Anti-Virus Software

[pichu655889]

What kind of antivirus software do you guys use? I've been using McAfee which came pre-installed when I got my laptop but it's been lagging my whole computer down everytime I run a scan. Currently considering switching to AVG, but are there any other alternatives that you guys would recommend? Thanks for the help :)

 

[Hanagai]

using AVG, paid AVG

 

[Ploggs]

On Windows, I use Avast (free version) for real-time scanning and MalwareBytes for periodic scanning. Both programs run pretty light (MB has a realtime scanner as well) compared to other anti-viruses.

 

[excalibur]

I'm a Network Administrator etc and I would recommend using ESET NOD 32 http://www.eset.com/int/home/ Choose Smart Security. Its very good and highly recommended to use in a home environment and Networks as well. Also they update their virus database alot so they are always finding ways to fix the new viruses that hackers etc make. When I worked as a IT Techician building PCs I installed AVG on the systems but found out later it isnt as good as nod 32 because some anti virus programs put viruses on your computer to make sure you keep paying their products. Yes I know its very unethical for them to be doing it but its the real world.

Message me if you have any enquirys

~Excalibur

 

[pichu655889]

How CPU-intensive is it? My main concern with McAfee was that everytime I ran a scan on my computer, my Chrome and even the Windows taskbar would crash... Although I'm not sure if that is a direct cause by McAfee or there's something in between that causing it. Has anyone encountered similar problems before?

 

[excalibur]

Its fine :) the program runs well when I have 30 tabs open in firefox lol. try it out and see how it is. Usually you scan your computer with nothing else running or sometimes a browser open depends really

 

[pichu655889]

I'm using my computer almost all the time and I don't like leaving it on at night when I go to bed to scan, so I usually have my programs (like Chrome) open while running a scan. But thanks for the recommendation I've heard of the software once or twice but never really knew how good it was.

 

[excalibur]

No problem glad to help :)

 

[~dreamer~]

I just use Avira Antivir + Comodo Firewall =p
Malwarebytes and SuperAntispyware for periodic scanning

 

[LonerPrime]

I basically fine tuned my machine for performance since it's a Dual Core and most programs these days gulp a lot of resources. Hence I use Microsoft Security Essentials that came free with Windows. Granted your OS needs to be authentic for installing it but there are ways around it and once you are past that you can pretty much enjoy an anti-virus that is at par with paid softwares like NOD, Kaspersky etc at the price tag of free.[By the way I have personal experience using both paid and free anti-viruses in the past so this is like a comparison opinion as well] It's light and pretty robust. For "ware" related scanning I use Spybot and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware occasionally. Also Windows firewall works like a charm combined with random scans by Windows Defender.

 

[pichu655889]

:X are the pre-installed Windows tools that good?

 

[Ghost Kitty~]

Hmm... im using windows defender like him..~ I do believe its free to give people more incentive to get a real copy of windows? I dont really go on shady websites if i can help it so dunno if its actually doing much... xD But working fine so far....

 

[LonerPrime]

Foremost, only Windows Defender comes installed with Windows so you have a couple of options like I mentioned instead of using Defender if you feel uncomfortable trusting Windows products. Though for the sake of argument, I must mention here that most support products like Defender, Security Essentials, Firewall etc were designed by think tanks not affiliated with Windows initially but later absorbed into it instead of writing a bunch of protective programs from scratch. A comparable example that Microsoft is known for doing something like that would be the buyouts of known tech projects like Skype, Hotmail and recently Nokia. So as far as the quality of these pre existing softwares, renamed under Windows flagship, goes I personally feel they are up there and at least close to equal if not better compared to it's competitors. Even, when most anti-viruses go nuts tagging harmless cracks as viruses, Windows support softwares seldom would ever give me false positive and I dabble in a lot of "not-so-original" games.

 

[pichu655889]

Ah, I always thought it was something like Internet Explorer - alright, but not too good either (no offence to those who like and use IE though). I'll give it a shot after my current antivirus subscription ends.

 

[LonerPrime]

Oh boy, IE is as much a product of Microsoft as hentai is of Japan. Homegrown and created by the oldest of the oldies and neither won't stop releasing newer versions/variants even it becomes rotten beyond recognition. Still you will never ever catch me dead recommending IE, even to the worst of my enemies xD

 

[animefreak99]

people still using IE, is behind the times. as for anti-virus software i'd recommend Kaspersky doesn't require much system resoruces like most anti-virus. it's minimun system requirement is like;

1ghz CPU
1g ram.

most laptops and desktop should have that minimum requirements now adays.

 

[pichu655889]

The thing is, minimum system requirements do not specify or limit the actual resource consumption, does it?

 

[Killer cell]

I'm using quick heal total security, makes my computer 30% faster

 

[LonerPrime]

On the note of resource consumption pichu655889 mentioned. Here is a screenshot displaying the memory MSE eats during constant monitoring mode.[Above the interface] http://puu.sh/5aibv.jpg

It stays around that CPU and Memory consumption during a quick scan as well. > http://puu.sh/5aigo.jpg

It spikes a bit during heavy full scan but CPU is unfazed. > http://puu.sh/5aihQ.jpg


I do face issues if it starts a heavy scan while I am playing a game. Though MSE keeps working at it's peak, one might notice the FPS/HDD slowness with gaming. Not good if the game is an online type. I should mention that this is most probably due to my machine being dual core. With it's limited multi tasking ability it does have issues executing 2 very heavy tasks at the same time but that shouldn't be a problem for Quad core or I generation core owners. Others who have a CPU like mine or older would be best off not running full scan while doing something heavy. Otherwise even the full scan is like a stealth ninja while running simpler or lightly complex programs side by side.

 

[animefreak99]

The thing is, minimum system requirements do not specify or limit the actual resource consumption, does it?

yeah it doesn't effect how much it'll consume, how much it consumes is usually decpendent on how much files its scanning through. I just prefered something that had a small requirement.

edit:
the thing about MSE i didn't like was that it always popped up at convenient times

 

[shinnmoso]

Depends on your needs. Definitely stay away from MSE as Microsoft admitted it being a 'baseline' anti-virus i.e. no 0 day protection and generally quite shitty.

For free ones, AVG isn't too bad, neither is BitDefender Free. BitDefender free ran quite well with my underpowered X300.

 

[FinalPyre]

I used to use the all mighty PC cillin (government businesses use it, anyways), but when I got a new computer I didn't bother. Now I've just been using windows defender, and I have yet to get anything I can't resolve in a few seconds. Though in retrospect I don't think I ever got anything on my old PC either. I'm not even that safe of a browser... :P

 

[LonerPrime]

Though I do not want to come out looking like a MSE groupie because well, I am not but given shinmosso's opinion about it I think I should mention my reasons for using it since the OP is looking for something that is not a resource hogger.

Quote:

"The best anti-virus is a smart user"

Microsoft Security Essentials gets poor ratings because it doesn't waste computer resources by using aggressive heuristics and machine learning techniques to identify viruses. Microsoft Security Essentials instead relies primarily on definitions. This means that anything Microsoft hasn't provided a definition for will not be caught by Microsoft Security Essentials, but it also means that Microsoft Security Essentials is a lot faster than most other anti-virus programs, and that Microsoft Security Essentials almost will never gives false positives. In simple words, MSE is capable of detecting and defeating most threats virus based threats that most internet users get exposed to while running a Windows OS.

That being said, if one totally wants to dabble in shady internet websites and download stuff that would even put Chuck Norris on alert, then by all means MSE isn't the right choice.


PS: My apologies to the OP btw. I do not wish to ninja your thread so this is my last post about this topic here. Opinion given, decision is yours :)

 

[pichu655889]

My apologies to the OP btw. I do not wish to ninja your thread so this is my last post about this topic here. Opinion given, decision is yours :)

Er, OP being me? No worries about ninja'ing the thread, it's helpful to see discussion on which antivirus software is better - helps me make a better decision in the end anyway. Feel free to continue posting if you have anymore opinions to share.

 

[shareht]

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