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Can someone list me some good anti-virus programs? They can be paid programs; they don't have to be free. Preferably the best ones.

AVG Free Edition.

Bounty wrote:AVG Free Edition.

I'd have to agree, it's stood me in very good stead.

Kaspersky AntiVirus. The only thing that sucks about Kaspersky is that you have to buy the license key every year at $50.00

Avira AntiVir is very good. I've been using it for years and it has beaten the shit out of things like F-Secure Antivirus or Norton. And unlike many other free antivirus programs, it has a fully functional on-access scanning feature.

Edi

NOD32

Among the best rated pay-for anti-virus programs out there. Bonus: You don't notice a performance hit while it's running. Updates at least twice daily.

Avast Antivirus is very good, and the home edition is free. My only complaint is that it eats up the CPU for a minute on start up, but after that it stays in the background and doesn't affect performance.

Does NOD32 have the on-access scanning feature Edi speaks of?



EDIT: How does BitDefender compare?

You can get a free year of CA antivirus from here.
I'm not exactly sure how it compares to some of the others mentioned, but it did prevent a webpage from doing a drive by trojan install on my system.
The only real problem with CA antivirus is that it doesn't delete the temp files it creates in your temp folder when you shut down, so you have to go in every so often and clean it out.

Other than that, I'm pleased with the software.

And unlike many other free antivirus programs, it has a fully functional on-access scanning feature.

AVG has that too, hasn't it?

I'm not exactly sure how it compares to some of the others mentioned, but it did prevent a webpage from doing a drive by trojan install on my system.

If your antivirus was the first line of defence to pick up a drive-by install, you may want to take a look at further securing your browser and re-evaluate your browsing habits.

Bounty wrote:

And unlike many other free antivirus programs, it has a fully functional on-access scanning feature.

AVG has that too, hasn't it?

From what I've seen, the free version of AVG does NOT have on-access scanning, nor does Avast, BitDefender or any other free antivirus program that I know of. I actually had to look that shit up for my final project because I did that on the subject of how to secure a PC using free AV and antimalware software.

Could be it has been added since then, though.

To expand some more on AntiVir, the thing has a fairly good record of catching shit that would get right past F-Secure, Norman or Norton and it's bloody aggressive in catching drive-by installs from websites (which e.g. those three commercial apps don't catch). AntiVir also has a commercial version with more features, so I'd really want to purchase that one if I wanted a commercial app.

Glocksman wrote:I'm not exactly sure how it compares to some of the others mentioned, but it did prevent a webpage from doing a drive by trojan install on my system.

A prominent Finnish computer magazine did an evaluation of several different commercial antivirus suites in its latest issue. They compared CA, Trend Micro, Norton, F-Secure, Norman, CA and the commercial version of AVG. CA got spanked by ALL of the others. So I really wouldn't take it with the wealth of other available options.

Edi

From what I've seen, the free version of AVG does NOT have on-access scanning, nor does Avast, BitDefender or any other free antivirus program that I know of. I actually had to look that shit up for my final project because I did that on the subject of how to secure a PC using free AV and antimalware software.

I'm looking at the main window of my AVG Free 7.1 install and Resident Shield ("provides on-access antivirus scanning of executables and documents") is the first item listed.

To expand some more on AntiVir, the thing has a fairly good record of catching shit that would get right past F-Secure, Norman or Norton and it's bloody aggressive in catching drive-by installs from websites (which e.g. those three commercial apps don't catch).

I've actually got Antivir on one computer (came preloaded from the shop) and it's been working quite well. I didn't know it was well-known.

If your antivirus was the first line of defence to pick up a drive-by install, you may want to take a look at further securing your browser and re-evaluate your browsing habits.

No doubt.
IE isn't the most secure browser out there at default settings.

A prominent Finnish computer magazine did an evaluation of several different commercial antivirus suites in its latest issue. They compared CA, Trend Micro, Norton, F-Secure, Norman, CA and the commercial version of AVG. CA got spanked by ALL of the others. So I really wouldn't take it with the wealth of other available options.

That's good to know.
Thanks.

Bounty wrote:I'm looking at the main window of my AVG Free 7.1 install and Resident Shield ("provides on-access antivirus scanning of executables and documents") is the first item listed.

As I said, it might have been added since then. Is the on-access scanning for exes and documents only? Is there some mechanism of limitation? Avast has some sort of limitation at least, but the AntiVir one will check every file no matter its type or location (depending on how aggressive you want it to be).

Bounty wrote:

To expand some more on AntiVir, the thing has a fairly good record of catching shit that would get right past F-Secure, Norman or Norton and it's bloody aggressive in catching drive-by installs from websites (which e.g. those three commercial apps don't catch).

I've actually got Antivir on one computer (came preloaded from the shop) and it's been working quite well. I didn't know it was well-known.

Less well known than some other alternatives, but it IS a rather kick-arse piece of software.

Edi

Is the on-access scanning for exes and documents only? Is there some mechanism of limitation? Avast has some sort of limitation at least, but the AntiVir one will check every file no matter its type or location (depending on how aggressive you want it to be).

You can set it to scan all files or limit it to scan "infectable" files which is list of 50-odd file types. There are greyed-out boxes for list customization, so the paid version probably allows you to make your own list.

There are also checkboxes for floppy drive and on-close scans.

Bounty wrote:

Is the on-access scanning for exes and documents only? Is there some mechanism of limitation? Avast has some sort of limitation at least, but the AntiVir one will check every file no matter its type or location (depending on how aggressive you want it to be).

You can set it to scan all files or limit it to scan "infectable" files which is list of 50-odd file types. There are greyed-out boxes for list customization, so the paid version probably allows you to make your own list.

There are also checkboxes for floppy drive and on-close scans.

Ah, much like AntiVir then. It's a good thing there is more choice of effective tools even for the free programs.

Edi

If you have access to them, the corporate version of McAffee or Symantic AntiVirus are quite good.