Battle Comodo IS vs Avast Free vs Qihoo IS

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Kate_L

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Comodo is a little bugged, Qihoo IS is not really developed / supported anymore, Avast free ... I don't know I didn't use it in the last 100 years (since was version 4, I guess).

Any thoughts ?
 
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Nico@FMA

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avast! Free Antivirus is at an disadvantage feature-wise compared to the full security suites, but it does have very good detection and some zero-day prevention methods for all types of users. PUP-detection is also available, but disabled by default. However, I strongly recommend all avast! users to perform a custom install and tweak the AV settings to prevent unwanted software from being installed (see this thread). Also be vigilant after installing avast! as it also offers either the Google Toolbar (for IE and FF) or Chrome (upon reboot). These could be potentially unwanted as they're not part of avast! software - just bundled software.

Comodo has become bloated and lost it's primary focus over the years. They bundle their out-dated browser software with whitelisted Ads extension, their non-free PC Tech Support, GeekBuddy which also installs to your PC. And last I remember, Silverlight was required for the full Virtual Kiosk experience (fancy iPad-like UI) .I've seen posts here stating that Comodo Antivirus is mediocre, and it's white-list aka Trusted Vendors List (TVL) is either incomplete or contains questionable vendors. Comodo contains a Behaviour Blocker based on TVL, Definitions and Cloud (correct?), and may auto-sandbox anything suspicious (requires user interaction) or not known by Comodo, this can cause false positives for legitimate software.

Qihoo 360 Internet Security has proven it's good detection rates, however, I remain sceptical about actually using their software due to it being very new over here (UK/US). I've read their Internet Security has been discontinued in favour for their Total Security which still contains some bugs. I haven't tested this software for very long, but it appears to offer effective AV protection in a simple package.

Comparing avast! Free and avast! Internet Security. I would recommend anyone avast! Free Antivirus. While their Suite does contain more features, I guarantee no average user will use those features (ie. Manual Sandbox) and will be at a loss. avast! Free with other third-party software may be more effective, rather than paying and still getting infected.

For any PC user running Windows 7 SP1 with Windows Update and UAC enabled on default:
- Between Comodo Internet Security, Qihoo 360 Internet Security and Avast! Internet Security = Qihoo 360 Internet Security
- Between Comodo Internet Security, Qihoo 360 Internet Security and Avast! Free Antivirus = Avast! Free Antivrius + Windows Firewall

For any PC user running Windows 8.x with Windows Updates, SmartScreen and UAC enabled on default:
- Between Comodo Internet Security, Qihoo 360 Internet Security and Avast! = Qihoo 360 Internet Security or Avast! Free Antivirus

However, I do suggest trying (there's no harm in that) Windows Defender in Windows 8.x and Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7 SP1.

Additional software I can recommend, if you're likely to stumble across Adware or Malware.
- Unchecky.com
- Sandboxie.com

Bottom line: There is no best, detection rates from AV Testing sites or Youtube Reviews are negligible due to different users experiences with computers and Internet threats. Comments stating "Antivirus X is rubbish, crap or sucks" that is their personal opinion based on a test conducted by themselves or another party to intentionally infect a Windows PC should not considered reliable.

Read more: http://malwaretips.com/threads/protecting-your-pc-security-tips-advice.30452/ (Thread update in progress).

Additionally i would like to add some idea's based upon my industry experience.

Avast is without question the lesser here in terms of features but it is the only one out of the 3 that can fully claim to be a antivirus and is fully developed as any product should be given their "name" and performance over the years.

Comodo while it did score promising in tests it failed miserable in the average home situation, to many bugs, to many features and virtually none working. Sure with a bit of tweaking and such you can make it work and i am sure it will offer a little above average protection but its HYPED in my opinion and their name as a brand is quickly falling due to the fact that so many years after their initial release they STILL have not fixed their bugs, they still have not yet delivered a product that is even remotely close to the quality Avast offers, yet they continue to make others look bad using their massive fan base and bias news articles about AV brand XXX.
IMO Comodo IS should be considered a danger to your PC as it can break down ANY moment. That said IMO Comodo stops more malware and dangers in allow ALL mode then in any other mode and that says enough:rolleyes:

Qihoo is not a real AV either they use a stripped down Bitdefender engine their CLOUD is not even theirs its Amazon AWS.
Currently, Qihoo 360’s entire international platform is built on AWS. The platform was built leveraging Amazon CloudFront as its content delivery network (CDN), Amazon EC2, and Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), which serves the company’s processing needs, as well as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for its data store. Their CLOUD AV is also provided by a Amazon related service.
In regards to the QVM engine which is also based upon a different brand i can say that they have done a rather good job in bundling and adding some features to their 360 IS but to call it a AV or even Internet Security would be NOT-justified considering other brands who truly did develop their own product. Does that mean its bad? No not really as it seems Qihoo is performing rather well even i as a skeptic have to admit that, and i am sure in time Qihoo will be pretty much on the same page as the average main stream Brand.

And i am sure that this will probably give some reasons to get into a heated discussion which i hope to avoid, but people need to realize that "Home" products cannot be compared to "Industrial" packages in terms of overall security and performance.
All 3 brands are home products and they should be seen as such. However people these days want a few things:

1: Free (or Very low cost).
2: User friendly & can do it all.
3: Performance and Low memory usage.
4: Lots and Lots of features Gadgets toys and possible a flower coupon for using the product in the first place lmao

However this results one way or another in a decreasing level of protection in favor of other things.
And IMO neither Comodo or Qihoo is anywhere close to the level displayed in quality and overall protection compared to other brands who are active in the same market, and as such i would not recommend them.

Avast again is the odd one here as while i am not using it i certainly underline their quality of their product and while it does offer a little above standard protection it still does not match the level of some of the bigger names.

So if i have to pick out of the 3 names then its going to be:

1: Avast
2: Avast
3: Any other household brand
4: Qihoo
last place Comodo

That being said there is no doubt about the fact that there are some new brands on the market and some of them are really promising, and some of them are HYPED and will fade away like most market trends do. But i am sure that those few who survive the test of time like so many before them (Avast and Mbam are a clear example of some brands that made it) will eventually be on the same page as other brands or perhaps even better. So if you want to use Brand X than please do so, but keep in mind your local computer + configuration + Technical knowhow / computer habits are by far the key aspect here in the success that brand X might achieve on your computer.

Cheers:cool:
 

Anupam

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Jul 7, 2014
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Well for me Qihoo seems a little bit better choice because I don't care about brand names much.

because
1. It has better detection than AVAST.
2. Sandbox in free version
3. It has Antikey logger and Webcam Protection
4. It is also light on system even though it uses multiple engines ( I am using IS, and it using around 30 MB RAM )
5. In full screen mode it automatically goes in to Do no disturb mode ( I think its same as Game mode)
6. Really like the interface of IS. With Avast I was little bit confused with the UI
 

WinXPert

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Though I currently am using Qihoo 360 IS, I haven't tested it yet on a badly infected system. But I have cleaned a lot of PCs with Avast. I'm used to Avast's UI so no prob for me there. Just yesterday Comodo crashed on one PC at the shop, repair got pegged at 25% so I simply replaced it with 360 because it's an underpowered system.
 
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Jaspion

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Jun 5, 2013
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I love avast! Gotta say that.

Very few AVs give you as many configuration options as avast! (actually none that I can remember). Very few work so well too. Indeed, you can notice the things @n.nvt mentioned, this is the product of years of head-to-toe development. Qihoo and Comodo are not even close in terms of stability and usability.

Qihoo is better, some say. I have to say I tested it enough to say it is hyped too. While it is very good when it works, the problem is it doesn't always work as you would like. Sometimes the real-time protection is unresponsive (especially TS).

Comodo's "top" protection may prevent both viruses and legitimate programs from running. If you are an expert user, you can decide for yourself whether to run a file or not, so Comodo would only be slowing your day down. If you are a novice user who can't decide, then Comodo may be saving your ass... until it blocks some important security update and leaves your system wide open with a vulnerability...

In other words, avast! wins.
 

Nico@FMA

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I love avast! Gotta say that.

Very few AVs give you as many configuration options as avast! (actually none that I can remember). Very few work so well too. Indeed, you can notice the things @n.nvt mentioned, this is the product of years of head-to-toe development. Qihoo and Comodo are not even close in terms of stability and usability.

Qihoo is better, some say. I have to say I tested it enough to say it is hyped too. While it is very good when it works, the problem is it doesn't always work as you would like. Sometimes the real-time protection is unresponsive (especially TS).

Comodo's "top" protection may prevent both viruses and legitimate programs from running. If you are an expert user, you can decide for yourself whether to run a file or not, so Comodo would only be slowing your day down. If you are a novice user who can't decide, then Comodo may be saving your ass... until it blocks some important security update and leaves your system wide open with a vulnerability...

In other words, avast! wins.

Well Avast certainly does not give as much options as you think they give.
While they are feature rich i venture to say that Kaspersky, Symantec and ESET are way more feature rich overall.
However those brands are not being discussed here.
Avast wins clear and bright here in this comparison, but then again i can hardly call Qihoo competition and Comodo ...who are they again?
 

Jaspion

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Jun 5, 2013
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Well Avast certainly does not give as much options as you think they give.
While they are feature rich i venture to say that Kaspersky, Symantec and ESET are way more feature rich overall.
However those brands are not being discussed here.
Avast wins clear and bright here in this comparison, but then again i can hardly call Qihoo competition and Comodo ...who are they again?
Maybe ESET has comparable configurability. I wouldn't say you're wrong, but I wasn't talking about the number of features. I'm talking about configuring key aspects to make the AV work as you want.

Examples: avast! is modular, so you only install the components you want; that's excellent. You can choose fine details of how each shield works, for instance you can decide which types of file to check when opening, and have a different set of files to be checked when saving. You can select whether to use the caches or not, whether to check for digital signatures, etc etc.
 

Raider Red

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Feb 5, 2013
60
Tried all three...little unsure about Qihoo although it certainly scores well; Avast is a sentimental favorite, sometimes more than others; I haven't had the issues with CIS that you have mentioned...I do like the ability to tweak CIS and that seems to tighten it up and keep you safe. On my Win7x64, Avast seems the slower of the three (just by a small bit). If I had no budget for security but had to pick one, probably pick CIS just because of the potential to tweak (a la Chiron).;)
 
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