Which Anti-Virus? My findings....

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
I've been running some serious tests involving deliberately virusing a computer system in order to find out What works and what doesn't. I'm sharing my findings with you all here. Some of you may not agree entirely with anything I say which is fine.. these are just my opinions based on the annoyances I come across on a frequent basis.

Before I continue, first of all my opinion on PAID anti-virus and internet security programs.
Searching through many forums will tell you that there is usually little difference between Free Anti-Virus & their costly alternatives. I also find this to be true. A definate "no go" in my opinion is Norton products which eventually grind your system to a halt. In most cases I've seen Norton telling people that "everythings secure", yet my own thorough investigation has found several un-detected viruses. I certainly wouldn't pay for this.... hell I wouldn't have it if they gave it to me for free! Stores like PC World will tell you that it's an absolute MUST HAVE piece of software - but bear in mind that they are "box shifters" and are only really interested in making a sale. I wonder how many PC world staff (especially their technicians) have Norton installed on their own PC's? Not many I should imagine!!

Ok, for the FREE anti-virus product tests I chose to use 3 products which are usually of a known name and trusted by millions. They are...
AVG Free
Avast
Avira

I initially placed 3 viruses onto the system, one being what I call a re-generative virus (not sure of the correct wording, but basically a virus which hides itself well enough so that once the anti-virus does it's job, it then re-creates it's own files again.)

AVIRA - Not bad... It found 2 of the 3 viruses. It permanently removed them and all was good. However it didn't have a clue about the third one existing at all. Also I find the pop-up windows (massive) trying to get you to buy the full suite a little annoying.

AVG Free - Found all 3 viruses. Great stuff? Apparently not! It removed one permanently, another it could't remove and the third it "thought" it had removed but didn't. Losing faith a little in this product now.

AVAST - Found and said it had removed 2 viruses, but unfortunately one was the regenerative virus and it didn't have a clue where to look for the file pieces which come together again next time you re-boot. However, saying this it WAS the only antivirus which stopped the download of all 3 in the first place, so my conclusion is that although it isn't the best at KILLING viruses, installed on a clean system it might look after you well.

Before I close there's a fourth little beauty to consider. It's called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. For a couple of years I have relied on this great program to remove EVERY problem from people's systems. My full scan with this not only recognised AND removed all three viruses, but every trace of the re-generative one too. 25 infections in total!!
Now, the only problem with the FREE version of their software is that it only updates and scans when you request it to. There is no free resident protection. However the paid version only costs a few pence over £20 and is a one off payment and the program is yours for life... not bad when others charge more than this each YEAR.
Malwarebytes claim that their software is designed mostly to catch what the other anti-virus programs miss or can't remove. This statement is certainly very true. They do say though that because they concentrate mainly on this, that you should still also use a regular anti-virus product such as Avast alongside it. For now, that is what I will do. In all honesty though, it has always removed EVERYTHING for me, including the one's picked up by AVG etc. I'd back this all the way as being a one-product solution despite them not having full confidence themselves.

IN SUMMARY - Of the free anti-viruses, I would probably go with Avast. I would also recommend having at least the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware installed and run regular updates and scans, or go the £20 fee to make it yours for life and enable the resident protection and scheduled scans.

With the one off payment to Malwarebytes I feel confident that we could see the nearest to 100% detection rates we ever will. Most of the recent viruses and even FAKE AV programs are destroyed by this. Every time I search for info about a new virus, I click on links for removal instructions and someone will say Malwarebytes every time! IT ROCKS!!!


I hope this info is of use to some of you.
Laters.....
 

Wookie

Official Forum Linker
Does this mean I can stop searching my backup CDs, then? :)
Nice one, WMR, thanks for that. If you've still got the system set up, can you do us a test with ClamWin? (Free as in speech, as well as in beer.)
 

Alan B'Stard

Well-Known Forumite
Following the other thread, I downloaded KlamAV for Ubuntu which picked up one virus from the archive which I'd purposely downloaded and it claimed to have found another in a HP driver pack that was sitting on my system, which I doubt.
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
I've read about too many false positives with clamwin, so based on that I wouldn't be interested personally... but I will hoever run a test later using the same viruses and see what happens for you wookie :)
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
joshua said:
I use microsoft security essentials and malwarebytes, seems to work well.
Pretty much any free av along with Malwarebytes is a good combination. Are you just using the free version of Malwarebytes or the Paid version?
 

joshua

Well-Known Forumite
The free version, i do quick scan twice a week and a full scan weekly,
i also check my visibility with this:

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

i pass all the scans and don't seem to exist !
 

db

#chaplife
wmrcomputers said:
loads of stuff
:clap: excellent stuff.. blates +1 skill :)

i've never had a virus in my life so i always choose my AV product based on how much it interferes with my day-to-day computer use - i rarely actually consider how effective it might be at actually doing its job!

i stopped using AVG because it became too cumbersome, and seemed to want updating almost every day, during which time it would make me jump through hoops just to get to the free version.. i've since moved to avira, which seems pretty unobtrusive, apart from the massive pop-up that you mention - just use one of these methods to disable it :)

never heard of malwarebytes, i might install it just in case..
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Malwarebytes really is "top dog" at removing the very worst threats at the moment. Install it and run a full scan... I'd be surprised if it finds nothing at all on your system... especially as you've only been relying on Avira or AVG.

Let me know how you get on. www.malwarebytes.org for the download
 

db

#chaplife
kyoto49 said:
My favourite is McAfee!
i'm not sure if you're joking (it's hard to tell sarcasm on a forum lol), but just in case you're not: consider removing all trace of mcafee from your system (which may well be easier said than done) and install one of the ones from wmr's recommendations above.. you will be amazed at how much snappier your computer feels :)
 

db

#chaplife
wmrcomputers said:
kyoto49 said:
My favourite is McAfee!
It's like Norton... it makes your computer run about as fast as my gran! (she's dead just for the record)
:D
cue gramasic posting an image he has somehow found of an old woman's corpse breaking the land-speed record..
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Can someone explain to me, in light of (was it?) ADAIRsomething, what a spambot is?

In layman's terms - and to what end? - just out of interest.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Withnail said:
Can someone explain to me, in light of (was it?) ADAIRsomething, what a spambot is?

In layman's terms - and to what end? - just out of interest.
It's an automated thingy pretending to be a person-type thing. If ADAIR really was one then it was quite good.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
It would make a change for him - they seem to be trying to set fire to the current spillage, rather than extinguish it - but I fear that he is no longer available..
 
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