puzzled over all the AV's

I'm currently trying the Kaspersky AV 5.0 personal and it's ok. Soon to expire though. So, I'm looking at all the free AV softwares and it's confusing to say the least. Every site has it's own perspective of the rankings. Can anyone tell whilch software(s) will be decent for a computer on the high-end?
thanks

 

Stick with KAV argueably the best. The whole issue of AV's can get confusing but KAV seems to rise above it all no matter which way you look at it. One argument says you only need a light AV with a good ITW record, another argument says extra signatures provide extra protection even though you pay the price in slower speed.

I was in favour of the first argument and used light AV's like AntiVir which performed very well then I briefly switched to an even lighter EZ AV and I got infected within a short time so Im back to KAV 5 for peace of mind.

 

Nod32 is the best all round in my opinion, I recommend it to all my customers.

I strongly dislike the ADS (Alternate Data Streams) streams that Kaspersky leaves, even if u use the removal tool there is no guarntee they will all be gone, the only way to remove them permanently is a format and then u cant use backups from the previous installation.

The ads streams that Kaspersky uses are hidden files that are attatched to every file on the PC, they may help with detection but the average user is unaware of their existence.

There is a beta version of Nod32 out at the moment, it is available for free testing Here , it is very stable and there is support on this forum.

If you have installed the full version of Kaspersky you may wish to remove the ADS that are on your system, they will still be there after you uninstall and on every file you have copied.

 

I would recommend that you stick with KAV if you already have it running. I also don't like the ADS but they are being done away with in version 6.0.

Rich

 

problem with keeping KAV is that it's the trial version and I cant afford to buy the retail version. Well, atleast not yet. So meanwhile, the options that seem nice are NOD 32 and avast! 4.

 

you can get Kav here for a good price. $34.95

 

Try BitDefender or ArcaVir. Both are really really good products, though BD may not be "light" on some PCs....

 

Since your new AV will probably not have the overall protection that KAV provided, then I would recommend that you also download Ewido Free for backup on-demand detection.

Rich

 

I'd say try the NOD32 beta. If you can't afford a paid solution at the moment, it will provide some slack time. Of the free options, Avast! would probably be the one to go for.

Try to look at it in terms of cost-in-use. Virtually any AV is ~ $1/week. It is not a major cost and it does provide decent insurance against malware. I go a bit deeper myself, but the cost-in-use is still extremely modest for the benefits.

As Rich suggests, you can cascade free solutions to get a very good outcome. You lose some convenience and some effectiveness in coverage, but if you can tolerate that, it is a workable approach.

Blue

 

You can give NOD32 2.5 beta a spin like I am currently doing. Very nice AV.
There is also Kaspersky Internet Security 2006 prototype. It's surprisingly light on my system.

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=115

BTW KAV 5.0 gives you the option of not using AD streams, just in case you didn't know that.

 

Could someone tell me about eTrust EZ AntiVirus? Is it any good ? There is a 1 year trial for it . Do you think it any better than the free ones?

Thanks

 

I personally believe it to be better than the free ones. It is a good av it might not have the detection of Kav.mcafee and trendmicro and nod but it is still better than the free av's. The free av users might disagree but I still think it is better.

 

I agree that NOD32 is a very good program, particularly the latest Beta. However, I think KAV is still ahead in detection but NOD is catching up fast.

Remember KAV did not create ADS, Microsoft did and I don't think there is any harm in the ADS KAV uses, however they do cause some additional fragmentation which is a problem with System Restore. I just turn System Restore off as it is not great and there are better solutions. Other programs also use ADS, it is not just KAV. The ADS used by KAV are not related to detection but rather to scanning speed.

I agree it is very good

The Kaspersky Removal Tool works well for me. You cannot easly remove the ADS from the locked System Files but they don't cause any problems as far as I can see.

Dick

 

I was a fan of EZ until I got infected soon after I installed it. If its light fast and seems to good to be true it probably is so I want back to KAV 5. AntiVir would be the best freebie, I used it for years without infection.

 

Is NOD 32 a completely free AV software or is there a limitation to it's license?
Btw, thanks for your replies guys.

 

The current beta is free until the new version of NOD32 is released.

Otherwise, it is a commercial AntiVirus; if you decide to keep the program after a trial period then you have to pay for a license, which can be for 12 months or up to three years.

 

Hello,
Unfortunately, no it's not free, but the beta may provide you with excellent protection free for a short while yet.

If you intend to buy, I'd go for Nod32 or Kav (preferably 4.5 in my opinion) _ I chose Nod.

Also, remember that your PC probably was relatively expensive, and the files you created may be precious to you, so the money spent on a good antivirus and firewall is never wasted.

#
Toby.

 

Why are everyone making such big deal from KAV ADS!?
If the one who found them be silent,you wouldn't even know they are there.
And can they be a security risk? No,they are created by Kaspersky doh.

 

There are less than ten people in the various forums who are very vocal about how dangerous KAV's ADS's are. For the rest of the world, including my own machines, they cause no problems. KAV is not the only program that uses the ADS, I have a lot of them on .pdf files which were not put there by KAV. They can also be found on .jpg files but the anti KAV group like to make it sound like ADS is a bad Kaspersky creation.

Dick

 

When installing KAV 5, it is possible to specify that the ADS will not be used. Also, it is possible to get rid of every single ADS. It just takes a while.

The only possible downside to the ADS is that they interfere with a few programs designed to detect rootkits.

 

AMEN TO THAT! (including RejZoR's post)

Does it open your refrigerator door and is drinking all your beer? No!
Does it affect other software in a bad way? No!
Does it affect your health? YES! If you complain again and again about things which you probably dont even understand!

 

Hi all,

I've gone over the question of ADS with the people over at the KAV and ICE forums so I will not rekindle the issue again here. Suffice to say:

1) ADS does not provide any kind of additional security protection.
2) ADS causes conflicts with other security programs because they are in general security risks and other security programs interrogate them (e.g. ATs and rootkit detection programs)
3) ADS are a potential hole in any security system (I have discussed this and never heard a rejoiner)
4) In Kaspersky's own poll, the overwhelming number of KAV users wanted a mechanism to get rid of ADS, which is why Kaspersky was finally forced to release its own ADS removal tool (which is inadequate). Other ADS removal tools are available - none of which can guarantee to completely clean a system from ADS (I am the proof of this).
5) ADS will not be in the architecture of the new 6.0 - and for good reason. It was a mistake from day one.
6) Only a few people discuss this, because for the most part it is a dead issue. The suppression capability is available in 5.0 Personal (why it is not in Pro is beyond me), as are the availablity of removal tools.

ADS was, is, and always will be a bad idea. A "stop gap" measure - if you may, to address possible performance issues. I strongly recommend that users of KAV either use the 4.5 Personal or 5.0 Personal versions and suppress ADS during the installation procedure (I personally recommend 4.5, because I feel 5.0 is a mess). Of course, if someone wants 10s of thousands of ADS on their system - then they are free to have them.

Rich

 

LOL. Poor lifelongvagabond, he's going to be more puzzled than ever after reading this thread.

Acadia

 

lol. Life can be very complicated.

Anyways, I have just spent several hours so far (there are many hours ahead) cleaning a machine of a friend who was using TrendMicro (on the advice of Earthlink). Here are the results so far:

1) KAV found two trojans that TrendMicro completely missed.
2) Adware found 53 tracking cookies.
3) Ewido found one spyware program (moderate) and numerous tracking cookies.
4) CounterSpy found a couple of tracking cookies.

I'm going to run TDS-3 as well as some rootkit detection programs to see if they find anything more. Even then, who knows. I'll look at the traffic with Port Explorer and activity with FileMon. I'll also install Firefox and SpywareGuard. Maybe some other stuff if she can handle it.

My basic advice is to get the best protection possible with the money available with the least amount of holes without overly compromising performance. (Does this mean not to use Windows? ).

Rich

 

So try the Beta2 of Kaspersky Personal MP3, it's running stable around here. Download it here (remember the beta-key too!!) this way you get to keep a month or two longer.