What is the best antivirus software?

[Administrator]

Welcome to the very first article from Free PC Advice, in which we will be discussing Antivirus products.

So we all know that an antivirus program protects our computer from viruses, which in some cases can cause a wide range of problems.

There are various categories of threats, which I will outline some of them below for you:

• Viruses
• Rootkits
• Trojans
• Spyware
  

They all have different tasks to do, some will annoy the end user, others will cause damage to files while others will steal data from your computer or cause your PC to become part of a Botnet (in which your PC is used to attack larger companies).

There are a huge range of antivirus programs out there now, some which work very well and others which are not so great, there are also some that you shouldn't touch as they are viruses themselves. No antivirus is 100% perfect, so don't expect it will keep your computer 100% clean.

So which one do you choose?

Some of the options are Paid antivirus, while others are free for the basic version.

Let's have a look at some of the free ones first.

AVG Free Rating: 7/10
The new version of AVG Free is quite good, for basic protection that is. However the paid version does offer many benefits and it does appear to guide you into paying for the paid version.

In terms of detection rates it's about average, it's better than nothing but not excellent either.

We noticed no performance issues with the Free version but in the Paid version with Firewall we found it tricky to use.

http://www.grisoft.com

Antivir Rating: 9/10
This has got to be the best Free antivirus on the market. It's detection rates currently are very good, especially for a free product as well. The paid version does offer some benefits such as more regular and faster updates plus e-mail scanning.

During our trial we didn't feel it was slowing the computer down in anyway - so it's efficient.

http://www.free-av.com

Symantec Norton Antivirus 2009 Rating: 7/10

Symantec has a long-standing recognition in antivirus software. Previous versions had become slow and unreliable, detection rates were poor. However we are pretty pleased to say the latest version is indeed faster and does appear more effective than the previous versions.

http://www.symantec.com/norton/antivirus

ESET Antivirus NOD32 Rating: 9/10

ESET has won many awards for it's detection capability, and we won't question that. It does appear very effective at removing viruses but not so much spyware - but we could argue that's not it's job. It is, however, one of the fastest antivirus products here. Updates are daily too and the firewall edition is still very easy to use.

Buy ESET Antivirus Cheap

Kaspersky Antivirus 2009 Rating: 7/10

Kaspersky has excellent detection for a wide range of threats. I wouldn't say it was perfect, but it's still quite good. Recent versions do appear to slow the computer down a little though. However it's cost-effective and does a decent job.

http://www.kaspersky.com

Panda Antivirus 2009 Rating: 5/10

It's got very good detection rate, and appears to be very pro-active at preventing threats. However the software appeared to slow a brand new computer to a grinding halt. Not really what you'd expect...

http://www.panadasoftware.com


Avast Antivirus Rating: 6/10

Avast has proven to be quite a contender in the past, and still does appear to be a powerful product. It's pretty fast at scanning and does a resonable job. There is a wide range of products to protect all different devices and it's quite cheap too. It's not exactly the easiest to use, but does what it says on the tin.

http://www.avast.com

McAfee Antivirus Rating: 5/10

Not so happy with the latest versions of McAfee, seem to be going the same route that Norton was going. It is not as effective thesedays nor is it as quick and streamlined as it once was. However it's not totally bad, it does appear to offer reasonable protection against spyware too.

http://www.mcafee.com

Have I missed something? Let me know, and why not post your thoughts on the above products.