A Geeks Life

Welcome to my review of Anti-Virus software. This question is asked a lot on @ChrisPirillo‘s chat room, #chris on irc.wyldryde.org. I fugured I would go over a few of the big one’s. A lot of the information can be found by searching the internet. One site is http://www.av-comparatives.org/
windows av

AVG
AVG is one of the leading Anti-virus software out there. As one of the oldest AV’s AVG has a huge following.

Some of the pro’s for AVG are as follows:

The most downloaded software on CNET’s Download.com
Protection against viruses and spyware (antivirus and antispyware)
Fast, effective security that is kind on resources
Compatible with Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows Vista
Huge user base with constant updates.

Now for some of the cons for AVG:

Virus detection of AVG antivirus software is not as good as the virus detection by commercial antivirus software such as ESET (Nod32) antivirus software

AVG antivirus software offers limited flexibility in adjusting options
AVG antivirus software is quite hopeless in detecting spyware and Trojan Horses
AVG antivirus software is pretty bad in detecting adware

Now that we have gone over the Pros and Cons of AVG lets go into some personal stuff. I feel AVG’s detection rate isn’t as high as some of the other more commercial AV software out there. Now it isn’t as bloated as say Norton by Symantec but it is still resource heavy. I know when scanning it is supposed to be but if you plan on playing a game while it is on you should turn off the real time detection.

Mcafee

Another wildly popular AV software. This one comes pre-installed on most laptops and desktops these days. I have no idea how it became so popular I for one would never recommend it to anyone I know.

Features of McAfee antivirus software

A review of McAfee antivirus software’s capabilities shows that McAfee antivirus can handle the maximum viruses among antivirus software in the market
A review of McAfee antivirus Online indicates that the subscription model ensures the latest virus definition updates and updates to the anti-virus software engine are available
The McAfee antivirus software is one of the few antivirus software available under the subscription model- wherein the McAfee antivirus software itself is free,but you pay a periodic amount (every month) for using McAfee antivirus software
Review McAfee antivirus software- cons of purchasing McAfee antivirus software

Ok now for the Cons of Mcafee.

McAfee antivirus software does not exhibit a great deal of ability in detecting and removing spyware
Similarly,McAfee antivirus software is not great or ideal to remove adware or Trojans from your pc
The McAfee antivirus software is definitely more pricier than the competition -even the McAfee antivirus Online software works out to be quite costly in the long run.
If you are a corporate or a guy who has dollars to spare,McAfee is definitely the ideal antivirus software.

Avast

As I could not really find an reviews of Avast! I decided to actually look into the detection scanner of the program. I did not find much. But I did find that they are releasing Avast 5.0 to the public as beta. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47740.msg402682#msg402682 will be the link.

If you have a review of Avast you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

Eset (Nod32)

I may be partial to this software but I think it is one of the best that there is to choose from. Not only is it fast but it is proven fast. The website http://www.av-comparatives.org shows how fast this is and even reflects that in boot time cold or hot.

Pros
Fast = Nod32 here by called Eset is a very fast application and even still is great on boot up as it doesn’t take long.
Light = Smaller install then say Norton
Detection is high = Detection rate on Eset is very high and with smart security 4 you get the firewall along with it.

Cons
Price is high = Eset isn’t cheap, especially the smart security suite. The suite for once person license is $59.99.

Symantec
I have never really been a fan of Norton or Symantec and I will try to give an unbiased opinion as I can.

Norton was in it’s day one of the leading AV software out there. Now a days it is one of the most bloated and biggest installs that you can do. Now onto the pros and cons.

Pros:

One of the most updated databases with the AV community.
Largest databases of all the av software and it is searchable.

Cons:

Bloated
Large install
Even with a large database detection is low.

BitDefender
As with Avast! I have not had a lot to do with BitDefender or Kapersky, Webroot, or F-Secure but I will try and add what I can.

If you have a review of BitDefender you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

Pros:
Protects against viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and rootkits • Performs well on third-party, independent antivirus tests •
Cons:
Application configuration options are often either “enable” or “disable” — we’d like more options •

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010

If you have a review of Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

Pros: Runs somewhat fast and includes anti-spyware so you don’t have to buy a second program. Updates frequently for the latest updates.
Cons: Bit of bloatware but not to awful bad. Is a bit on the slow side when you are running a resource heavy program such as a game.

WebRoot
I have not heard much in the way of good with this program, all the searching around has not produced anything positive. I will paste some of the reviews I have found on it and let you decide.

If you have a review of WebRoot you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

F-Secure
If you have a review of F-Secure you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

“Terrible product”
by Michael Mina on September 1, 2009

Pros: Used to be good
Cons: Too slow after free upgrade
Summary: I purchased Spysweeper 2 years ago, at the time, it was an excellent product. Recently my computer started acting up and became very slow. When I try to open up spysweeper, it would tell me it’s loading, even after many hours. Some how the program never acted like it use to. All this happened after the definition updates. I went back and installed it from scrtach. Same problem. After I uninstalled it, my system returned to normal condition. Spysweeper used to be a good product, but now, I will avoid it at all cost. I still have 7 month on the renewal.

“Falsely advertised on their wesbite”
by terry215 on August 30, 2009

Pros: None I’m aware of
Cons: Claims a 5 star CNET Download.com rating on their website, but there is no evidence on CNET of this being true.
Summary: Don’t waste your time on it.

Now there are a ton more that I have seen, some claiming SpySweeper is a scam. You decide and let me know.

G-Data

As with a few of the others I have not used G-Data myself. With that said, I did do some research on it and found some reviews. CNET is a good place to look at reviews for software by the way.

If you have a review of G-Data you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

Pros: Easy to install and easy to uninstall. Highest detection rates for viruses and spyware.
Cons: G DATA AntiVirus 2010 causes too much heat in a computer: the fans turn much faster with normal activities. I think that because G DATA has two scanners it is too much of the good things.

Trend
If you have a review of Trend you would like to include or any other AV please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me Mike@ageekslife.net.

Pros: This program is improved over the 2007 version. It’s faster, lighter on resources yet has the same, dependable scan engine. It can be purchased very cheap on line. The installation is easy. The update is smooth also.

Cons: Personally, I have not had the issues some others have but then I don’t use free programs so “who cares about “Spybot S&D” ?

Apple Anti-Virus
I do not have an apple or do I plan to purchase one. From here I will just add some links for them and let you decide.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/fr/iantivirus.htm

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/fr/virusbarrier.htm

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/tp/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/fr/mcafeevirusscan.htm

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/fr/clamxav.htm

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/fr/macscan.htm

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/fr/nortonmac11.htm

Linux AV’s
The same with Apple AV’s I do not use linux much. I also feel personally that Linux is one of the very few operating systems that you do not need an AV with. Let me know if you think otherwise.

http://www.pandasoftware.com/com/linux

http://www.centralcommand.com/

http://www.ravantivirus.com

http://www.antivirus.com/

http://www.sophos.com/

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