best antivirus software

[tunna]

Hi everyone,

 

I recently bought a new laptop with McAfee free trial already installed on it. I would like to know which anti-virus is the best for Windows 8.1. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you guys make :)

 

 

Zoe

[etavares]

It's a matter of personal preference to some extent. I don't have much experience with Windows 8, but Bitdefender, Avira Antivir, ESET, etc. all work well. In some cases, one that works well on one computer may slow down another computer. It can depend on hardware and other software.

 

-etavares

[wellies]

I've tried:

 

Bitdefender Internet Security.

Norton Internet Security.

Windows Defender along with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro.

Kaspersky Internet Security.

AVG Free.

Qihoo Internet Security.

Qihoo Total Security.

 

All of those ran OK apart from the Qihoo offerings. These have good detection rates but can be a little buggy due to them being still somewhat new (compared to other more well-established names).

 

It depends on what points you judge an AV/security program by. Some go for low resource usage and some for good detection rates. A balance between the two is often difficult to attain but it's perhaps better to put up with a little slow-down and have better detection rates. A modern system is not often slowed down too much by most security programs.

 

The security programs mentioned above tend to do well in tests carried out by:

 

AV-Comparatives.

AV-test.

Virus Bulletin.

 

AVG Free doesn't come top of their tests but I got to try this because it came installed on my new computer. Even so, used along with MBAM Pro I'm sure it would be fine.

 

Right now I'm running Emsisoft Anti-Malware (uses the Bitdefender engine) along with the Online Armor firewall. I'm going to stay with this a while because I think it's good.

 

A recent test/survey carried out by AV-Comparatives highlighted how much information about you and the sites you visit is 'phoned home' to the AV program suppliers . You have to decide if this matters to you but it has become yet another factor that some are considering when choosing an AV program. Two programs send back less information than any others. These are Emsisoft and Ahnlab. I don't know much about Ahlab but Emsisoft has a good reputation. This is why I'm trying it at present. This AV-Comparatives article and table might be of interest:

 

http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/avc_datasending_2014_en.pdf (PDF document)

 

Different people put different criteria on how they choose a security program. It's one of those things where ten different people can give ten different opinions. All that can be done is to read, read, read in order to gain a consensus of opinion. Always a difficult topic with no hard and fast answer unfortunately.

[tunna]

Thanks might give emsisoft a go- not used that one :)

[Starbuck]

I use Emsisoft Anti Malware on my Win7 system and BitDefender Anti Virus Plus on my Win8.1.

Both run really well and no slow ups at all.