Anti-Virus Decisions

[ZeeOSix]

My free 30-day use of McAfee has now expired on my new Dell desktop. So I need to decide between these 3 basic options in the next few days:

1) Buy a year renewal license for McAfee (don't know how much that would be).
2) Uninstall McAfee and install Norton AV for free from my internet provider.
3) Uninstall McAfee and install one of the better free AV programs (not sure what the "best" is right now).

I've heard that Norton can be somewhat "intrusive" and a resource hog.

Not sure how good McAfee really is, so don't want to pay for something that doesn't protect as well as some free option.

I know it's been discussed a number of times, but what is the "best" free AV program at the moment - AVG Free, Avast Free Bitdefender Free? I'm currently also running Malwarebytes Premium, and still will after getting my AV decision done.

 

[JeremyInMT]

Use the free Norton until you can find a cheap deal on Bitdefender or Kaspersky. I got a deal for Bitdefender for 3pcs for 2 years for $9.xx on newegg.

 

[badtlc]

Avira Free if you have Win Pro version. Bitdefender free if you want low resources usage with great detection and nothing to fiddle with.

 

[SrDriver]

I find that the free Bitdefender works great and does not keep nagging you into buying the paid version. Have been running it on Two Widows 8.1.1 machines for almost an year without issues.

I am running the free version of Panda on a computer now for a couple weeks. Bought the paid version and will give it a good test. Like what I see @ this point.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: SrDriver
I find that the free Bitdefender works great and does not keep nagging you into buying the paid version. Have been running it on Two Widows 8.1.1 machines for almost an year without issues.

Same here. Been running it on three different W7 machines for some time now.

 

[demarpaint]

I wanted to run Bitdefender free, and it would not play nice with Google Chrome on my Win 7 Dell laptop. I was not able to load Chrome with BF free on the machine, I never found out why. I ended up going with Avast free, and find when it talks it is very annoying. I end up using my Linux PC about 95% of the time now.

 

[Smcatub]

The free version of Avast has been OK for me. It annoys me sometimes with popups but it's generally been OK.

 

[Quest]

Use freebie Avast or AVG and be over with it.

Afterall: over 1/3 of the infections come in from your browser(e.g. surfing): through BHO, vuln java scipts, XSS vulnerabilities,etc.

I'd rather spend the money on a subscription for Malwarebytes instead.

Q.

 

[Rand]

Eset, havent used malwarebytes in years.. except to verify bad-stuff free.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Windows defender. Provided by by Microsoft for free and it works very well. Does it's thing in the background unless there's a problem, at which point you get a notification

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: SnowDrifter
Windows defender. Provided by by Microsoft for free and it works very well. Does it's thing in the background unless there's a problem, at which point you get a notification


I cant agree seen too many fully infested systems with defender chugging along saying everything is great.

If I was going free, probably avira, or bitdefender if it worked without being buggy on that particular computer.

 

[JeremyInMT]

The big advantage that bitdefender (and kaspersky) have over Avast, AVG, etc is that it does a MUCH better job of detecting things that are NOT defined in the AV definition files. Most of these AV's detect 98%+ of the ones in their definitions. The real difference is in what they don't know by rote definition. The scary part of this is that even the best of AV's can detect around 50%-60% of viruses not in their definitions. The others drop down around the 20%-30% or maybe even worse rates.

Bitdefender paid edition for $9.xx for 3pc's for 2 years is not much money really.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Eset, havent used malwarebytes in years.. except to verify bad-stuff free.


+1.

 

[TxHeat]

Do a search on Amazon for Bitdefender or Kaspersky then look at the "Used" or open box for sale. Lots of people buy them, submit the rebate and then sell them cheap. Most cases you'll only get the cd with the registration key, no box.

The other option is, as someone else said, watch the sales, either Newegg or Fry's for free after rebate. Quite often Newegg will have Bitdefender or Kaspersky free after promo code and rebate and free shipping.

I would have recommended Norton Internet Security until recently, but they no longer offer it. They've rolled Internet Security, Norton 360, Norton Antivirus and 1 or 2 other products into one and they call it Norton Security.

Right now I'd recommend the two on the top and honestly I like Bitdefender.

Visit any of the sites to compare what each offers, make your selection and then buy it.

Recommend you do NOT buy it from them as it's too expensive AND don't give any of them your credit card number. You'll have a heckuva time getting them to stop billing you if you ever quit using it.

Here's a Fry's sale for Kaspersky Internet Security Multi Device, free after 2 rebates but plus sales tax for most people, and free shipping.
Kaspersky at Fry's

 

[larryinnewyork]

I've been using Norton for several years with 'no' problems.
That's, no problems with Norton or virus's

Kaspersky seems to be just as good, if not better.

Right now, I don't know enough about computers where I would switch.

If I have any problems though, I would look into Kaspersky.

 

[C1KLTX]

If you are going to use the Norton i HIGHLY recommend disabling the Intrusion Prevention setting. It causes severe network driver lag which can cause sites to freeze split second before loading. It is fine once it is turned off. For a free alternative go for Avast! or AVG. IMO Bitdefender is not good, they give you popups for products (which you cant disable unless you call them) even if you have the pro versions.

If you want a good deal on a paid version try this site Reputable site have used them and will again. Up to 70% off.

http://www.antivirussales.com/deals

 

[TxHeat]

Originally Posted By: JBinTX30
If you are going to use the Norton i HIGHLY recommend disabling the Intrusion Prevention setting. It causes severe network driver lag which can cause sites to freeze split second before loading. It is fine once it is turned off. For a free alternative go for Avast! or AVG. IMO Bitdefender is not good, they give you popups for products (which you cant disable unless you call them) even if you have the pro versions.

If you want a good deal on a paid version try this site Reputable site have used them and will again. Up to 70% off.

http://www.antivirussales.com/deals


Prices on that site are high compared to other sites.

I have Bitdefender Total Security, (Sphere-unlimited devices), that I got free after rebate, running on 6 virtual machines, 3 laptops and a desktop. I've never seen a nag or pop up trying to sell me something.

 

[C1KLTX]

Originally Posted By: bornconfuzd
I have Bitdefender Total Security, (Sphere-unlimited devices), that I got free after rebate, running on 6 virtual machines, 3 laptops and a desktop. I've never seen a nag or pop up trying to sell me something.


Maybe they changed it but I read lots of people had that issue. I know someone who had that issues as well, I'm guessing maybe it is your type of licence, who knows.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. So what more do you get with a paid version of Bitdefender vs their free version? If it was only $10 a year it would be worth it IMO if it gives more performance, etc vs thier free version.

 

[TxHeat]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Thanks for the suggestions so far. So what more do you get with a paid version of Bitdefender vs their free version? If it was only $10 a year it would be worth it IMO if it gives more performance, etc vs thier free version.


Not sure as I've never used the free version. But if I had to guess I'd say one thing you get with the paid version is no pop ups nagging you to buy. I took a quick look just now and I don't see a list of features for the free version and it's not included in the comparison of features on that page either.

One thing to know with all these security solutions except for Norton is that if you have or buy a version from an earlier year you can use that to activate the latest version. Just download a trial of the latest version of your product and after you've installed use the registration key you already have to activate it.