uhmm... bitdefender?

OK Thanks. C.S.J. & Albinoni for offering those honest opinions.

I'm game for any "Quick" AV exactly as you described above if for nothing else, to better identify new introductions of m'ware since it is nearly impossible to successfully disengage so many Formidable shieldings on my own boxes that safely (without issue) run together while individually performing their special defense/interception methods.

I do favor BitDefender from what i was able to experience with it. Also in addition to that, Dr Web definitely is one that seems to be healthy in this race, of that there is no argument from me.

 

No one answered my question. Does BD support still require you to remove Spybot and Spyware Blaster? BD certainly cannot be a "great" AV if that is still required.

I'm getting really tired of these crappy AVs that require removal of other security applications. I hate suites in AVs. I just want an AV .. no email scanner...no HTTP scanner...just an AV. So far, I really like aVira but I won't like it if it gets a suite. The more junk crammed into an AV the more problems there will inevitably be. All a good AV needs is command line scanning. You don't even really need real time.

I disagree that there are really good AVs out there currently. I think all of them have serious shortcomings...SERIOUS shortcomings.

 

One can't please everyone (no offense)

Anyway, BitDefender support now only recommends you to uninstall other products, and does not say things like "we will not support you if you use other products".

You can try AVG Anti-Malware. I feel it has stuck to the general idea of an AV decently (you can disable the email scanner).

 

No AV programs or in fact anything is perfect. Howerver, it is still safer for the average user to run an AV program than none given the number of computer threats coming through the internet. I do agree that AV installers should warn instead of mandating users not to have other security programs running on their PCs at install time.

 

I used BD9 for a while, and found it OK, although there were quite an annoying amount of pop ups, many of which were intelligible to an average user. My main problem with it was that no matter what I did, it wouldn't allow the incoming ports for μTorrent or Azureus, and is the only suite I have come across which refuses to do so. I briefly tested BD10, and although the pop ups have diminished, it still won't allow the incoming ports in my torrent clients, so for that reason, I wouldn't recommend BD to torrent users.

 

I have BD10 and never had problems with UTorrent.

 

Hmm... I wonder what the problem with mine could have been then?

 

Although I have never used Bitdefender or had the desire to try it, if it works well for you and you like the program and it's features, why change because you haven't seen it talked about much in a newsgroup lately ? on the other hand, if your current license is about to expire or your just looking for a change, then there's a plethora of antivirus programs to choose from, they all have their plus and minuses. It's my opinion that any av program properly maintained and kept up to date will provide adequate protection, the other criteria for selecting an antivirus program are a matter of personal choice.

 

Using BD 10 and SpywareBlaster on two desktop PCs and one notebook (all Win XP Pro SP2) without any problems.

Used S&D for several years but I stopped using S&D back when I bought Ewido 2.0. IMHO, S&D while still good (especially for those still using Win 98/ME) has not kept up with the times, there are better AntiSpyware choices now than S&D. Hence if I did have to make choice between BD 10 and S&D I keep BD 10. Plus the fact that to replace BD 10 with another top tier AV (e.g., Kav, NOD32, etc.) for my 3 systems would be more costly. BD has the least expensive renewal costs of the top tier AVs and I only need two licenses since a BD license allows a user to install BD on one desktop and one notebook.