Battle Avira Free or Bitdefander Free for Windows 8.1

Status
Not open for further replies.

Spurs

Level 1
Thread author
Aug 15, 2014
10
Hi, better Avira Free vs Bitdefander Free ? Detection and performance ?
 
H

hjlbx

Auto restore isn't the same as "we detected this file, what do you want to do with it?" Every AV has the ability to restore quarantined files. Not all of them do that efficiently. For example, you restore something from quarantine on McAfee, it just deletes it again. What's the point?

BD Free user can restore quarantined files manually - there are no alerts - as you know. User can also send file back to quarantine.

Efficient - definitely not... a bit of a rigmarole if you ask me.

Plus, I found that BD Free permanently deleted files rated as malicious during its installation scan... with no way to recover them.

As I said, I dropped BD Free due to such problems.
 

OokamiCreed

Level 18
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Well-known
May 8, 2015
881
You think thats difficult you should try spyshelter and the way they store away a app or file , when blacklisted message pops up .

I have tried it. Love it, as it does give user the choice for the most part. Unless it's Private Internet Access VPN. Then it just stabs it with a knife until you uninstall. Even with exclusions. People don't say it's aggressive for no reason. It might also conflict with Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit. Can't remember.

BD Free user can restore quarantined files manually - there are no alerts - as you know. User can also send file back to quarantine.

Efficient - definitely not... a bit of a rigmarole if you ask me.

Plus, I found that BD Free permanently deleted files rated as malicious during its installation scan... with no way to recover them.

As I said, I dropped BD Free due to such problems.

Not really sure where your going with this. Did you misread my first post maybe? I did say I pick Avira over Bitdefender. As for Bitdefender being efficient or not, it might not be on your system, but it was on my and my families systems. As for your other points, I've pretty much agreed with you in my first post by saying "If you don't care that it will delete/quarantine a file without your permission, I'd go with Bitdefender.".

I only use AV that allow me the right away choice to delete, to add to exclusions, or to quarantine. Most don't seem to do half of that anymore. Not giving an advanced setting to change to allow you the user to delete or to not delete what it detects (to me) is unacceptable.

An example would be Kaspersky. By default it deletes without user intervention, but you can change it so that it asks you before it takes action. One of the reasons why I like it so much. So when I say "it gives you a choice in what you want to do with a detected file", I mean user intervention, not restoration of a file it decided to do whatever it wants to do. And as you said, it can mean permanent deletion of a file it deems too dangerous. That's not something I want. Which is why I don't recommend Bitdefender unless you really don't care what it does to your files.
 
Last edited:

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
No, I mean like games and regular applications, not other security programs. Too many, "disable Bitdefender" workarounds out there (not "disable antimalware software" but Bitdefender specifically. I ran BD Total Sh--Security for a few months and constantly had issues with it..not to mention buggy...I mean really buggy...as in, you'd be more secure with Windows Defender/Firewall out-of-the-box if you didn't pay attention).

One example: Steam/Origin/et al, by default and by design, runs on startup. BD will go into game mode and:
- Disable AV scanning
- Disable BD updates
- Disable Windows updates
- Disable some other stuff I can't remember what, screensavers and such

They don't give you an option to make exclusions for game mode since it is hard-coded. Amateur hour, I tellsya!
 
Last edited:

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
I'm really liking this setup (just put it together after a week of testing on VMs).

I put Comodo in "Internet" setup and changed all the settings from there (I like the zone checking; I don't want to be nagged about files I already have.), have HIPS in training mode for a few days (otherwise I imagine I'd uninstall it after the 42nd prompt and hour later), auto-sandbox and viruscope on everything. It's been as quiet as Windows Firewall (one unsigned app that talks on the network needed approval and a Win10 process).

I really like Qihoo 360 and, TBH, I didn't expect much from it but I had to explore all options (especially since they are limited on Win10--Avira and may others don't run on it). It has Avira & BD engines and two of it's own, so it really is hard to go wrong with that and it's performance is better than Windows Defender, so it's an upgrade all around. Funny thing is, the QVM engine was a bit more sensitive on my full scan than Avira/BD: it heuristically flagged several fritz chess engine packs (self-extracting executables) I have from ~13 years ago.

It also has a behaviour blocker/logger that is really cool: it will prompt you for serious actions (like an unsigned program modifying a startup item) but only notify you with probably-normal-but-just-in-case-it-isn't behaviours (signed, known program modifying startup).

The only have the "Total Security" version for Win10 at the moment (I prefer the "Essentials" version) that has system cleaner extras (like all the suites are doing and I hate that--you'll never beat CCleaner!) but they aren't bloated or obtrusive or anything like that. They can be completely ignored. Disable the sandbox feature though; I believe I've seen it interfere with detection with Comodo installed (with it's sandbox); it's redundant anyway.

I don't use Qihoo's web filtering and I haven't tried it. I'd have to research it more and I'm happy with Chrome/Google DNS, uBlock Origin (I just switched from AdBlock), and Avast's Chrome plug-in (though I'm looking for an actual performance test of online security plugins since they are independent of the security product, so I may change that). I did add Winhelp's hosts to Comodo firewall to keep Project Spartan (Microsoft Edge) from being ridiculously stupid with ads. My wife saw that today and remarked, "The Internet is crazy with all those ads!" Indeed. Reminded me of the movie, Idiocracy.

Anyway...to the OP: Both! Qihoo 360. heh
 
  • Like
Reactions: Behold Eck
Status
Not open for further replies.

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top