The best Windows antivirus software for home users - av-test.org

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by Krusty, Dec 7, 2020.

  1. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    10,210
    Location:
    Among the gum trees
    Surprise from Malwarebytes!
    https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/
    https://www.av-test.org/en/antiviru...020/malwarebytes-premium-4.2.0--4.2.1-204015/
     
  2. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2004
    Posts:
    17,546
    Location:
    The Netherlands
  3. ance

    ance formerly: fmon

    Joined:
    May 5, 2013
    Posts:
    1,360
    Well done Defender, so I don't need to test other "free" antivirus with nag screens/pop ups any more. :D
     
  4. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    They should change their testing procedure or result calculation. What worth does the test have if half of them are awarded full 6/6 points and every one except four are "Top Product"?
     
  5. Hiltihome

    Hiltihome Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    Baden Germany
    @__Nikopol :
    Their results represent, that most AVs are good enough, to protect average users, from common risks.

    Considering that average users are not hit by zero-days and sophisticated attacks, I agree with their results.
     
  6. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Posts:
    5,614
    Location:
    Milan and Seoul
    Hiltihome, you probably see a fair number of infected machines in your job, I have no doubts about it, but last time my AV detected anything was about 6-7 years ago plugging in third party USB flash drives in my job. At home, nothing at all, and believe me some times I visit websites that are considered potentially at high risks, but in my experience if someone said I'll pay you to get infected, I wouldn't know how to do it by simply browsing the web.

    I think we are all a bit delusional believing that malware is all over the place on the internet, fear, uncertainty, and doubt disseminated intentionally by anti malware companies to keep their huge profits afloat. I have been backing up my system regularly for 12 years, I restored images hundreds of times, and it was always for file corruption, misconfiguration, bad installations, malfunctioning updates, NEVER for malware.

    I'm not advocating no security, but any AV will do nowadays, moreover why spend money when MS Defender is doing an excellent job? The reason I have WiseVector StopX installed is to support a young promising company first (based on AI) and have it as a second opinion scanner, but really it is not needed on my system.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2020
  7. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    Ok, but the "average user" is also not interested in these tests. Therefore, imo, it makes no sense to have such weak test procedures.
    It looks like that's intentional in order to make those who pay for the tests look good. (It is a paid service, right?)
    It could be that all the AV developer use about the same honeypot service to get their samples, but it could also just as well be that AV software evolved to win the fight against malware.
     
  8. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    10,210
    Location:
    Among the gum trees
    I disagree. Perhaps the average user here may be interested in these test results, but in the wider community I'd suggest most don't even care how their chosen AV tests. Some probably don't even know AVs are tested at all.
     
  9. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    No, you agree. You just read it wrong. :)
     
  10. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2002
    Posts:
    4,325
    Location:
    US
    +1 :thumb:
    Acadia
     
  11. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2016
    Posts:
    1,424
    Location:
    Dubai
    I never look at their tests. 90% of AVs are 6/6 in the performance department. Yeah right!!
     
  12. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Posts:
    2,787
    AV-Tests results have always been interesting. They usually rate Defender highly for system impact, while AV_comparatives always trashes it. Same with FPs.

    Regardless, I have been "out of the AV game" for a few years now. I have mostly just used Defender, with ConfigureDefender on high settings. Seems to work well. Ever time I try something else, I get annoyed with the logins, popups, ads, etc..
     
  13. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    The only thing that bothers me about Defender is that it rarely shows me a pop-up when it detects and blocks a file. Like, I downloaded Process Hacker and Defender deletes it (Taskmanager wars), so I go into detection history and find three other files it silently deleted some time ago. All FPs, though.
     
  14. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Posts:
    2,787
    For me it will usually flag it on download. Then I just override to keep the file.
     
  15. Hiltihome

    Hiltihome Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    Baden Germany
    You probably have disabled notification center, otherwise WD actions would show up there.

    I hate software, that disturbs me with popups.
     
  16. Hiltihome

    Hiltihome Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    Baden Germany
    It's getting less, since W10-1909, because WD is doing a good job.
    Most issues are support fraud, and banking disasters, that are caused by users herself.
    These are not covered, by any AV-solution.
    Address book stealing and SPAM attacks, are often done by macro trickery.
    These are also not covered by AV, because legal Windows tools are used, after users allowed macros.

    With a good ad blocker, like uBlock Origin, you hardly see the buttons to click.

    One more point for WD:
    It does not cause issues, with Windows updates.
    Using Configure Defender Master, with high settings, one ist almost protected bulletproof.

    Backup is obligatory, regardless of any AV.
     
  17. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    Do you mean Action Center? It is enabled, afaik. But it's currently broken. As well as Night-Light for some reason. To be sure I've explicitly set all the policies I could find to show notifications.
    All the security center notification settings are on, too.

    What the heck happened here? Found that while checking for notification settings
    https://i.imgur.com/gfV6Llh.jpg
    Apparently it's Pseudolocalization. Weird.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2020
  18. Hiltihome

    Hiltihome Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    Baden Germany
    @__Nikopol :
    Ich meine Benachrichtigungen.
    =Action Center

    Broken Action Center, and weird characters in policies?
    :Best to start with a clean install.
     
  19. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    Yea... I'm doing an upgrade to 20H2 now. I'll see if that fixes anything or not.
     
  20. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2011
    Posts:
    4,208
    niko, did you run any of those w10 privacy tools on your sys?
     
  21. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    yeeeess... :oops:
    I still try to fix all the issues they produced. Feature updates rarely work without using Media Creation Tool and Store doesn't work either, for example. I suspect BlackViperScript or Blackbird.
     
  22. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2011
    Posts:
    4,208
    thought so. as @Hiltihome noted, i'm afraid you should start from scratch.
     
  23. __Nikopol

    __Nikopol Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Posts:
    630
    Location:
    Germany
    Nope! :) Upgrading fixed all my issues. Even the pseudolocalization is gone. :)
    And the story of my windows installation that survived since 1604 and the transfer from a laptop to a desktop with "opposite" hardware continues! Yay!
     
  24. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2011
    Posts:
    4,208
    hmm, 10 must have repaired itself with the new update. glad to hear that you're all sorted, niko. :thumb:
     
  25. Hiltihome

    Hiltihome Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    Baden Germany
  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.