Best Antivirus program?

As 2014 comes near, I realize I haven't been in the loop regarding any antivirus programs.

I used to be a Norton guy back in 2005 and a couple years ago I bought AVG. Is anything better today?

I'm not too highly on AVG as a free-trial of Hitman Pro was able to detect a Trojan that a paid AVG didn't.

Malwarebytes? Hitman Pro? Norton? AVG?

Is anything better than others or just personal preference?

At work we have symantec, which takes up huge resources, but does seem to be pretty secure. At home, I have set up several family members computers with free antivirus and I've been finding that adaware is catching the most. I also have malwarebytes loaded onto each machine for seek and destroy missions.

I have both Norton 360 Premier Addition and MalwareBytes. MB catches stuff that Norton does not. It's best to use both. This version of Norton is a lot better then the last version I used. I have been told by a security expert that the average time from when a virus is released into the wild and when its signature shows up in the antiviral programs is 5.2 months.

I recently tried ClamAV. It's an open source AV project.
http://www.clamav.net/lang/en/
The windows version is here
http://www.clamwin.com/

It appears to work, but I've only been using it for a week or so.
It's only a scanner though. While it can check memory for viruses, it doesn't have a resident scanner.

Kaspersky isn't bad. My main issue is how they slow the CPU down when running scans, etc....I have Norton 360 right now, and its like an anchor.

TEEJ said:

Kaspersky isn't bad. My main issue is how they slow the CPU down when running scans, etc....I have Norton 360 right now, and its like an anchor.

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What about NOD32?

dc38 said:

What about NOD32?

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?

TEEJ said:

Kaspersky isn't bad. My main issue is how they slow the CPU down when running scans, etc....I have Norton 360 right now, and its like an anchor.

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No problems here with Norton 360 slowing my computer down. Might be because I have an AMD quad-core and 6 gigs of RAM.

Light Sabre said:

No problems here with Norton 360 slowing my computer down. Might be because I have an AMD quad-core and 6 gigs of RAM.

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I'm on an old dual core I should probably upgrade.............but I do have a lot of RAM, 16 G.

I use Norton Internet Security, no problems with it being a hog for resources, my laptop has a Core i5 and 8Gb, it's a few years old but I can have multiple pages open and still run Photoshop without any noticeable slowdown. My Norton subscription covers a desktop and my other laptop as well so I don't look like changing anytime soon, just paid for another year a couple of months ago.

I use AVG, works like a charm. Most antivirus software works great if the user isn't opening up every spam mail they get.

TEEJ said:

I'm on an old dual core I should probably upgrade.............but I do have a lot of RAM, 16 G.

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You'd be surprised - my old dual cores with 4 gigs run laps around my new 8-core with 8 gigs. Its because the old cores are running at 3.1GHz and the new 8-core is running at ~1.8GHz, and it does not ramp up as well as Intel claims. I run alot of models and GIS and I'm keeping my old boxes as long as I can. I just replaced the RAID on one that puked. Now if you want to run a lot of programs and don't care about speed, then more cores are better.

dc38 said:

What about NOD32?

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It is very good. When I had Windows 7 (switched to openSuse recently) I had Eset Nod32 +malwarebytes (ran once a month). Never had an issue with Eset & if I'm not mistaken it was not a resource hog as well. To be honest Common Sense 2013 is the best program out there (and switching to linux as well ).

eset nod32. have installed it on several friends pc's over the years. it does a really good job.
or if youre a tight git like me and want a free one avast is good.

I would recommend going with MSE if you can, otherwise AVAST would be my next choice

I have been happy with Webroot. I tried the others mentioned, and I continue using Webroot.

I spend my working days cleaning up infected systems - most come in with Norton, McAfee and Trend Micro installed but completely broken by the malware, or simply didn't catch it.

I load AVG and Malwarebytes on them, they go home clean and I don't get repeat visits (I track them in a database).

I trust AVG and Malwarebytes as a team to keep me safe. You can't rely on any one product, as nothing is perfect.

I don't see many systems with Kaspersky or NOD32 come in, so I suppose that means they do OK - but Kaspersky drives me up the wall - it's like a needy girlfriend, needing your input ever 15 minutes or it'll have a nervous breakdown.

All that said, my own system a Mac with ClamX AV

I still like that combo of AVG and malwarebytes, but I have found that a very determined 11 year old with an itchy clicky mouse finger can break it. When I added adaware as primary, with AVG as backup and malwarebytes as needed, the scumware gets stopped before it can deliver any payload. I was surprised at how effective adaware is as primary, though I have used it as backup for years.

I know it's not anti-virus per se, but I run the "No Script" add on for Firefox and it really gives an added layer of protection when surfing the web (for malware that attacks via Javascript). You can disable it at any time or customize what websites you allow to run Java.

mvyrmnd said:

All that said, my own system a Mac with ClamX AV

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Agree 100%-Once you go mac you want go back.