Preferred Antivirus Software

Although my personal choice is now AVG IS 2012 and MSE, I haven't always liked AVG for the same reasons I still dislike Symantec and McAfee: they are hard on system resources. Out of all the AVs I have tried over the last year, I like Kaspersky and AVG the most. However, I have found that Kaspersky sometimes confuses my customers more than AVG does and my markup on Kaspersky is almost nil.

I take many things into consideration when I decide to chose what AV product I will use primarily in a given year, such as system footprint, ease of use for the end user, cost to the customer, and profitability. Although profitability is a factor, it's the last factor I use because my customer's satisfaction always comes first.

My actual use of AVs may change from year to year. As far as stand-alone AVs, I really have no complaint with any of them when it comes to system resource usage; It's usually the manufacturer's security suites that are more of a concern to me when it comes the system footprint.

I know one concern with many people who have responded to this thread is an AV's detection rate. Although this is also a factor in whether I chose to go with a product, I have never seen ANY product have a 100% detection rate and probably never will. New viruses and malware come out on a daily basis and there can never be a guarantee that a system won't be compromised at some time. I have had systems with almost every manufacturer's AV come into my shop with an infection on it, bar none.

Although I do offer a six month guarantee if a customer purchases AVG IS 2012 and Malwarebytes at the time of an OS install/re-install or virus removal, I do not in any way tell the customer that AVG is the best. I simply explain that there is and can not be a 100% guarantee that they won't be infected again, but their is a guarantee that I will clean the system for free in the event they do become reinfected within a six month period.

The only product I actually endorse and try to get all my customers to purchase is Malwarebytes, even if they already have some type of AV software installed (free or subscription based). I feel that it's cheap, comes with a lifetime subscription, and is very effective. I explain to them that malware is more prominent now than viruses are and is what usually leads to more infections later on. If they ask which AV is the best I simply explain to them that it's a matter of personal choice and that my own use of AVs may change from year to year because of how the manufacturers change their software.

With regards to how AVs affect system resources, I have noticed that over time, after months of routine definition and software updates, just about all of them will eventually start to affect system resources drastically, including Malwarebytes. However, after performing a complete uninstall and reinstall of the software, it usually fixes the problem. I am not sure why this happens over time, but I feel that it may be that the downloaded updates get corrupted at times or it may just be a quirk in how the manufacturers choose to update their software.
 
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Although my personal choice is now AVG IS 2012 and MSE, I haven't always liked AVG for the same reasons I still dislike Symantec and McAfee: they are hard on system resources. Out of all the AVs I have tried over the last year, I like Kaspersky and AVG the most. However, I have found that Kaspersky sometimes confuses my customers more than AVG does and my markup on Kaspersky is almost nil.

I take many things into consideration when I decide to chose what AV product I will use primarily in a given year, such as system footprint, ease of use for the end user, cost to the customer, and profitability. Although profitability is a factor, it's the last factor I use because my customer's satisfaction always comes first.

My actual use of AVs may change from year to year. As far as stand-alone AVs, I really have no complaint with any of them when it comes to system resource usage; It's usually the manufacturer's security suites that are more of a concern to me when it comes the system footprint.

I know one concern with many people who have responded to this thread is an AV's detection rate. Although this is also a factor in whether I chose to go with a product, I have never seen ANY product have a 100% detection rate and probably never will. New viruses and malware come out on a daily basis and there can never be a guarantee that a system won't be compromised at some time. I have had systems with almost every manufacturer's AV come into my shop with an infection on it, bar none.

Although I do offer a six month guarantee if a customer purchases AVG IS 2012 and Malwarebytes at the time of an OS install/re-install or virus removal, I do not in any way tell the customer that AVG is the best. I simply explain that there is and can not be a 100% guarantee that they won't be infected again, but their is a guarantee that I will clean the system for free in the event they do become reinfected within a six month period.

The only product I actually endorse and try to get all my customers to purchase is Malwarebytes, even if they already have some type of AV software installed (free or subscription based). I feel that it's cheap, comes with a lifetime subscription, and is very effective. I explain to them that malware is more prominent now than viruses are and is what usually leads to more infections later on. If they ask which AV is the best I simply explain to them that it's a matter of personal choice and that my own use of AVs may change from year to year because of how the manufacturers change their software.

With regards to how AVs affect system resources, I have noticed that over time, after months of routine definition and software updates, just about all of them will eventually start to affect system resources drastically, including Malwarebytes. However, after performing a complete uninstall and reinstall of the software, it usually fixes the problem. I am not sure why this happens over time, but I feel that it may be that the downloaded updates get corrupted at times or it may just be a quirk in how the manufacturers choose to update their software.

My thoughts exactly, AlaDes... I'm testing out Panda's Cloud Antivirus at the moment. Seems to be very light on resources.
 
+1. Reasons: frequent and current testing, rigorous methodology, wide scope of tests performed, history of test results over many years, and clear, detailed descriptions of tests and results.
 
I wrote a post on my blog about it recently.

I always use MSE.

You want to be careful putting that on customers PC's.

Not sure how effective that software is now but it wasn't that long ago that it had a 67% detection rate. I still get a lot of machines with MSE on them that are infected with viruses. The only good thing I would say about the program is its better than nothing - but only just.
 
From my experience AVG is pretty ineffective. It's bloated and slows down the machine. Anytime I get a customer with AVG on, I always encourage them to let me swap them over to the free Avast. Same with McAfee and Norton, for obvious reasons.

And IMO, Xander wasn't bullying, he just said it like it is. There should be an age limit, it's a forum for business owners or soon-to-be business owners, not kids. Of course there's nothing to stop 'em from browsing the forums to learn.

I agree with this post. I ususally aim business customers toward Kaspersky's, and home users to Avast. I was a big supporter of AVG, but it's really gone downhill in the last few years.
 
I used to swear by ESET but have had a few issues too many lately so undecided whether to use Kapersky ( Free from my bank) or BitDefender?

Decisions!

I purchased Bitdefender to protect my home (business) machines and am pretty happy with it. Main reason I went with it was due to the latest VB100 and AV Comparatives tests. I like its 'gaming mode' feature too where it stops real-time scanning as soon as I launch a game and its quite inconspicuous.

Btw, anyone contemplating purchasing an AV my tip is to 'trial' it then dont buy as soon as it expires. I have found you will usually get an email shortly after offering you a substantial discount if you purchase (which is what I did with BD).

Edit: Coranti & Lavasoft (AV & Anti-spyware in one) are also worth a look according to VB100 tests. As a side note I did trial Lavasoft recently but had a hell of a job trying to remove it from a customers infected PC.
 
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I purchased Bitdefender to protect my home (business) machines and am pretty happy with it. Main reason I went with it was due to the latest VB100 and AV Comparatives tests. I like its 'gaming mode' feature too where it stops real-time scanning as soon as I launch a game and its quite inconspicuous.

Btw, anyone contemplating purchasing an AV my tip is to 'trial' it then dont buy as soon as it expires. I have found you will usually get an email shortly after offering you a substantial discount if you purchase (which is what I did with BD).

I was using BD, albeit a few years ago and it was too heavy for my liking- only complaint I had, so I went to VIPRE. Maybe BD is lighter now, if so I wouldn't have a problem recommending it if I wasn't a VIPRE affiliate.
 
I purchased Bitdefender to protect my home (business) machines and am pretty happy with it. Main reason I went with it was due to the latest VB100 and AV Comparatives tests. I like its 'gaming mode' feature too where it stops real-time scanning as soon as I launch a game and its quite inconspicuous.

Btw, anyone contemplating purchasing an AV my tip is to 'trial' it then dont buy as soon as it expires. I have found you will usually get an email shortly after offering you a substantial discount if you purchase (which is what I did with BD).

Must admit I'm heading towards BD myself after reading tests. Kasperky excellent as well but BD looks like pipping it, even if I can get Kaspersky free.
 
I was using BD, albeit a few years ago and it was too heavy for my liking- only complaint I had, so I went to VIPRE. Maybe BD is lighter now, if so I wouldn't have a problem recommending it if I wasn't a VIPRE affiliate.

Yea I'm not finding that a problem (but then I am running 8GB of RAM) but I'll continue to use it until it expires then re-evaluate the competition.

In my mind, the goal-posts are constantly changing in the AV world and where one AV was great a few years ago, today another has the crown. I think the biggest issue for the AV companies is the virus creators test their viruses against the best AV's & modify them accordingly to avoid detection. Suddenly that AV is no longer the best at detection and so another takes the mantle. Viruses are big business and its a never ending game of 'cat & mouse'. If a virus is easily detected it wont sell, and if it doesnt sell it doesnt make money, so the virus creators need to be constantly testing their viruses against the best & more popular detection software.
 
Kaspersky has been in the top 3 AV for a long time and there live CD is the best of the bunch (Windows Unlocker is the kicker). If my customers want AV then I sell them Kaspersky IS, but they also get a disclaimer from me that nothing is going to keep them 100% safe and they need to practice safe Internet.
 
The other day we were having a discussion about which AV product we wanted to use on the bench. We currently have Kaspersky on two bench systems and BitDefender on another bench system. We took a client's drive that we knew had some infections on it and scanned in the BD system. It found a few infections on it and removed them. We then took the drive and connected to the other bench system and scanned with Kaspersky. We were rather shocked - Kaspersky found a rootkit that BitDefender completely missed. It also found another minor infection that was missed. This of course was not an in depth analysis but we have used Kaspersky on the bench systems for over 2 years now but we still like to eval other software at times and had a few free copies of BD from a tradeshow. Needless to say we have since removed BD and continue to use Kaspersky.
 
MSSE has lost its certification

Just wanted to add MSSE has lost its certification at AV-Test, scoring very poorly on 0-day protection across two separate tests in Sep/Oct this year.

http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/tests/test-reports/?tx_avtestreports_pi1[report_no]=123698

I will be giving it a wide birth from here on in. Too many poor test scores in the last 2 years. Its performance is far to patch to recommend to end-users,

Jim
 
Kaspersky has been golden for me and my clients, no infected machines once I install this, I have seen MSE have some issues handling infections as of late. AVG is crap, I agree with that.
 
Trend micro..?

I've been using and Trend-Micro for quite a while now but I'm interested to hear what y'all think of it and why one vs the other.

Trend Micro is on our "notify the customer they should remove and replace" lol. Along with Norton products, McAfee, etc.

Definitely not a fan of the big 'bloatgrams' that take over windows firewall etc. They cause too many issues and make the system too sluggish.

Our shop does pretty much the same as Stone... MSE on all residential and MSE on all small business 10 or less.


RE: AVG lol.
AVG used to be very good. It started going downhill seems like after ver 7.5, then it became more 'Norton like' and bloated.

The ironic thing though.... AVG has a decent Exchange server version. I know this sounds weird and before you knock me... it really isn't bad at all. We ran into it at a handfull of clients where they wanted to stay with it, so we upgraded and configured it for them... and I must say... for the Exchange Server component, it really seems ok. Never had an issue. Much better than Avast at the server level.
 
How good an AV......

Forgot to mention....

This reminds me a little bit of the controversy you see regarding doctors and medical treatments. The kind that fall into the 'sad but true' category.

You always hear things like they have a cure for cancer but would doctors 'really' want it fully 'cured'? You would think so ethically but..... it is theirlivelihood.

Here is the question to ponder though. Do you really want an anti-virus software that is soooo good that the client 'never ever' gets any infection or has any problem and stops seeing you except for the occasional hardware repair?

Or is it good when they come in at least once a year if not more with some minor infections that they need your help with?

Virus repairs probably account for at least 30-40% of most shops walk-in revenue I would guess comparing with our shop.

So the moral question is.... If you run a computer service business and you came up with a way using some freeware and say... disk imaging, registry rollback etc.... that you could install on your customer systems so they would:
-Never get infected
-Never have any software issues that they couldn't rollback themselves
-Never have windows related issues that they couldn't fix themselves
-etc

Would you recommend it knowing you would be hurting your family as far as income goes?

Not saying what's right or wrong..... just something to think about :)
 
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