are you interested in an "all-in-one" ("suite" ) that offers you anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and "the works"?  [a full suite would be a paid product]

or are you simply looking for an anti-virus only?

 

among FREE choices, we currently recommend avast or avira's antivir.  [we used to like avg, but no longer recommend the new version 8.0].

 

antivir offers only anti-virus protection.

avast 4.8 offers both anti-virus as well as anti-spyware protection.

 

they're both good programs... each of these have their advocates... it's really a matter of personal choice/taste.

 

 

while many people use them, i am not a fan a "suites".    here's a recent post by forum member Joe53 on this subject:

http://naut.homestead.com/files/Free/free4.html#What%20about%20Security%20Suites?

 

 

 

Yes, I'm looking for a full suite..all in one. (or is that not recommended?)

Hi

I use this one Avanquest System Suite 8 Professional


From Chris

My computer
Dell Dimension 1100
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3
512 MB of Ram
Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 256MB
Intel Celeron CPU 2.53GHz
Dell E196FP
HDD WDC WD800BB-75JCO 80GB C:
HDD Samsung SV2042H 20GB F:
TSSTcorp CDRWDVD TS-H492C D:
LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-851S E:
Linksys Wireless-G WUSB54GS With SpeedBooster
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 90
Logitech Cordless Click Plus Rechargeable Optical Mouse
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.1
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1

My Security Software
Avanquest SystemSuite 8 Professional
Windows Defender

Whilst not doubting the quality of kaspersky's product, i trialled it and found not it to be very user freindly.

Some warnings were hard to understand and would leave an inexperienced user confused. At times i found it was hard to configure and deciphering logs/reports wasn't that easy.

I'm not fond of suites. There is no one company that can be good at everything it develops.
I used System Suite by Avanquest for a couple of years until the subscription ran out, but prefer to select products individually so I get "the best of all worlds".

There is a list of free security software at the top of this forum. I run several of those programs and am happy with all of them.

I would happily pay for a suite that did all things well - just haven't found one yet! At the same time, I accept that many find their suite of choice useful and trouble-free.

 

In the meantime, I will continue to use my own-rolled mix of paid and free products.

If McAfee did not let you down then why are you looking for something else? My wife and I use McAfee (as do millions of other users). There are always going to be differences of opinions and naysayers in regards to security suites but for most of us, they work perfectly well and are very convenient. We spend thousands of dollars for our computers. It seems to me that the small outlay for a top-rated security program(s) is well warranted. But then... that's just my opinion. In the years I've been online, I've had a total of one infection during my second year and then only through complete negligence on my part). It was painlessly and easily corrected. That was ten years ago. Nothing since and I'm not planning on having anything. My wife has been online a bit longer than I without any infections of any sort. We both use security suites and we renew them at every opportunity. :smileyhappy:

There's a lot to be said for "dancing with the one you brung", if the one you brung causes you no problems.

 

I have used McAfee and Norton AVs, and they never let me down, as far as letting a virus in. Gave me a lot of grief otherwise, particularly with respect to the "bloat" factor, system slowdowns, update issues, and uninstall issues. Pretty much the same issues others post about here on a regular basis. Just as an example:
http://www.thepcspy.com/read/what_really_slows_windows_down/5

 

Frankly, I wouldn't recommend either McAfee or Norton products to a friend, but at the same time I would always say to stick with what works for you, be it paid or free, suite or standalone.

 

I understand. I suppose it's a case of... whatever floats your boat. In our case, we have very fast computers with lots of memory and processing speed. So a bit of bloat doesn't bother us in anyway whatsoever. I like the suite features and the convenience of an all-in-one package. Plus we purchased Webroot's Spysweeper to take care of the spyware. As for uninstallation... I've no intentions of uninstalling McAfee so there is no "issue" so to speak. BUT I can see for someone who has been experiencing slowdowns that you would either want to bump up your computer's system resource OR uninstall the suite and get something less system intensive.

 

I hope you find what will work best for you. All the best.

I posted earlier on another thread of my computer displaying dozens of browsers one after the other (my Yahoo homepage).  Not sure if this was a virus/malware..or fluke..as it's happend twice in 4 weeks.  But, if it was something bad I was concerned that McAfee may not be the best out here..and my subscription needs to be renewed soon.

 

ALSO there seems to be many detractors of McAfee for some reason and on other Vista Forums they also like Avast or Avira.

 

Just trying to get the best I can for my new computer.  Also according to these various tests it seems like these programs are always up there.

easy2putt:

 

While I believe that avast! and AntiVir are more than adequate AVs for most home users, if you want the very best (and are willing to pay the modest price) then I think you can't do much better than NOD32 (which I use mainly because I use this computer for work, which rules out using the freebies).

 

1) At av-comparatives, an independent AV test site, NOD32 received their highest certification in 7 of their last 8 malware detection tests over the past 2 years. McAfee, by comparison, consistently received their 2nd highest level in all 8 tests. No other AV tested performed better than NOD32, which received "best overall AV" from this test site for the past 2 years running.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

 

2) At Virus Bulletin, another AV rating site, Nod32 passed VB100 certification in all 12 tests over the past 2 years. McAfee failed certification on 2 occasions, avast! failed on 3, and AntiVir failed on 2.

 

3) Polls at 3 security sites I frequent (where respondents are presumably more security-conscious/ knowledgeable) were unanimous in selecting NOD32 as the most frequently-used AV over the past year or so (with AntiVir and Kaspersky as the runners-up).
http://www.matousec.com/
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196657
http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse/survey2008.pdf

 

4) Personally I find NOD32 to be as light on CPU/memory usage as were avast! and AntiVir when I was using them. It has  been problem-free over the time I've been using it. In particular, it has generated no false positive detections. It auto-updates more frequently than the freebies, and has had no server problems occasionally seen with all the free AVs. A 30 day free trial is available: http://www.eset.com/download/free_trial_download.php

 

But to be honest, for home use I think you would do just as well with avast! or AntiVir. They both also worked very well for me.

 

 

I'm just a home user and I've heard that NOD32 may be a bit to much fat to swallow for the average home user.  Thanks!

---

@easy2putt wrote:
I'm just a home user and I've heard that NOD32 may be a bit to much fat to swallow for the average home user.  Thanks!

---

Now who are ya gonna trust, "them" or yours truly? :smileywink:

 

But seriously, best of luck in your quest!

I had NOD 32 two years ago and can vouch for its effectiveness and low demands for system resources. The reason I opted for NOD 32 besides the excellent performances on Virus Bulletin was the fact that the province of Ontario chose to use it in all of their servers and throughout their department of education. Good enough for me.

 

I decided to go with McAfee since it came with our new Dell computers (we have three new computers now... one with Trend Micro and two with McAfee) and I've always respected McAfee as fine security software. Is it better than NOD 32? I rather doubt it but that doesn't concern me. It's close enough, McAfee has performed admirably on most virus tests AND the support is excellent. Of course, one is going to find negative comments but bear in mind that there are some 100 million McAfee users most of whom cannot be bothered to report that it is doing the job. After all... if it's performing as it should, why post about it? 

 

I think we sometimes get caught up in hype relating to speed, effectiveness and so forth. And in truth, how many virii have you had to fight to rid from your system in the past few years? My system(s) have been clear for ten years now... not a single problem. We sit behind a great router, we have a great security suite, my wife and I are very cautious in our surfing habits and in opening e-mail. We do not get caught up in "which is better" debates. I simply entered this one to ask you why, if McAfee had done what you wished it to do during the free period, you would look for something else? If it slowed your system down... then sure... look elsewhere. If virii entered your computer...then by all means. Otherwise, I did not understand your need to seek opinions. Google is our friend! LOL

 

Anyway... all the best to you. We're happy with what we have chosen and I hope you end up with something you like and will do the job. And remember... when it does its job it's quite boring, rarely troubling you other than reminding you of your scan results. :smileyhappy: