Computersight -

Which anti-virus is the best?

Many people say its Kaspersky, others say its NOD32 and someone thinks it’s Norton or Panda. And they always try to prove it!

Well, people choose anti-virus which they like and which is best for them. I use Avast Home Edition, because it doesn’t slow my PC very much. When I’m doing full system scan I install Kaspersky because this anti-virus is the best fighter against viruses for me. I don’t use it all the time because it slows my computer too much.

How anti-viruses slow down the computer

2.2 GB data was transferred from one disk into other without installed anti-virus. Transfer took 6 min. 04 s. Later transfer was made with anti-viruses installed. Transfer was longer:

• Avast Home Edition – 29 s.
• AVG Free Edition 7.5 – 51 s.
• Panda Antivirus 2007 – 1 min. 6 s.
• NOD32 – 1 min. 21 s.
• Antivir Personal Premium – 1 min. 58 s.
• Antivir Personal Classic – 2 min. 29 s.
• Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 – 2 min. 44 s.
• AVG Pro Edition 7.5 – 3 min. 9 s.
• Norton Antivirus 2007 – 3 min. 50 s.
• Bitdefender v10 – 6 min. 18 s.
• Bitdefender 8 Free Edition – 6 min. 18 s.
• F-Secure Antivirus 2007 – 18 min.

Virus Database

For an anti-virus is very important to detect new viruses, that’s why they always update their virus database. How long it took to find out about a new virus?

• Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 – 28 min.
• F-Secure Antivirus 2007 – 2 h. 55 min.
• Bitdefender v10 – 2 h. 59 s.
• Bitdefender 8 Free Edition – 2 h. 59 s.
• Antivir Personal Premium – 3 h. 15 min.
• Antivir Personal Classic – 3 h. 15 min.
• NOD32 – 4 h. 46 min.
• Panda Antivirus 2007 – 6 h. 34 min.
• Avast Home Edition – 7 h. 31 min.
• AVG Pro Edition 7.5 – 8 h. 46 min.
• AVG Free Edition 7.5 – 8 h. 46 min.
• Norton Antivirus 2007 – 12 h. 41 min.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0

“Kaspersky” is one of the best anti-viruses around. It detects all most popular and most rare viruses. It also doesn’t damage any “Office” documents. But on the other hand, this anti-virus is bad against spyware. It detects only about 75% of them.

Note: Kaspersky 7 will come out soon. It will be much better than Kaspersky 6. You can already try out beta version.

F-Secure Anti-Virus 2007

All viruses, Trojan Horses and “rootkits” were unable to hide from this anti-virus. But F-Secure still can’t detect all spyware. It also needs about 150 MB free space. It is too much for an anti-virus.

Antivir Personal Premium 7.0

This is one of the best anti-viruses against spyware, Trojans and other viruses. It also has a very important function – auto e-mail scan. But on the other hand, it can’t find all “rootkits”.

Bitdefender v10

“Bitdefender” offers good protection against viruses and scan’s computer more carefully than other anti-viruses, that’s why “Bitdefender’s” full system scan is slow. It detects spyware perfectly, but viruses can turn off or even damage this anti-virus.

Antivir Personal Classic 7.0

This is definitely the best free anti-virus. It finds more viruses than other free anti-viruses. It is also easy to use this program, but if you have this anti-virus, get an anti-spyware. “Antivir Personal Classic 7.0” can’t find them all. Only about 16% of them detected.

Panda Antivirus 2007

“Panda Antivirus 2007” is one of the best against most popular viruses, but if our computer will be attacked by a rare virus, we won’t get all the help. It isn’t good against “rootkits” or Trojans too. But “Panda” doesn’t need much time to perform full system scan.

Norton Antivirus 2007

Long ago this was one of the best anti-viruses, but now, it is one of the worst. That’s because “Norton” find’s out about a new virus only after about 13 h. That is very bad indeed. It also needs 200 MB free space! Well, at least we won’t see spyware in our PC.

Note: If you have a Chinese version of “Norton Anti-Virus”, GET RID OF IT! There was a bug found, which deletes some very important “Windows” files.

Avast 4.7 Home Edition

Avast isn’t introduced to many Trojans or “rootkits”. Some viruses can turn off this anti-virus. So if you want to have a good and free anti-virus, get Avira Personal Classic. Well, at least Avast doesn’t slow down PC too much.

AVG Pro Edition 7.5

Most popular viruses won’t stand a chance, but Trojans or “rootkits” have a chance. A very bad thing is that AVG doesn’t protect “Outlook Express” or “Tunderbird” e-mail.

AVG Free Edition 7.5

Free AVG version can kill popular viruses, but many of “backdoor” viruses and Trojan Horses weren’t stopped. AVG Free isn’t good against spyware (unlike the commercial version) and has detected about 12% of all “rootkits”.

NOD32

Popular viruses were destroyed (all were detected), but rare have successfully harmed our PC (only about 85% detected). “NOD32” didn’t detect viruses, which were in a CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

Bitdefender 8 Free Edition

Don’t ever install this anti-virus in your PC! It has detected only 50% of the most popular viruses! Rare ones and “backdoor” viruses didn’t have a chance though. If you are using “Internet Explorer”, Bitdefender 8 Free will protect it perfectly.