BEST anti-virus software out right now?

I just lost my entire reply. I forgot to copy it. It is so tiresome having to copy a reply first before posting.  I use many of the same programs mentioned here. One I did not see mentioned was a-Squared Free. Any thoughts? 

I just lost my entire reply. I forgot to copy it. It is so tiresome having to copy a reply first before posting.  I use many of the same programs mentioned here. One I did not see mentioned was a-Squared Free. Any thoughts? 

Annie,

Joe53 mentioned "a-squared" among his [free] on-demand scanners, on page 2 of this thread, in his post time-stamped "05 Jan 2009 05:30PM".

I myself do not use it.   But it comes highly recommended by Donna (of CoU), in whose [admittedly limited] tests it easily "beat out" both MBAM and SAS --- see http://www.calendarofupdates.com/updates/index.php?showtopic=16354

Donna's opinions are highly regarded, and I'm not in a position to question her (albeit other testers have offered different comparative results). 

Hi Annie,

I've been using a-squared Free for a while now and like it a lot. I can't say personally how effective it is at detection/removal as thankfully (touch wood) I'm managing to keep my computer clean, but I can say I've never had a False Positive or any other problems related to it in this time.

It's very user friendly with a simplistic interface and since a few weeks ago, the makers, Emsi Software, have added a second scan engine from Austrian antivirus company Ikarus.

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19247195/19392260.aspx#19392260

Thanks!

Gonna download Avast now.

Wish me luck.

I have used Avira Antivir for many years and it has kept my system clean. One of the things I like about it, is that it is just a virus scanner and does not try to be everything. Either I have been very lucky or just smart (hope smart) but between the various facilities in FireFox and my own experiences (used to manage the AV and spam solution for a company), I do not need much more. I also use ZoneAlarm for my firewall. Although I just upgraded (?) to Vista 64 and ZoneAlarm does not support it (yet?).

When I bought my XPS laptop, it came with Trend Micro. I had many issues right off the bat that were related to it so I remove it asap and ran much better.

So if you want just an anti-virus product, go for Avira (I see that you stated Avast, which I heard is good also), but if you want one of those suites, I did have pretty good luck with Norton. Mcafee really .

My $0.02

Hi, baseballnut020,

You did not include filenames or locations, so I can't tell if they are really malware or false positives.  If I were you, I would send them to the Chest. 
In several days when you are sure they are not false positives and everything is working well, delete them from there.

Hi, baseballnut020, You did not include filenames or locations, so I can't tell if they are really malware or false positives.  If I were you, I would send them to the Chest.  In several days when you are sure they are not false positives and everything is working well, delete them from there.

I would list the filenames or locations, but there are WAY too many to list.

So if my computer is working well over the next week I can delete the files in the chest?

So if my computer is working well over the next week I can delete the files in the chest?

Yes.

You also could check the Avast forums to see if any of those are reported as False Positives.

QUOTE:

Review:
"If Kaspersky wants to charge the highest price, its security suite should have the best protection and a smooth, intuitive interface. It doesn't..."

More HERE

Brian,

Personally, after fixing over 50+ computers on daily basis.  Stay away from Symantec.  I would suggest McAfee, combination with AVG as well as run the online version of housecall.trendmicro.com

Good luck.  some are more advance than the others.  

Spiros