Serious Discussion Panda Free Antivirus

[upnorth]

How come no one talks about Panda Antivirus here?

People do, but not too positive as for many obvious known reasons that's been going on for years. At least for those that regular test AV solutions. My own personal experience was less then happy chappie last time I felt curious enough, and I am talking about the free home version just to be clear.

Spoiler

But to be some what fair and try to avoid throw those that still like and use it under the buss so to speak, it's strongly recommended to Enable what's called Application Control ( AC ) as that's not on by default and it really really should be. Use it also with a combo and never ever on anything else then a SUA ( standard user account ). In the end, yes it does exist other 100% free AVs.

 

[Trident]

Enable what's called Application Control ( AC ) as that's not on by default and it really really should be.

But it produces too many alerts, even if you execute malware, it will first show the AC alert and then it will display the message “1 Virus Deleted”. If someone is looking for technology executed to a very low standard and totally lacking any sense as well as quality control, Panda will fulfil their dreams.

 

[TairikuOkami]

I would never ever rely on Panda alone, but when combined with a decent DNS, like NextDNS, ControlID or CloudFlare, it will do, especially after system hardening.

He says its 10-15% lighter than Kaspersky Free. So it's very damn light.

More like 300-500% lighter and not just RAM, CPU and I/O as well, but as a real cloud AV it has obviously a constant network usage.
Kaspersky showed about 300-500MB if I recall correctly, but I have removed related screenshots, since I no longer recommend it.

 

[roger_m]

It is according to the OP. He says its 10-15% lighter than Kaspersky Free. So it's very damn light.
Maybe only Webroot is lighter

It's one of the lightest antiviruses there is, alongside K7 and 360 Total Security. There are some people who find it heavy, but they are rare instances.

 

[SillyBilly299]

Other than being lightweight on system, there is no reason to use it. If I want a third-party antivirus, I would rather choose a reputable and well-known one like Kaspersky or Bitdefender, which also provide free option. Otherwise, I would just stick with Windows Defender.

 

[Spartan]

Gamers may prefer the lowest possible system impact to the actual best security.

This, not a gamer but I care about performance more. All my programs are genuine/licenses and I have an adblocker so all I need really is a file scanner and nothing else, not even HTTP scanning

But I don't think that Panda is the lightest solution out there, even tho it often depends on the individual systems

It is, tried them all, literally.

It's one of the lightest antiviruses there is, alongside K7 and 360 Total Security. There are some people who find it heavy, but they are rare instances.

K7 is so light as well but it has a built in firewall which I don't want

Other than being lightweight on system, there is no reason to use it. If I want a third-party antivirus, I would rather choose a reputable and well-known one like Kaspersky or Bitdefender, which also provide free option. Otherwise, I would just stick with Windows Defender.

Kaspersky is not bad but what I don't like about it is that it installs a root certificate for the browser and nags you to install its browser extension although you can disable that notification.

When was the last time you tried Bitdefender Free? It has the same exact UI as Bitdefender Total security with so many buttons not relative to it that if you click on would prompt you to upgrade (ie. VPN, System booster). I may be picky but I don't like AVs that do this. I specifically chose the entry level version because that's all I need don't try to throw features I don't want in my face thinking I might upgrade.

 

[piquiteco]

Webroot and Panda Free are the lightest out there. About the issue of protection against this, left the ball to the testers. My dad still uses webroot on an old computer with 2GB of ram, that only gets on Youtube and does a google search once in a while lol. I went one day to format and install linux, when I messed around and saw that it was working fine, I thought to myself, whoa! don't mess with what is working and I left it the way it is there running for years on his computer.

 

[Trident]

It is, tried them all, literally.

Lighter than tweaked Eset?

Webroot and Panda Free are the lightest out there. About the issue of protection against this, left the ball to the testers. My dad still uses webroot on an old computer with 2GB of ram, that only gets on Youtube and does a google search once in a while lol. I went one day to format and install linux, when I messed around and saw that it was working fine, I thought to myself, whoa! don't mess with what is working and I left it the way it is there running for years on his computer.

Well tbh Webroot is better than Panda. Panda is the rock bottom.

 

[piquiteco]

Well tbh Webroot is better than Panda. Panda is the rock bottom.

Apparently it seems so, one day I grabbed a Keylogger I don't remember what the name of the app was to see how webroot would behave it didn't detect it, but webroot denied access to the app which prevented it from recording the keys pressed on the keyboard, I was impressed, only AV I've seen do that, the rest of the AV's removed it as a threat, I thought it's looking like spyshelter lol.

 

[Spartan]

Lighter than tweaked Eset?

Well tbh Webroot is better than Panda. Panda is the rock bottom.

they are the same really, the only caveat (for me) is NOD32 has an HTTP scanner. Sometimes I would be on a webpage while using my VPN and the page wouldn't load properly but when I disable NOD32 it loads just fine. This really bugs the hell out of me and if you disable HTTP scanning the ESET icon turns orange like something is wrong which messes with my OCD.

Damn HTTP scanners, I hate them so much if they're gonna come in the way of my workflow.

Apparently it seems so, one day I grabbed a Keylogger I don't remember what the name of the app was to see how webroot would behave it didn't detect it, but webroot denied access to the app which prevented it from recording the keys pressed on the keyboard, I was impressed, only AV I've seen do that, the rest of the AV's removed it as a threat, I thought it's looking like spyshelter lol.

Doesn't Webroot also have an HTTP scanner that was introduced a while back? That's when I stopped using it.

 

[Trident]

Doesn't Webroot also have an HTTP scanner that was introduced a while back? That's when I stopped using it.

Do they? I wasn’t aware… I am not monitoring them that closely but on the guides and everything no HTTPS scanning is mentioned. I was researching today the evasion and foreign code shields (apparently the latter is available in home products). May be time to put them to a test. Webroot against Panda… @Shadowra can assist as well.

 

[Spartan]

Do they? I wasn’t aware… I am not monitoring them that closely but on the guides and everything no HTTPS scanning is mentioned. I was researching today the evasion and foreign code shields (apparently the latter is available in home products). May be time to put them to a test. Webroot against Panda… @Shadowra can assist as well.

check in the settings: How Do I Disable or Enable Web Filter Extensions in WSA Home versions? | Webroot Community

 

[Trident]

However, choosing the best program always depends on individual needs and preferences.

To which preferences and needs an exceptionally outdated antivirus caters? When there are many others developed to a high standard. I am not really sure…?

 

[Indingo]

I've always questioned Av-Comparative.
In my tests and those of the Hub, Panda is one of the worst antivirus programs.
I invite you to have a look at my tests on it, I think you'll make up your own mind

Would you be interested in testing Panda Essential, rather than Panda Free? I have done my own limited testing and it seems that paid Panda products seem to receive faster cloud responses. Panda Essential is their cheapest paid product which has monthly payments for around $2 for unlimited devices. I have seen for myself in a limited way that this potential priority for the paid versions to get quicker cloud results, seems to impact performance and accuracy in the product. It would be interesting to see if the paid product with both the two settings for scanning within compressed files and application control on would actually make the product viable.

 

[Shadowra]

Would you be interested in testing Panda Essential, rather than Panda Free? I have done my own limited testing and it seems that paid Panda products seem to receive faster cloud responses. Panda Essential is their cheapest paid product which has monthly payments for around $2 for unlimited devices. I have seen for myself in a limited way that this potential priority for the paid versions to get quicker cloud results, seems to impact performance and accuracy in the product. It would be interesting to see if the paid product with both the two settings for scanning within compressed files and application control on would actually make the product viable.

I've already made a comparison between the free and paid versions of Panda, and the detection was identical.

 

[Indingo]

I've already made a comparison between the free and paid versions of Panda, and the detection was identical.

Oh really? I must have missed the comparison. I will check it out. Thanks.

 

[piquiteco]

Doesn't Webroot also have an HTTP scanner that was introduced a while back? That's when I stopped using it.

Yes, it has an HTTP scanner but it doesn't add certificates or anything else except the extension that can be removed.