# Best Antivirus software?



## DWH Farm (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi, I am not a "techie" and don't know all of the terms, etc. so hope I this makes sense...

Bought my son a laptop for Christmas last year. After about 6 months had an issue where it would not connect to the internet. Did some research, ran a virus clean up thing that I found on here (instructions were to put it on a jump drive and then run it on the computer. Did this and it worked. The computer has done this several times since, would just plug in the jump drive, scan with the program and it would work again. The most recent time I could not find the jump drive or the thread. I did some research to try to find another way to fix it and came up with this: started the comp. in safe mode and ran the Microsoft safety scanner. Then ran scans w/Malware bytes and spybot. After that I restarted and was able to connect to the internet so I think it is fixed. At this point though, it has happened several times so I am concerned that 1) I am not fixing it completely each time, 2)the current antivirus software (McAfee) is not very effective. So my first thought was to uninstall McAfee and install something better? I have used AVG free on other computers in the past and it worked fine, but realize maybe I need something other than the "basic" free version here? I know that my son spends alot of time on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. Are those sites just more prone to viruses? If so is there a better program that you would recommend? Or if the original problem has never been fixed will it help at all to install a new antivirus program? Should I just give up and take it to a professional?? I hope I worded this so that it makes sense.. Any help is appreciated.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I use a combination of AVG and Malwarebytes -- both free. (and I am a Techie by profession)


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

You may lob grenades at me for saying this, but believe it or not, Norton Antivirus gets highest marks for the paid version.

I'm serious. 7 or so years ago you could not PAY me to recommend them to my worst enemy. However, I'm a 'stats' guy (I like facts, statistics, etc.) and the fact is that Norton Antivirus (not 360, not Internet Security, etc....just Norton Antivirus) has the highest detection and elimination rates, and the lowest false positive rates.

Now, if you want free, I normally recommend Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes. Like mnn2501, I'm a tech by profession. However, with some of the newer versions of AVG, I've seen a few of them hose up some computers, whereas I've not seen that happen at all with MSE.


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## DWH Farm (Sep 1, 2010)

I used to be all about the free, but with the repeated problems I am ok with purchasing. Just didnt want to throw my money away but I think atleast for him it is needed (maybe the websites he visits are more prone to having viruses?)? Lets say that I have not completely removed the bugs. If I install Norton Antivirus will it remove problems that are already there? When researching yesterday I kept coming across a program called "bitdefender", any thoughts on that one? Thanks!!!


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Kung said:


> You may lob grenades at me for saying this, but believe it or not, Norton Antivirus gets highest marks for the paid version.
> 
> I'm serious. 7 or so years ago you could not PAY me to recommend them to my worst enemy. .


They left such a bad taste in my mouth from their previous failures I haven't even looked at them in years -- it would be nice if they did do what they are supposed to now. How are they at wasting system resources? (something they were bad about in the past)


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

DWH Farm said:


> I used to be all about the free, but with the repeated problems I am ok with purchasing. Just didnt want to throw my money away but I think atleast for him it is needed (maybe the websites he visits are more prone to having viruses?)? Lets say that I have not completely removed the bugs. If I install Norton Antivirus will it remove problems that are already there? When researching yesterday I kept coming across a program called "bitdefender", any thoughts on that one? Thanks!!!


Bitdefender is a good option, I think it's 2nd or 3rd to Norton. 



mnn2501 said:


> They left such a bad taste in my mouth from their previous failures I haven't even looked at them in years -- it would be nice if they did do what they are supposed to now. How are they at wasting system resources? (something they were bad about in the past)


Trust me, I agree 100% with you when I say that they left a bad taste in mine as well. I would not TOUCH them till about last year.

But they HAVE improved. They finally started listening about 2 or 3 years ago to all the people who griped about system resources. Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security are actually not bad at all; and if you pay a bit extra for Symantec Antivirus or Symantec Endpoint Protection (the 'corporate' equivalents) they're better at resources.

Anyways, suffice to say they have SERIOUSLY improved. You could not PAY me to install it back in 2004 or 2005; now I've actually got it running on my laptop. (Though I will admit I DO get it for free.)

If I was going to go free, actually, I'd use Microsoft Security Essentials. It's caught things that even Norton missed. (Though not many.)


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Try Avast! Free. You won't regret it.


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## Graham (Jul 24, 2011)

The first thing I do when I get a new computer in is remove that stupid McAfee. I've heard good reports about Norton lately, but I'm a tightwad and use free stuff where I can. I've used AVG but I find that it can bog down the older computers a bit. I use Avast on them. The ones we have running Windows 7, I use the MSE, including my video editing suite, and all of them get Malwarebytes. Like Kung and mnn2501, I'm a techie with over two hundred units to look after, so I don't want virus problems taking up too much of my time.


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## DWH Farm (Sep 1, 2010)

Graham said:


> The first thing I do when I get a new computer in is remove that stupid McAfee. I've heard good reports about Norton lately, but I'm a tightwad and use free stuff where I can. I've used AVG but I find that it can bog down the older computers a bit. I use Avast on them. The ones we have running Windows 7, I use the MSE, including my video editing suite, and all of them get Malwarebytes. Like Kung and mnn2501, I'm a techie with over two hundred units to look after, so I don't want virus problems taking up too much of my time.


Do you use the Avast free? I really dont mind buying a program if that is the best solution but if I can get something that is going to work almost as well for free then that is great.. At this point I am open to any and all suggestions. Not McAfee obviously... I did some google searches and found some sites that ranked bitmaster very high, also seems a little pricey but if it is really that good I am ok with that.. Just sick of having the same issues over and over!


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## Graham (Jul 24, 2011)

DWH Farm said:


> Do you use the Avast free?


Yeah, like I said, I'm a tightwad, plus the school technology budget gets allocated elsewhere each year. Avast has worked well for us for the last three years, although I only have it running on the ones using XP. The new netbooks and laptops that came with W7 all have MSE on them. 
I've found the boot scan tool on Avast is really good for getting rid of those 'scareware' viruses that pop up from time to time.


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## okiemudman (Sep 5, 2011)

I use Norton 360 and have been very pleased with how it has performed.


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