anything better than?

Here's a recent review comparing AVG with Avast.  As was already mentioned, everyone around here seems to have their favorites.  I've been using Avast for about a year and like it.

 

Are we talking about AVG's Antivirus 7.5 or Antispyware 7.5?  (Ever since AVG bought ewido antispyware, and renamed it with the same version as the AV, it's been confusing. Im always mixing up their icons).

 

Assuming you meant the Antispyware, I would recommend more than just one for use as on-demand scanners. It's not a matter of  which is best- none will pick up everything. Unlike AV's or firewalls, you can use as many as you want. And some are better at picking up trojans. I use all the following antispyware:

- Windows Defender (Final release) Resident Anti-Spyware
- AVG/ewido anti-spyware v.7.5  (demand anti-spyware/anti-trojan scanner)
- a-squared Free 2.0 (demand  anti-spyware/anti-trojan scanner) 

All are available in free versions, and I can't think of any good reason not to have and use them all.

Joe, what about compatibility issues between Win.Defender/a-squared with traditional security software such as McAfee, Kaspersky, etc.?  Any known conflicts?

 

Also, do these anti-spyware software "run constantly" because that might cause a conflict with existing antispyware software, right?

 

Stan

Stan:

 

Good question. As a general rule of thumb, I would suggest not running more than one real-time (resident) antispyware application in the background, to avoid potential conflicts. At present, I only run Windows Defender as resident AS protection.

 

That said, I have run AVG(ewido) AS along with Defender, both in real-time, without any problem. This was true whether I was using AVG Free or avast as my AV. (I stopped when my free trial period of  AVG(ewido) ended, at which point I was left with only the on-demand scanner).

 

As far as Kaspersky, McAfee, etc go- if you just use their AV there should not be any conflict with any AS, resident or otherwise. If you are talking about security suites, then all bets are off, since these suites often have AS resident protection included.

 

Defender, AVG, and a-squared antispyware all have the option to turn off their resident shield protection, which still leaves the capability to run them as on-demand scanners. In this mode, I am unaware of any incompatibilies with any traditional security programs. Nor can I think of any reason why there should be. They would function just like Ad-Aware SE Personal (the free version).

Try downloading Microsoft FREE Windows Defender.

Sherr