4 ms·

I have recently purchased Avast and I regret it. While free version serves as an anti virus well, paid version does all kind of strange things with system. It m

I have recently purchased Avast and I regret it. While free version serves as an anti virus well, paid version does all kind of strange things with system. It made Wi-Fi stop working under Windows 8, rendered OpenVPN drivers uninstallable and what not. Anyone with a good AV suggestion? I want something light on system that has Firewall as well(can go for separate Firewall as well), free options preferred.

forcer 14y ago
If you have W8. why don't you just stick with what is built in? There is really no need to have AV software on W8
- derefr 14y ago
  I don't know why this was downvoted. Windows 8 comes with Microsoft Security Essentials (rebranded back to "Windows Defender"), Windows Firewall, and Windows Smart-screen Filter all set up by default. Additionally, every browser (including IE10) now does its own phishing/malware site flagging protection. Together, that's about the sum of what AV packages provide you--so I don't really see the need for one any more, as long as you leave all the defaults on.
  - Already__Taken 14y ago
    Further reading on this: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/15/protecting-you-from-malware.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/15/protecting-you...
- ishansharma 14y ago
  I should have mentioned that I downgraded to Windows 7 after having graphics drivers issue with 8. Apparently, AMD never built drivers for 44xx series of cards, so I couldn't play games properly. But Windows Defender is available on Win 7 too, right?
  - h_r 14y ago
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentia...
johnx123-up 14y ago
For suggestions, I'd always suggest crowdsourced AV like SocialAV. But, for quick and old way, Avira AntiVir is great.
kaoD 14y ago
ClamAV/ClamWin. It's not a resident antivirus so you'll have to scan files you download yourself (or set some kind of trigger) which IMHO is better because it doesn't hog your PC when you don't need it. Microsoft Security Essentials is good on Windows too. Microsoft has a bad reputation but it does a good job here. You'll need a separate firewall, but Windows has one built-in and Linux has sooo many alternatives. Also: keep your software up to date and do regular full-system scans just in case. - EDIT: care to explain the downvotes please? It's so irritating when you downvote legitimate comments without further explanation. Where am I wrong here? Is it just because I mentioned Microsoft? Of course you can downvote but please do us all a favor and explain.
- ishansharma 14y ago
  Thanks for suggestions. I will try these. I am using Windows 7 and Avast really irritates me out sometimes. Regarding Windows Firewall, is it good enough? P.S. I did not downvote, in fact just upvoted you.
  - kijin 14y ago
    Microsoft Security Essentials + Windows Firewall (enabled by default if you install MSE) = probably good enough unless you visit a lot of shady websites. In fact, this is the exact same combination that comes with every copy of Windows 8.
  - kaoD 14y ago
    It's probably good enough. Don't need that P.S., the downvoters won't explain their Microsft hatred :P
networked 14y ago
According to AV Comparatives' tests [1] Avira Free Antivirus performs the best out of all free (gratis) antiviruses for Windows. I use it myself on Windows XP VMs as well as hardware Windows 7/8 installations and aside from the annoying daily pop-up I found the experience quite satisfactory. The downside is that with real-time protection enabled it slowed down older Pentium 4M and AMD Sempron machines I've tried it on a bit too much compared to Avast. [1] Specifically, http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/dynamic-tests http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/dynamic-t... and http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/detection-test http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/detection.... Avira scored second (out of 15 free and paid AVs) on the file detection rate test, which for my purposes is the most important metric. I'm disappointed that those tests do not feature free and open-source antiviruses like ClamAV, though.
acdha 14y ago
> Anyone with a good AV suggestion? I want something light on system that has Firewall as well(can go for separate Firewall as well), free options preferred. Use Microsoft's Security Essentials and the built-in firewall. Nothing else is enough better to be worth the cost, performance hit or reliability hits (MSE isn't magically immune to those but it's tested by the same people and they have a stronger incentive to keep the Windows experience competitive). That's for the easy end of security risks: since traditional AV is becoming less and less effective there's increasingly little benefit to cancel out the costs of using it. The way the AV industry sales tactics are increasingly relying on sleazy fear tactics mirrors this: the traditional players are used to a certain recurring revenue stream and really don't want people to start questioning how effective it is. The real benefits come from disabling plugins (or at least click-to-play) and keeping internet-facing software on a fast update cycle - Chrome or Firefox, etc. Since the exploit cycle is getting faster, it's about staying ahead of it and finding defense in depth improvements (e.g. not having Flash installed, keeping truly sensitive data on separate systems, using two-factor authentication everywhere, etc.) to reduce the chance of a simple exploit getting whatever the attacker wants.

forcer 14y ago

If you have W8. why don't you just stick with what is built in? There is really no need to have AV software on W8

derefr 14y ago
I don't know why this was downvoted. Windows 8 comes with Microsoft Security Essentials (rebranded back to "Windows Defender"), Windows Firewall, and Windows Smart-screen Filter all set up by default. Additionally, every browser (including IE10) now does its own phishing/malware site flagging protection. Together, that's about the sum of what AV packages provide you--so I don't really see the need for one any more, as long as you leave all the defaults on.
- Already__Taken 14y ago
  Further reading on this: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/15/protecting-you-from-malware.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/15/protecting-you...
ishansharma 14y ago
I should have mentioned that I downgraded to Windows 7 after having graphics drivers issue with 8. Apparently, AMD never built drivers for 44xx series of cards, so I couldn't play games properly. But Windows Defender is available on Win 7 too, right?
- h_r 14y ago
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentia...

johnx123-up 14y ago

For suggestions, I'd always suggest crowdsourced AV like SocialAV. But, for quick and old way, Avira AntiVir is great.

kaoD 14y ago

ClamAV/ClamWin. It's not a resident antivirus so you'll have to scan files you download yourself (or set some kind of trigger) which IMHO is better because it doesn't hog your PC when you don't need it. Microsoft Security Essentials is good on Windows too. Microsoft has a bad reputation but it does a good job here. You'll need a separate firewall, but Windows has one built-in and Linux has sooo many alternatives. Also: keep your software up to date and do regular full-system scans just in case. - EDIT: care to explain the downvotes please? It's so irritating when you downvote legitimate comments without further explanation. Where am I wrong here? Is it just because I mentioned Microsoft? Of course you can downvote but please do us all a favor and explain.

ishansharma 14y ago
Thanks for suggestions. I will try these. I am using Windows 7 and Avast really irritates me out sometimes. Regarding Windows Firewall, is it good enough? P.S. I did not downvote, in fact just upvoted you.
- kijin 14y ago
  Microsoft Security Essentials + Windows Firewall (enabled by default if you install MSE) = probably good enough unless you visit a lot of shady websites. In fact, this is the exact same combination that comes with every copy of Windows 8.
- kaoD 14y ago
  It's probably good enough. Don't need that P.S., the downvoters won't explain their Microsft hatred :P

networked 14y ago

According to AV Comparatives' tests [1] Avira Free Antivirus performs the best out of all free (gratis) antiviruses for Windows. I use it myself on Windows XP VMs as well as hardware Windows 7/8 installations and aside from the annoying daily pop-up I found the experience quite satisfactory. The downside is that with real-time protection enabled it slowed down older Pentium 4M and AMD Sempron machines I've tried it on a bit too much compared to Avast. [1] Specifically, http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/dynamic-tests http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/dynamic-t... and http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/detection-test http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/detection.... Avira scored second (out of 15 free and paid AVs) on the file detection rate test, which for my purposes is the most important metric. I'm disappointed that those tests do not feature free and open-source antiviruses like ClamAV, though.

acdha 14y ago

> Anyone with a good AV suggestion? I want something light on system that has Firewall as well(can go for separate Firewall as well), free options preferred. Use Microsoft's Security Essentials and the built-in firewall. Nothing else is enough better to be worth the cost, performance hit or reliability hits (MSE isn't magically immune to those but it's tested by the same people and they have a stronger incentive to keep the Windows experience competitive). That's for the easy end of security risks: since traditional AV is becoming less and less effective there's increasingly little benefit to cancel out the costs of using it. The way the AV industry sales tactics are increasingly relying on sleazy fear tactics mirrors this: the traditional players are used to a certain recurring revenue stream and really don't want people to start questioning how effective it is. The real benefits come from disabling plugins (or at least click-to-play) and keeping internet-facing software on a fast update cycle - Chrome or Firefox, etc. Since the exploit cycle is getting faster, it's about staying ahead of it and finding defense in depth improvements (e.g. not having Flash installed, keeping truly sensitive data on separate systems, using two-factor authentication everywhere, etc.) to reduce the chance of a simple exploit getting whatever the attacker wants.