    Location:
    Sky over the Wilders Forest
    O.K. even though we have some good information going on here. AVG 7 is good AV for average user. I use it without heuristics checked. I also use BoClean for Trojan protection (do not depend on AV for Trojan protection unless you surf really carefully and know how to spot suspecious activity and know what and how to kill and remove safely from your system). I do scan weekly with BitDefender free with heuristics checked. Always good to get second opinion every now and then.

    I have nothing against Avast, but do not get caught up in the debate that Avast is vastly better then AVG that AVG is junk. It is not! We must always remember that AVG vs Avast (and AntiViri) is a very good thing for us as consumers of free AVs. Discussion is good bashing or causing unnecessary worry among users is not. Thats all...very interesting discussion. ;)
     
  4. jlo

    jlo Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2004
    Posts:
    475
    Location:
    UK
    My personal experience from the free av's I have tried (I now use paid Nod32) but keep avg installed with out the resident shield installed just for fun :)

    Antivir, great heuristics and update new virus submission quite quickly (and always reply to my virus submissions). don't like big updates and lack of e mail scanner.


    Avast is a good stable AV. Has a great forum, updater and e mail scanner. I found it slowed my system a little. The thing I did not like was the very slow response times in virus submissions which I sent them. One can argue that they are quick for fast spreading viruses but when you submit something which other av detect in a few days and it takes weeks for avast to update its not so good.

    AVG. My father uses has his sole av. It is very light. Also when I send virus submissions they are normally added in days rather than weeks. Also like avast seem to respond quickly to big virus outbreaks. Dislikes are the tempermental servers which sometimes fail so you can't update.

    I am very supportive of all the above 'free scanners' which I think for the average user are sufficant and at the end of the day are free.

    For best protection it has to be paid av such as KAV, Nod, Dr Web etc.

    Just my humble thoughts!

    Jlo
     
  5. RadicalEdward

    RadicalEdward Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2004
    Posts:
    64
    I am quite parinoid, so I just use them all. I have an enterprise copy of Mcafee 7.1 which serves as my primary on-acess scanner. In addition to that, I have BD, avast, avg, and antivir, all with the on-acess scanners turned off....except BD cause the free version doesn't have one.

    The weird thing is, I installed avast without real-time protection, and it never was a problem, but when it recently updated to the newest version, it automatically activated the real-time protection....and the odd thing is, by computer seems to be fine, it hasn't given me any blue screens, so now I have two real-time scanners running at once! Does anyone have an explanation for this, or has it happened to you too?
     
  6. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2003
    Posts:
    2,448
    Location:
    Sky over the Wilders Forest
    JLO,
    Yes, tempermental update servers is the worst aspect of AVG. Could not agree more. One should follow up and keep an eye on updating to make sure it is happening. A small price to pay for free AV. ;)
     
  7. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2005
    Posts:
    8,251
    Location:
    The land of no identity :D
    Ya, I used AVG through 2001 and in the wee beginning of 2002...Couldn't say much of it. The update servers were temperamental even then!
     
  8. Robyn

    Robyn Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2004
    Posts:
    1,189
    I am not looking for a free AV for myself but have found this post interesting as I am still looking for someone else.

    I appreciate the fact it has been clarified AVG is not the worst - one point a little unclear 'for the average user' o_O is this only appropriate to the user who only has the option of a free AV?

    I would qualify as average if it comes to safe surfing and extra caution but still place high priority on my AV/AT etc Just a little confused as as to what determines the 'average user' o_O
    I have the professional versions of my security software as I do consider this important but my friends who are very new to computing are considering the free v registered AV's - novice users of the computer and surfing/e-mails but should I recommend the registered or free considering they do not know what would be suspicious o_O
     
  9. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2002
    Posts:
    8,102
    Location:
    Hawaii
    The free antivirus programs are very popular worldwide. The tactic that works for me is to download updates for AVG & AntiVir during the hours of 2AM - 4AM, German time.

    This is easy for me because Germany time is UTC+1 & Hawaii time is UTC-10. Therefore, 3PM here is 2AM there, so that's about the time when I usually update -- 3PM Hawaii time. Why compete for bandwidth with all the users in Europe?

    I get speeds of 150+ Kbytes/second for both AVG & Antivir -- every time. Best download time for east coast USA would start around 8PM EST. And so forth.

    Works for me.
     
  10. azumi21

    azumi21 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2004
    Posts:
    129
    IMO top 3 free AV scanners:
    I wouldn't use a free one for resident/memory.

    #1) Antivir: the best of the free bunch by far
    (even better than a lot of pay ones).
    It's UGLY, but it gets the job done.

    #2) BitDefender: pretty good, nice back up scanner.

    #3) (tie) AVG + Avast: are ok, better than nothing.
    They are nothing compared to 1 or 2.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2005
  11. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2003
    Posts:
    2,448
    Location:
    Sky over the Wilders Forest
    Well then my friend in accordance with your post I have changed my Update schedule to just before 8PM EST. I will trust your "works for me" ;) Thanks ;)
     
  12. TAP

    TAP Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2004
    Posts:
    344

    I have some adware/spyware and other so-called zoo malware I sent to ALWIL lab long time ago but they haven't added to avast! VPS yet I think the reason is that just because those malware are zoo, not only avast! doesn't detect them but some AVs don't as well and of course, many AVs detect them also.

    Each and every AV companies have their own policies to deal with so-called zoo malware and non-destructive malware so we have nothing to do with that.

    It seems that ALWIL updates VPS when it really needed and adds only real-dangerous malware to VPS and not add other malware that bring no danger to avast!'s users even though those malware would make avast! looks good by getting better scores in many tests we've seen from time to time.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.