Best current anti virus?

Microsoft's free Security Essentials seems great.

We use Kaspersky (paid) and Avast (free).

Free: Avast, AVG, Antivir
Currently I'm using trend micro titanium, which is about £50 a year for 5 PCs, plus macs, and android phones.

I use the free Avast for my tablet, AVG (paid for) for my Dell and Sophos (Free) for my Mac. They all seem to do the job well.

Have used Avast, install MSE on many client machines but use Comodo Firewall and AV at home (though it's too intrusive for some). AVG got too bloaty but may have improved. Avira was fine, I just got annoyed with the pop up each time it updated and couldn't be bothered keep updating the registry key to stop it.

I've used AVG for a long time now without any complaints.

I did have a brief spell with Kaspersky, as my bank was offering it for free, but found it obtrusive & clunky - updates took a long time to load, scans were very slow & just about any online operation triggered a Kaspersky popup. The last straw was when I was buying something online which went to "Verified by Visa", which Kaspersky forced into a new window - when I'd verified the payment I couldn't get back to the merchant's website to check the order details!

The bottom line is that I'd rather pay for AVG than have Kaspersky for nothing! Shop around & it can be very cheap - I bought a 4-user (only need 2) 2-year licence for under £30 from Amazon.

Main thing is to avoid Norton and McAfee... Not saying they don't work on some machines, just that they can be a real pain in the butt when the fall over (which is often though that could be perception rather than hard, cold fact)

If you go for AVG make sure you have a good look around for the best deal. When I was looking it was very variable, eventually found a multi machine, 2 year deal for £24.99 on Amazon. A well known high street retailer had tried to sell me a one machine, one year deal for £49.99 ! :tut:

AlfaDrivingFan said:

If you go for AVG make sure you have a good look around for the best deal. When I was looking it was very variable, eventually found a multi machine, 2 year deal for £24.99 on Amazon. A well known high street retailer had tried to sell me a one machine, one year deal for £49.99 ! :tut:

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I've not paid for AV since I used Norton on my first couple of machines (though that was OEM so cost less than £20) and not had any infections, yet I know others with paid-up AV that have had plenty - it's also down to surfing habits and sometimes just wrong place, wrong time.

I found AVG a bit controlling. Avast is good on PC (paid for), and brilliant, if a wee bit memory hungry, for smart phone. I agree with SR on Window essentials on PC if you're looking for something free.

I don't believe that Microsoft Security Essentials is available for most new PCs as it doesn't support Win 8. Microsoft are slowly moving out of the Security Software market.

I did try it once but My brother got a 4 month old virus which it didn't pick up so I ended up putting McAfee back on. I've never had a problem with McAfee but have had issues with old copies of Norton.

Sensible surfing and regular backups are as important as a good AV product.

Have a look at the following, there are some interesting reviews of products I've not seen much of:
The Best Antivirus for 2013 | PCMag.com

stuart1714 said:

I don't believe that Microsoft Security Essentials is available for most new PCs as it doesn't support Win 8.

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Windows Defender comes as standard with Windows 8.

Dave Brand said:

Windows Defender comes as standard with Windows 8.

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Wndows Defender is a first line defence against pua (potentially unwanted applications) and Spyware to be used in conjunction with av products. It isn't a fully featured AV product.

Interesting seeing mention of tablet and phone on here.

Should I be installing anti virus on my nexus 7 then? And my iPhone?

On my PC, I use avast.

bazza said:

Interesting seeing mention of tablet and phone on here.

Should I be installing anti virus on my nexus 7 then? And my iPhone?

On my PC, I use avast.

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Avast is free on google store, as are others


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I would definitely recommend Avast for the free antivirus

I once used Eset Nod32 antivirus which was fantastic, however its quite expensive and requires a yearly license

Many many thanks to all for their input. I'll be going out to buy romorrow.(1st stop Cash converters) to see what they have on offer and then look at the majority view on here as to what to use, should I buy one.

I've used Avast on all my computers for donkeys years.

Using Virgin broadband, I use their integrated Security suite, which is Trend, IIRC - anyone any thoughts on this? (Apologies to Crazycarb for any element of thread hijack....)