Which Anti Virus?

Been using Microsoft Security Essentials since it's release ( not sure i should have said that out loud) after using Avira for years. I've never paid for Anti virus and don't want to start now tbh, but am looking for a change. I put Avast on the inlaws pc a month ago and was quite impressed. So before i put Avast on my machine ( and Mini's, his brothers and the wives laptop) i thought i'd get a general consensus on what other people think and use. Avast has a 'gaming mode' but i assume that just disables notifications whilst in-game, i've seen other companies boast about their 'gaming anti-virus' software but surely all it needs to do is run the same but just in the background.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm

http://www.techradar.com/news/softw...free-antivirus-9-reviewed-and-rated-1057786/1

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp


Mr SVD, i am in your hands old friend!

That's a good website with comparison:
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

They run tests every month on various antivirs. They recommend either Avira, kaspersky, eset or panda. Avast is not bad as well/ I've been on kaspersky for ages and it's good, but you may want to try Avira FREE or Avast FREE if you dont want to buy.

I second using av-comparatives, it's a good website. I don't use anything but the standard stuff included in Windows 8.1 but I do use browser apps that block content unless I allow regularly visited sites (Ghostery, Adblock and HTTPS Everywhere) so the source of troubles is significantly reduced in that way rather than scanning software. I tend to use Avast when installing on family computers and my parents pay for Eset Smart Security which I am happy with.

I haven't tried many free anti-virus products so can't comment on them but the experience I've had with Avast is good. They do require you to create an account though which can be annoying; I've not had to sort out accounts once the first year subscription ends though so I suspect it is automatic. When I used Avast it installed the premium version without asking me when updating and I noticed afterwards when it asked me if I'd like to pay for the premium service which I didn't like.

AVG free is a good one used for about 6 years now never had an issue with it when it comes to gaming.
Was the top free anti virus in 2012 and still in the top 3 at the moment.

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/best-free-antivirus-9-reviewed-and-rated-1057786

Bully are you still with Virgin? If so you get 5 licences to F-Secure for 12 months which I have been using since I switched to Virgin. The main reason I use this is it's the full suite, so you will be much better protected than any free AV.
I use Avast when I can't get my hands on full suites of protection, but one of the AV will normally be giving away year long trials for some reason.
If for any reason you ever pay, Avira are the best, I don't think I have ever seen them not ranked in the top 3 with use and performance.

I've been going without any anti-virus for about 5 years now and it's better than using any kind of AV. If you think you've downloaded some suspicious file just scan it through VirusTotal which uses about 44 AV scans. If you're smart enough you're saving yourself money, bandwidth and computer speed.

Never realised that Sexy, cheers, i'll have a gander!

agreed

well I did have some issues when I was installing it (although iirc it was Virgin's fault), but I have to say I have been impressed with it on the security front, I think "utter ****e" might be a bit strong, even more so when you consider what it provides over the free AV. I have Kaspersky at work and on my dads PC and I can't say i'm a fan at all, it's very quite notification wise but I've had a few trojans get through at work lately which I have had to remove manually.

Kaspersky use update!

So I get a message from my dad a few day ago saying 'need you to have a look at my computer', assume he just can't do something. He pops round a few days later saying his browser has been acting funny - sounds suspicious, "but he should be ok as he has Kaspersky", i tell myself. So about an hour ago I finally get in front of the laptop. Kaspersky didn't load up at boot, manually start it check the settings, it is set to start up at boot. Run a scan. I open, update and run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Kaspersky blinks and waves heroically with a message "Vulnerability 1 Dangerous 1" it is telling me it has blocked Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes completes it's scan regardless - currently picked up 76 objects.

another one for avast here

It has already been linked to by abgabba above you DragonSVD...

I use Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) or nothing with Windows 8.1. I have a rescue disk available to use if something goes wrong, that is if Windows Defender doesn't find anything and I know something is not working properly. So far I have had little hassle with MSE on family machines and using it myself. When I can afford it I will buy myself something, probably Eset Smart Security because they focus on preventing infection rather than getting rid of it which Kaspersky focuses on.

From what I have read Kaspersky has the best detection engine in the business, but it doesn't do a good job of preventing infection. Kaspersky is so good at detecting viruses and the like that people creating them often target Kaspersky vulnerabilities to help keep their viruses and malware on a system. I've had viruses get past Kaspersky but I've not had a problem removing them when using Kaspersky, so long as you shut down all unnecessary processes before running Kaspersky (I use SmartClose).

Kaspersky labs is a massive R&D effort in detecting viruses and other malicious software, but detecting the bad stuff is of little use to home users. We need software to prevent the bad stuff getting onto the system in the first place.

so i should give avg a try? i had it back in the day but moved away from it

Fair enough DragonSVD, sounds like I need to test AVG out. Never used them to be honest.

I have Windows 8.1 which MSE can't be installed on because Defender is the product they are continuing to support, just not as a stand-a-lone install. They want to use it as a marketing tool to get you to pay for Windows, which I am not interested in doing. Got my version of Windows 8.1, 8 and 7 from my University for free; there are benefits to being at Uni I guess

I am happy to use Defender because it means I have one less program to install on my machine and one less program to worry about. More streamlined machine = happy Nox