Best antivirus for Windows 10 64?

DannyG13 said:

I'm going to give Kaspersky a shot.

I can vouch that in general it's a very good AV. Haven't used it some time but when I did I liked it.

Jeff

Nobody ever accepts it but........ is all I could say! for another av versus av what? thread. But to only further confirm my findings from running one particular software now for several years the AV Comparatives apparently came to the same conclusions. Note this ThreatTrack's(formerly Sunbelt to later GFI Software) own periodical newsletter pointed to here.

VIPRE Earns the Highest Rating From AV-Comparatives…Again!

Posted by VIPRE Security News On July 28, 2016

VIPRE scores 100% block rate with zero false positives to earn highest rating from AV-Comparatives…again!
VIPRE, ThreatTrack’s leading antivirus software, continues to top the antivirus testing charts by achieving a 100% block rate and zero false positives in the latest 2016 Real-World Protection test by AV-Comparatives. VIPRE also earned a rating of Advanced+, the highest rating possible, in AV-Comparatives’ recently published report on antivirus software performance for the first half of 2016.
VIPRE was the only antivirus software to score 100% block rate with zero false positives for the past two months. Not bad, huh?
“Since we introduced the new VIPRE anti-malware engine earlier this year, we have delivered industry leading protection to our customers month after month after month,” said ThreatTrack Chief Product Officer Usman Choudhary. “The most recent report from AV-Comparatives demonstrates the superior, consistent and reliable security VIPRE provides all our customers, including home users, businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and more.”

The rest of that can be looked over at: VIPRE Earns the Highest Rating From AV-Comparatives…Again! - VIPRE Security News

The only on several machines anything ever got past the active protection which includes web filtering that actually blocks out suspect sites on the spot was when someone clicked on a bot link thinking it was something else not the user trap it was being a scam gimic for a fake bug removal program that never even existed. The bot took over the Task manager to prevent anyone from ending the fakeware that downloaded four bogus trojans that only sat on the drive and did nothing in order to get you to pay for a non existant program.

The bug one file was found, moved to a new location, and manually removed once booted in safe mode to kill off the bot's control over the task manager. GFI tech didn't care to hear their special removal tool wasn't used when advised of the scam ware! Other then that the software has some serious engineering success stories at malware prevention/protection. Opinion and software named that is used here. next...

McA Fail was dumped after a very short try back in the Legacy years here followed by Symantec System Works later refined according to one former Symantec security analyst consulted recently. The much newer Norton Internet Security suite would be one of the closest competitors to VIPRE at this time. Consulting with people in the industry seems to get further then reviews.

DannyG13 said:

I know that's a bit vague, given the number of ways antivirus can be 'good' and 'bad' but what I'd word it as is:

What do you guys use?

I generally avoid topics like this, but since you understand the difference between good and bad, like detection, performance, GUI, nags and so on, I will try to sum it up quickly based on my opinion.

For starters, freeware all the way, paid AVs are not better, actually worse, because they bundle tons of useless stuff.
Phishing or malware protection can be achieved via DNS servers, which does not slow down PC, it is done externally.

Avast - my current recommendation, I highly suggest to install it in minimal mode, turn on gaming mode and set popups to display for 1 second, it runs like the lightening afterwards. It wins all detection tests easily, including zero day threats and removal. Since it has bought AVG, we can expect some improvements in the future. The cons is a required registration each year and some ADs.

AVG - simply put, a bloatware, even when you uncheck everything, it runs heavy, it has tons of services.

Avira - it wins all tests as the fastest AV, but in my tests it is the worst, not only it looks like AV for Windows 95, it feels like one, its development is stuck. Last time I tried it, the setup took 30 mins and after restart PC barely moved.

Bitdefender - recently upgraded to beta, which supports 10, it has got a nice GUI, but it has also got way slower.

Panda Cloud - solid GUI, it is cloud based, so you better have a good connection, it causes disconnects on WiFi.

Sophos - heavily linked to the online account, as if that was not bad enough, it also runs slowly. Another failure.

360 AV - this one is difficult to judge. It has great and modern GUI. It includes Bitdefender and Avira engines, so it is obviously a bit slower, when they are enabled, but it also includes cleanup, which is not very reliable, but it does not run automatic, so it fine. If you are looking for a light AV, better to choose Essential version, otherwise go for Total, which has some nice features. But to note, they lied in AV tests to get a better score, so I would use it with a little caution.

DannyG13 said:

Are any of the commercial products truly trustworthy?

If you really want a paid one, Kaspersky is a good choice, you should avoid McAfee and Norton, they are hogs.

And in the end, some review and some tests: Free Antivirus ( AV Test - AV Test )

DannyG13 said:

I remember Sunbelt - they did the outstanding Kerio Personal Firewall until they folded. That's already a positive for me. If they (or their phoenix company) endorse something, it's probably worth looking at.

Thanks for this, I'll take a look at VIPRE.

By the time VIPRE had been recommended to me by someone who had previously done work for MS and was beta testing the software Sunbelt had been bought out by GFI. In the last couple of years however I suddenly saw ThreatTrack take over. I can't say for sure if that is some other new company or GFI having expanded due to taking av wares or not.

The effectiveness however has been shown time and again over the last 5yrs. of use where I simply went for the lifetime license offer. Keep VIPRE on both desktops as well as laptops with others also running it. I've put it to the test enough times here already to know the blog there is accurate enough!

Whatphoeb said:

Kaspersky is consistently ranked at the top of various antivirus, it is also what i am using.

Kaspersky and the review articles typically seen at the same sites are the "Make us look good" type of influence as well as the limited number of programs mentioned. The reviewers are told to compare one against only certain other programs and not every program on the market explaining the continual favortisms.

TairikuOkami said:

I generally avoid topics like this, but since you understand the difference between good and bad, like detection, performance, GUI, nags and so on, I will try to sum it up quickly based on my opinion.

For starters, freeware all the way, paid AVs are not better, actually worse, because they bundle tons of useless stuff.
Phishing or malware protection can be achieved via DNS servers, which does not slow down PC, it is done externally.

Avast - my current recommendation, I highly suggest to install it in minimal mode, turn on gaming mode and set popups to display for 1 second, it runs like the lightening afterwards. It wins all detection tests easily, including zero day threats and removal. Since it has bought AVG, we can expect some improvements in the future. The cons is a required registration each year and some ADs.

AVG - simply put, a bloatware, even when you uncheck everything, it runs heavy, it has tons of services.

Avira - it wins all tests as the fastest AV, but in my tests it is the worst, not only it looks like AV for Windows 95, it feels like one, its development is stuck. Last time I tried it, the setup took 30 mins and after restart PC barely moved.

Bitdefender - recently upgraded to beta, which supports 10, it has got a nice GUI, but it has also got way slower.

Panda Cloud - solid GUI, it is cloud based, so you better have a good connection, it causes disconnects on WiFi.

Sophos - heavily linked to the online account, as if that was not bad enough, it also runs slowly. Another failure.

360 AV - this one is difficult to judge. It has great and modern GUI. It includes Bitdefender and Avira engines, so it is obviously a bit slower, when they are enabled, but it also includes cleanup, which is not very reliable, but it does not run automatic, so it fine. If you are looking for a light AV, better to choose Essential version, otherwise go for Total, which has some nice features. But to note, they lied in AV tests to get a better score, so I would use it with a little caution.


If you really want a paid one, Kaspersky is a good choice, you should avoid McAfee and Norton, they are hogs.

And in the end, some review and some tests: Free Antivirus ( AV Test - AV Test )

Freewares better then full featured paid for softwares? It actually depends on just which paid for as well as which freebies you are talking about. The former Symantec analyst mentioned using the Zone Alarm free version as well as the free version of BitDefender but is also a specialist in the field. That's a vast contrast to "Joe Smoe" typical user getting nailed by some bug!

As for Norton being bloatware that rep no longer applies in recent years as Symantec as well as other companies ended up following VIPRE's lead in light footprints by av program which was a plus for gamers as well as other softwares no longer seeing clashes with av software chumping on the resources. Again the reviews even for the freebies are generally tailored to fit someone's criteria and not a solid observation of any large comparative listing of most if not all softwares. But each will end up having their own preferences based on what they find works for their own situation.