Antivir - Stability?

Antivir made an excellent show on AV Comparatives. I assume that the free one uses the same engine, and has the same detection rate as the tested version.

I have an impression that Antivir is more troublesome than Avast. I may have the wrong impression, and would like to hear from some users. Other things being equal I would always rather have the best detection rates, but sometimes other things are not equal. I am currently using Avast on my laptop, and have found it runs well with the other apps.

Thanks,
Jerry

 

The only thing annoys me is the nag screen poping up every day, I hate it.
Otherwise good, no problems, no conflicts. Updates nicely within few minutes( on dial up).
Using since few weeks.

 

Browsing thru the AntiVir forum gives me the general impression that since the release of version 7, AntiVir might just have more problems right now than Avast. I have never had any trouble with either of them here, but I do see some frustrated AntiVir 7 users on their forums..

 

Thank you both.
I think I will stick with Avast. I have used it a couple of times, and put it on some friends and kins computers. All have been happy and without infection for at leat 2 years.
It has always run smoothly on my own machine.

Best,
Jerry

 

I've had the newest version of Antivir on my computer for about a month now, which has to be some kind of record for me, keeping anything on here that long. I have absolutely no complaints whatever about its operation. It updates daily, sometimes a couple of times a day, and has given me no trouble at all. It seems fairly light on resources on this machine.

The only complaint is the nag screen, as someone mentioned, and that's a quick mouse click to get rid of. Now that I expect it, I'm ready for it and as soon as it begins to appear, click and it's gone.

 

I'm currently running the new avast! 4.7 beta which implemented by new real-time scanning technique that makes avast! 4.7 beta even more lighter and smoother than ever before, on my machine it is as light as AVG and AntiVir.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=15.0

 

I've been using AntiVir on all of my 7 systems for several years, and I've never had any trouble with those machines whatsoever. Can't say that for any other AV I've tried... Some are running pro, some premium and some classic versions of it, two of them are unix based systems.

 

Jerry,

#1 consideration should be to use the antivirus that you (and your system) are most comfortable with.

She has EZ-Trust on Her System, not the best in tests, but when I do online (Kaspersky & Ewido) scans,
her system always comes up clean, so EZ is best for her, because she likes it.

I have used and loved AntiVir for past three months on WinXP pro as well as Win98 backup system.

The AntiVir Forum is excellent for support and has many threads on how to deal with Avnotify (PopUp).

Would seem that AntiVir install problems are related to leftovers from other AV's and/or system
corruption from trojans and spyware.

I came from 9 years of Norton and just used Control Panel; Add/Remove, Modify
to remove only the AntiVirus portion of Norton SystemWorks 2005.

On my Win98 (different AntiVir download) I did get a bad download from a 'mirror' site
and it would not install, a second download from AVIRA Home solved it.

I am usually on Dial-Up and AntiVir Updates itself three times a day and I really like the way it works.

I also have ZoneAlarm (free) and SpywareBlaster, Ad-Aware, SpyBot and Sandboxie with no conflicts.

Art

 

Only problem with Antivir is that on my pc that I just reformated with Windows ME(I don't like the OS, so don't get me started), Antivir won't install correctly. It was the second thing installed after MS Office XP. First I got a corrupted install. Then I went and redowloaded it from my other computer, and it has a run time error trying to extract files. Thus, I installed avast! and it works like a charm

I do love Antivir though on my main pc, and will switch back to it after my free 3 month license of NOD32 is up. The absence of a HTTP scanner isn't that big of a deal since I will be using the Proxomitron which stops a ton of exploits. Great product. I think they have ironed out most of the bugs in v7

Alphalutra1

 

My last post was a mixup on my part. i accidently downloaded the Windows XP version of antivir, so that is why it wouldn't install, doh! So it is installed and working like a charm Antivir is sweet!

Alphalutra1

 

I believe free Antivir does not include email scanning.
Is that still true?

 

Evidently Antivir is more "friendly" than I surmised. However, I think I will keep Avast as email scanning is important in my mind.
I am pleased to see how well the freebies did on the last test.

Avast fell down in the area of trojans, and other malware. I think that combined with Ewido and brain usage it is a combination that is overall as good as the big boys.

Thanks for the comments. That is the way we learn here.

Jerry

 

It is true that the "POP 3 Scanner" is not included in the Free for Personal version of AntiVir,
and the Emails you send will not bear a tag "This Email was Scanned by ...".

AntiVir's Guard shows you the files scanned and you can see your incoming Emails being scanned.

Attachments are not scanned as they arrive, but are scanned before opening if you click on them.

Should you try to attach an infected file to an outgoing Email, it will also catch that.

This gives me all the "Email Protection" that I need.

 

Probably, which is why I don't understand why the free version does not include th scanner, it would make folkes more comfy.

 

It is also an excellent gimmick to make people want to buy the product

Alphalutra1

 

Don't forget that the free version doesn't detect Adware and Spyware...

 

I won't try an AV that does not include email scanning.
How else can I make sure it works with my email prog?

 

If cannot try it, I won't buy it.

 

I think e-mail scanner module in desktop antivirus is quite important for people that their ISP doesn't offer virus scanner for e-mail. Or on the other hand, e-mail scanner module can act as your layered scanners if virus scanner at ISP fails to do the job.

It's good to catch viruses/worms before it gets into your e-mail client program (e.g. Outlook Express), if viruses/worms e-mail get into e-mail client program and you try to open an attachments then real-time file scanner should catch them but probably too late, because it's probably too hard to delete an attachments and you may lose all e-mails stored in e-mail client database in order to delete viruses/worms.

Furthermore, some viruses/worms take advantage from vulnerability of web browsers or e-mail client, if viruses/worms can get into e-mail client and you open an e-mail to read (if it's not in plain tex mode) so it's probably too late.

So I think it's good to catch viruses/worms before it gets into your e-mail client by e-mail scanner module in desktop antivirus.

 

My thoughts also, TAP.
Jerry

 

AntiVir could better detection agains't virus, trojans and worms, but that isn't all that counts for me...

So I prefer avast! Home over the AntiVir PEC.

 

Thats true....my first av was avg 6 which i used for a few years and never once contacted a virus..We all tend to think that getting the best av (detection wise), is the way to go , but in reality ..if you use common sense and dont go looking for viruses/malware ,then the majority of avs will do.I guess its psycological really.I just go for the av that interacts well with my system and uses the least resources.
ellison

 

No Doubt that Your Best Antivirus Program has to be the one that you like and are most comfortable with.

Keeping in mind that a good Antivirus Program should be just one part of your security precaution,
a "better detection..." advantage would be offset by trying to use a Program you are less comfortable with.

You should backup your AV (whatever brand) with a Firewall as well as at least three AntiSpyware's.

You should occasionally also run online scans, Ewido Micro works to remove 'tracking cookies' and Trojans,
Kaspersky's OnLine AntiVirus will find any virus but leave you to deal with it.

Most important would be to store a backup of any data that you would not want to lose.

 

Nasties can infect your system without any explicit action on your part.
However, NO AV program is going to catch them all, so all you can do is follow good practices and hope.

 

Thats also true....Good practices go a long way ,and probably protect the user more than any av.From my own experience I certainly dont worry that one av wins one months av awards over another anymore.
ellison