Advice Request Choose a new AV

[Cortex]

I continue to surprise myself how much I really like Avast after disliking strongly it for so long - it's on my PC's, incredibly fast, configurable - For me I get on with it now for some months more than any AV I've used in many years

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

I continue to surprise myself how much I really like Avast after disliking strongly it for so long - it's on my PC's, incredibly fast, configurable - For me I get on with it now for some months more than any AV I've used in many years

Wasn't Avast the one with massive privacy issues?

 

[bayasdev]

Using a laptop and Microsoft Defender would be my first choice but since I own a new Laptop the Memory usage is thru the roof with over 2 GB - So I switched to Bitdefender Engine / Netgear Armor - And ever since super smooth experience.

Netgear firmware is a vulnerability rabbit hole, just run a nmap and see by yourself how many open ports your BitDefender "secured" router has.

 

[robboman]

I would pick either F-secure or Kaspersky.

 

[Stopspying]

I voted for F-Secure as I've been using their SAFE product for some time and am very happy with it. It is light on my devices and as mentioned above DeepGuard goes deep.

First before buying anything do a full trial to see how that software behaves on your system and works for you.
Microsoft Defender coupled with Andy's tools (Configure Defender and Simple Windows Hardening) is a great option.
I find it just a tad too heavy on older systems and prefer F-Secure SAFE (with Simple Windows Hardening on my system) for its lightness and Mikko Hypponen
Bitdefender is a hit or miss depending on your system, so definitely do a trail first.
I just don't like Avast (or AVG) anymore, so no real opinion on them.
Was an Avast user when it still looked like this:
View attachment 257648

Thanks for the screenshot reminder, a real blast from the past. I was a long time Avast and AVG user back in those days.

The advice you give alongside several others in this thread about making use of the vendors trial periods is very sensible.

I continue to surprise myself how much I really like Avast after disliking strongly it for so long - it's on my PC's, incredibly fast, configurable - For me I get on with it now for some months more than any AV I've used in many years

That is how I remember it, then they were found to be involved in a number of privacy issues and aquiring other software that I'd used for a long time (CCleaner etc) and messing their reputations up too, so I still avoid Avast and AVG. Maybe they will prove to have reformed and this fast, configurable experience awaits me down the road at some point.

 

[omidomi]

F-Secure For sure!
For you I do't suggest you any CIA tools or Bug Tools
For Sophos I do't have any idea may be good may be bad I d'ot know,I never test it ....
WD is not enough for complete protection it need to add more security layers.....

 

[Ink]

I did trial Avast Premium Security a few weeks ago, and I would not recommend it over Avast Free Antivirus - a few reasons below:

The extra features are comfort layers rather than enhanced protection.

The Sandbox does not always let some apps run the way you'd like them too. A VirtualBox VM would be a more flexible replacement.

The Avast Firewall isn't easy to manage, and by sticking with Windows Firewall with Advanced Security you can easily block AvastUI.exe from internet access, therefore blocking any chance of Avast promoting Premium versions.

Plus it's all FREE. No credit card required.

Wasn't Avast the one with massive privacy issues?

Was, past tense.

WD is not enough for complete protection it need to add more security layers.....

Who invented "complete protection"? Bitdefender Total Security? F-Secure Total? Sounds like a marketing term to shift products. An updated OS, driver updates, modern browsers with built-in antimalware and silent updates, extensions to block harmful content, and cloud and local storage for backups. How many more layers is required?

 

[hanapupu]

If you buy the highest version of Avast they will still offer you something. I purchase Avast to try them before I renew my Bitdefender. I tried the Ultimate version. I still get "small" notifications try to sell me their Breach Guard. The small red dot notification bug the hell out of me, Fvck Avast. after 2 days, I asked for a refund. Takes more than 3 days to receive a reply saying my refund is being processed.

 

[Cortex]

If you buy the highest version of Avast they will still offer you something. I purchase Avast to try them before I renew my Bitdefender. I tried the Ultimate version. I still get "small" notifications try to sell me their Breach Guard. The small red dot notification bug the hell out of me, Fvck Avast. after 2 days, I asked for a refund. Takes more than 3 days to receive a reply saying my refund is being processed.

I started using Avast Premium late last December - I've never had any pop-ups or indication to update or offer me anything after the original install, (VPN) after initial reboot nothing - That's on several PC's? For me, great product ! One of the easiest firewalls to configure, if I was going to choose the most difficult to configure out of all I've used recently for the inexperienced it would be Windows followed by ESET, easiest Norton.

 

[DJ Panda]

I've been happy with Windows Defender for awhile. Comes with the system and can be customized to a certain level of protection. I'd otherwise say Kaspersky or Emsisoft.

 

[Templarware]

The difference between Avast Free and IS basically the Firewall.

 

[show-Zi]

MS-Defender are at your best when you prioritize trouble-free operation on updated or upgraded Windows over detection.

 

[Templarware]

MS-Defender are at your best when you prioritize trouble-free operation on updated or upgraded Windows over detection.

Avast is more trouble free than hardened Defender. At least from my experience.

 

[Oxygen]

Avast is more trouble free than hardened Defender. At least from my experience.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Templarware]

What do you mean by this?

No need to mess with group polices or install tools to control it. No false positives blocking trusted apps. Much easier to schedule both fast and complete scans, much faster scans.

 

[monkeylove]

Try trial versions of the top ones and see which ones don't slow down your system or cause various problems with other software.

 

[Templarware]

Interesting article form Avast: Is Windows Defender Good Enough?
Obviously bias though.

 

[Zartarra]

Thanks all for the comments, suggestions and replies.

 

[Andy Ful]

...
I combined all the AV-test (AV-test, AVLab, SE LABS, MRG and AV-Comp) results from the last 2 years and my own tests. The totals are:

Bitdefender	95,72%
AVG	93,66%
AVAST	93,66%
F-Secure	93,33%
Sophos Home Premium	93,31%
Windows Defender	89,08%

Making total scores of many different tests usually makes no sense. This can be meaningful only when some special criteria are fulfilled.

Did you count missed samples or the results in %? When summing up the results of different tests, one cannot use the scorings written in %, because different tests can have a different number of samples. Also using missed samples is not a perfect procedure, but probably much better than counting percents.

Bitdefender and Sophos cannot be included in such a comparison (Bitdefender was rarely tested by SELabs and Sophos was rarely tested by AV-Test). The comparison makes sense only when all AVs participated in all tests made in this period (last two years).

The MRG Effitas tests should not be counted because MRG Effitas uses totally different settings and different AV versions. For example, in the year 2019 Defender was mostly tested on default settings (as Home AV) against business AVs (not Home AVs). The proper procedure for Defender (as business AV) was applied by MRG Effitas starting from Q4 2019.

I am not sure if you can use AVLab tests in such a comparison, because AVLab uses very different testing procedures and direct comparison would contradict the results of all other AV testing labs. AVLab tests are valuable, but cannot be used to create total scorings with other tests.

When one uses AV-Test, AV-Comparatives, and SELabs testing results from the last two years and splits the results into 2 categories (Real World and Malware Protection), the results are as follows:

The best Home AV protection 2019-2020

Real-World tests include fresh web-originated samples. Malware Protection tests include older samples (several days old) usually delivered via USB drives or network drives. Real-World 2019-2020: SE Labs, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test (7659 samples in 24 tests) -------------------Missed samples...

malwaretips.com

 

[Andy Ful]

My possible new choices are:

• Avast or AVG IS
• F-secure Safe or Total
• BitDefender
• Windows Defender

or stick with Sophos.

There is no need to change the current AV if you like it.
Anyway, Defender on default settings is slightly weaker (even in the home environment) compared to the first three (paid) AVs. You would have to apply some advanced settings to increase the protection or use an additional security layer.