Free AV's

I dont see how their updates are a problem as they've added new servers and I myself get updates every day.

Comparing Avast's detection to Aviras is simply no comparison either.Antivir has better,period,end of story. You,do however,have the choice of what you prefer

 

With all the talk about heuristics, have any of you ever caught an actual virus (confirmed virus, not just that the AV said it was malware) via heuristics? I've tested all of the AV's in actual everyday use, and the only results I've gotten from all these supposedly advanced heuristics are false positives. I think there's a big difference between what an app is supposedly capable of doing versus what occurs in actual use. Personally I've come to the conclusion that process/execution control is more effective than signature/heuristic detection. The latter to me seems a bit like rolling the dice and hoping it comes up snake-eyes.

 

Yup, years ago. I took an up-to-date AVG, an up-to-date Avast and an up-to-date Antivir and tested their detection with 8 different viruses / malware.


Avg did the worst,followed by Avast in second. Antivir found all 8.

It's been My choice of free antivirus since it was still in version 6

 

I'm not talking about testing or using already known samples. Of course at least one of the AV's is going to have the signatures for those. I'm talking about normal every day use without deliberately attempting to collect malware for testing purposes.

 

So you're talking about normal every day use where normal viruses don't usually appear, and hence the heuristics have nothing to act on while process execution has bajillions of chances to produce useless FPs, and judging by that scenario heuristics are useless while process execution is the miracle panacea?

 

I didnt "deliberately" collect anything. I simply visited some cracks / serials websites and then scanned my computer using Kaspersky online scanner.Then after I knew what I was infected with,I sent AVG, Avast and Avira to the test.

In EVERY test,Avira won.

 

Same experience

 

Hi,

I compared Antivir Free on Xp with Antivir on Vista64, guess what, no self protection on X64, see pic On XP you have an extra tick box area called "Protect processes" in that area you can select Protect Antivir processes from unwanted termination.

Others also noticed this?

 

thanks kees, so that box is not there for vista64, is that what you are saying.

 

Before deciding to remove Avast for Antivir I checked the time passed between sleeping (closed umbrella) and active guard.

At load of Antir/VistaFireWallControl you can see the avast symbol spinning. While Antivir stays asleep for over 20 seconds. See pic

Seems that the GMER anti rootkit knowledge (Avast used) and the cross platform capabilities of Avast clearly give a it an advantage over Avira 8 on Vista64 bit platform.

So decided to keep the weaker Avast on Vista64 box, because a sleeping strong guard is not what I want

regards K

 

Got it right

 

thanks kees, it is reported.

 

You shouldnt have 2 anti-virus programs running on a computer-period!
You wanna compare programs fine,but running both programs is just asking for trouble.

 

Even with Avast removed it kept sleeping, so non relevant reply.

 

The reply is pretty relevant, as he is absolutely right. No way you should have two AV programs active.......they're most likely to clash.

 

Or possibly delay the opening of a certain umbrella.

 

Remark about 2 av's is irrelevant for the cause of the delay. After removing Avast it kept sleeping. So the cause (Avira protection startup slow) is not related to having 2 AV's. With ONLY Avira installed, it kept on sleeping, ergo reply irrelvant.

Could you check whether the self protection is available on Vista32? (it is not on Vista64)

 

The remark about two av's is always relevant, no matter what situation.

 

Antivir is compatabile for 32-bit and 64-bit vista systems. If the guard isnt working,there's a conflict in your system,it's not Avira's fault your tryin to install 2-antivirus programs. I guess it's easier to place blame on a program then it is to actually find out what is causing the particular problem.

 

It seems I am talking to wood, but I will explain te procedure followed
- did a system restore to situation when only Avast was installed
- did a remove (de-install) of Avast
- did a re-boot
- installed Avira
- did a reboot

Guess what:
a) self protection still is not an option in the configuration module of Avira
b) guard still sleeps for 20 secs before opening its umbrella

 

It is good practise, but that is something different than always see http://www.antimalware.eu/

By the way I am not bashing Avira, changed back to Avira on the XP box.

 

Self protection is available on Vista32 and is working good. It's not available on Vista64, according to the statement in the Help section:

Protect configuration file against unwanted modifications
Protect configuration
If this option is enabled, the Avira AntiVir Premium Configuration can only be saved with administrator rights.

Warning
This option is only effective if Avira AntiVir Premium is installed on an NTFS partition.

Protect job files
When this option is enabled, only a user with administrator rights can change existing scanning and update jobs and protect jobs he has created.

Protect processes
Prevent AntiVir processes from being terminated
If this option is enabled, the AntiVir processes are protected against unwanted termination by viruses and malware or against 'uncontrolled' termination by a user e.g. via Task-Manager. This option is enabled by default.

Important
Protection is not yet available for 64-bit systems!

 

Thanks

 

Thank you so much for this information I will try when I have time for it

 

Avast and Avira actually co-exist perfectly fine. I've been running this 2 anti-virus setup for over 2 years with no problems at all. I disable the standard shield in Avast and run all the other shields. Right now i'm on Vista 64 and use Avira 8 & Avast 4.8 still with no problems.