Which AV???

I can choose between PAY - Symantec Corporate 10.1.5.5 or AVG pro

Or one of the free ones...

Antivir, AVG,


Which do you recommend, and why (protection wise, resource wise...)

Thanks so much

 

Those the only AVs you'll consider?

 

I am open to any av's.... Looking for the better ones.. The pay ones I have listed, I can get through work for free, but I have heard some say the free ones are better... What do you recommend?

 

Symantec Corporate 10 has a excellent reputation and updates frequently.

 

Symantec av is pretty good but a little heavy on resources imo. For the average user avg pro has no advantages over the free version.
If you want a straight forward av then either antivir PE or AVG free are your best options. They're light, free and simple to use.
Personally i prefer avg, its simple, does its job well, no nonsense, no fuss.

 

IMO any AV other than Symantec would be OK.Symantec has caused more problems than fixed them. My choice would be NOD32.

 

Kaspersky or NOD32.

Was a very happy NOD32 user for over a yr.

Now I am a very happy Kaspersky user.

 

Well, NOD32 is not free... I can have the AVG or Antivir for free...

What is the difference between antivir free and prem?

AVG free and paid?

Thanks!!!

 

Considering the probabilities that it will run smoothly on your system I would consider,
Free - Avast or AVG. Avira is better at detection but is buggy as shown by posts here.

Paid - Kav 6 or NOD32. While I prefer F-Secure to NOD many complain of resource usage with FS.

I have used Avast Home and KAV6 with satisfaction and also, on my machines, FS.

If an AV causes problems it is not useful, and the only way you can know that is to trial the ones considered.

Best,
Jerry

 

Thanks, and you prefer all these over symantec? I believe I can have AVG Pro for free as well...

 

I prefer all of those over Symantec.
AVG Pro is not free except for a trial, but AVG has a free version that is well thought of by a fairly large percentage of folks I personally know. It seems to be an install and forget AV.

Of course one must insure all applications and Windows are kept updated. I believe AVG free does have the option of automatic updates, and I would enable that.

Symantec has a high detection rate, but many here say it is bloated. I used it for several years with satisfaction during the W98 days, but when I left it for others I have never considered going back. In fact if I get a new computer that has Norton or McAfee as a trial installed, I uninstall it before activating it.

Try one of the freebies. If you are not a dangerous surfer, either of the three that runs well will give you adequate protection. I would add an anti-spyware application such as SuperAntiSpyware and probably a-squared free as a scanner. Spyware Terminator is a free AS that seems to be good.
I assume you have a firewall or at least the XP firewall activated. If you are behind a NAT router it is even better.

Start with AVG free, and see how it runs. If it runs well then keep it. If not try Avast Home.

Best,
Jerry

 

So let's get this right. The only paid AVs you will consider are AVG & Symantec. Because you have licenses to them from work. So they are free to you.

And you will consider any other truely free AVs.

Is this correct?

 

I guess that is correct..little low on cash at the moment, so i need something that is "free" to me...

With that in mind, what is the best choice for me to make?

Sorry for the confusion I may have caused, and thank you for your help and insight.

 

AOL Active Virus Shield (based on KAV) is a good free AV. Antivir Classic is also excellent.

 

Somebody earlier mentioned you should try them. To see how they act on your computer & how you like them. I agree.

So given these parameters. I'd try them out in this order. And if you follow this. You can stop the process at any time you're satisfied.

1. Active Virus Shield (free rebranded Kaspersky)
http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
2. Avast home
3. AVG pro

 

I recommend AntiVir Personal Edition Classic. It's very light on resources, has automatic updates, and you can set it to scan automatically. Best of all it's free!

 

I recommend AntiVir PE Classic also.
The Premium has a mail scanner and dedicated update servers.
The mail scanner is not a neccessity IMO.

 

Just use your avg pro. Set it and forget it.

 

Thanks for the responses... I think I like the AVG pro, I need to learn about the settings and stuff...thanks for all the help.. One other security question...

I use firefox, avg pro, comodo firewall, trojan hunter, win patrol, router firewall...

Is there any need for a anti spyware program? I used to use one, but nothing was ever found, and I do not want to run anything for no reason.

Thanks

 

Symantec Corporate Edition is not the same as Norton Antivirus 200x. Especially if you are talking about resource usage. This is even reflected in the system requirements of both products.

Symantec Corporate Edition System Requirements

Norton Antivirus 2007 System Requirements

Out of the options you listed I would personally take either Symantec CE or AntiVir PE Classic as others have mentioned.

I used to be a network admin where we ran Symantec CE and had no problems with it as far as resource usage or stability. We had PIIs running it all the way up to P4s (as well as a few AMD computers). We had Windows 98 computers running it all the way up to XP Pro and 2003 Server. Protection was also good if definitions were kept up to date.

I have also been using AntiVir PE Classic at home and like it very much. I am even more impressed with it after seeing recent test results of this product. I have not encountered any stability or resource issues concerning this product (installation on 2 windows 2000 computers, 2 windows xp computers, and a windows 98 computer). And the negatives said about the nag screen when updating or the slow/problematic update servers for the free version is only a minor inconvenience for me especially considering the product is free. Even with that said i have rarely encountered problems specific with the free update servers in awhile and i have been using AntiVir PE Classic for about 6 months. My online surfing practices are considered safe and if i do not get a signature update within the hour (or even the day) it is released I do not feel I am putting myself in considerably more danger. So AntiVir PE Classic has been a nice fit for me in this regard.

As far as antispyware products go I like Spybot and Spywareblaster a lot. I use Spybot as strictly an on demand scanner (I do not use TeaTimer and such) so it does not use any resources unless I am performing a scan. Spywareblaster also does not use any resources either. I mainly use these two products because I have a lot of respect and trust in both the developers of these products. And I have used both these products for years and have not had any serious issues with them. And considering they are both free you will likely not feel as bad running Spybot and it not finding anything to remove on your computer. To me getting a "clean slate" from Spybot is better than running one of those commercial anti spyware product with a questionable reputation and having it pick up numerous "security risks" that are likely not even really threats, just so that you will buy their product.

 

@ Billy Blaze

Nice avatar , Commander Keen !