Maximum PC

It's great to find out what hardware MaximumPC likes as "best". Especially in today's security compromised, virus infested, malware havoc wrecked world, even the most dilligent of us aren't 100% safe. So where's the "best" software. I know it's kind of hard to do a true "best of" when there are hundreds of options in a single category... so which ones does MaximumPC like the best??? Anti-Virus (free or otherwise), spyware/malware removal software (free or otherwise), firewall, etc...

Are Symantec & McAfee still pretty lame...

Is Spybot Search & Destroy still pretty good...

Is Ad-Aware too bloated these days...

Does AVG still rule the roost...

Are all in one's (Anti-Virus, Firewall, spyware protection, spam control, parental controls, etc... in one software package) any good, or are you better off getting one product that concentrates on just one thing at a time?

Yea, I know there have been spyware & Anti-Virus round-ups, but I'm left confused... I mean if you're testing Anti-Virus software, shouldn't your verdict & score be based on how well it protects against & removes virus' regardless of how it looks, or how slow it is??? Sure, speed is nice, but if you miss one single virus because of speed, then is speed really worth it? Besides, anyone worth sitting at a computer keyboard knows that you run this stuff while you're at work, &/or sleeping, so that it has no impact on your actual computing...

Regardless? No. Whether or not an AV program is actually effective plays the biggest role in its scoring (we were pretty unforgiving with PC Tools, which did a piss-poor job in the latest antivirus roundup), but why stop there? There are several programs that are adept at protecting from, detecting, and removing viruses, but at the expense of heavy resource usage, slow scanning, a quirky interface, and other annoyances. Likewise, there are a few standouts that rise above the rest, and that's reflected in the verdict. It's the difference between, say, an 8 (AntiVir*) and a 9/Kickass (Norton 2009 and ESET Smart Security).

*AntiVir has since added anti-spyware scanning to its free AV package.

Then explain the 5 score for Avast! which...


and...


Sounds a LOT better than a 5 unless you're knocking off 3 to 4 points for some annoyances which means that you're not giving the effectiveness of the program enough of a role in scoring...

Painfully slow scanning (twice as long as the next slowest in the bunch), adversely affected system performance, quirky interface, and requires registration.

Are we going to go for the fix that takes all night? Nope...

What if it doesn't catch it live even, and then needs that endless scan to be done to find it? Avast is free, get's a 5, and we're told we may not like it let alone use it.

Chaosdsm, the real question is why the AV that wins the most awards year after year is on the last page in some summary. Because you pay for it. Eset's Nod32 isn't "one of the best", it gets all the Golds.

If you want protected, you just spend money for the best. If you want free, you get talking about just that tier of products, and aren't really protected.

So... how often do you run scans while playing games or otherwise using your computer??? See last line in my previous post... A 5 tells me that it doesn't do it's primary job worth a damn. But the comments about how well it works seems to tell me otherwise...

Personally, I don't care if it takes 48 hours to run, if it does the job better than others, it's worth the wait

Regardless... I'd still like to see a software section added to Best of the Best.

Scan during any game, and it's a piece of crap.

How often it scans is up to you. Sunday morning at 3am? You've never gamed at 3am on Sunday morning? That's game over man...game over.

Scan nightly, and hope to Bill Gates that you don't have anything else going on. If you go through torture, you just hope it finds them all...not "most". Avast doesn't, yet brings you to your knees...so, why bother?

It doesn't do it's primary job man. List it's awards if it does....

Like I said, anyone foolish enough to do any kind of scan while their using their computer doesn't deserve to be sitting at the keyboard. 99% of the time, I'm a sleep from 5AM to 8AM (though I don't go to bed or wake up at any given time), that's when my scan's run, because I've yet to find any program that can due a transparent scan... or in other words not have ANY impact on whatever I'm doing during a scan.

BTW... I'm only using Avast! as an example based on the positive comments about how well the program works.

Just for the record, I use a paid version of Avast! for U3 so that I can run scans on potentially infected PC's from my thumb-drive. Nod32 on my main PC, AVG Pro on my secondary PC, & AVG free for friends & family who don't want to, or can't afford to pay for virus protection.

You then paid for 43% security. Good job.

Us fools don't know when we're using our computer next, and buy over 90% security and do so with transparent scans.

You're missing the major point, and want to say everyone is wrong but you and the AV you happen to like. So if you were to review it, it'd be a kickass 10...when others view it, it's a 4.

So let's give it an 8 based on the Chaosdsm scale and still state "it's not the best". I think it sucks, you think it rocks...that's a 5 at best. I'd hate to think a single person reviews something and dictates that everyone will feel the same way. You're forcing that everyone acts just like you...pretty liberal of ya.

Don't use any AV, and don't click links in your mail. How's that for responsibility?

That's your prerogative, and one of the reasons why products aren't simply given a score, but an editorial review as well. I think we did a good job in laying out the pros and cons, regardless of how any given reader would rate the criteria.

There are only 2 A/V programs that even need mentioning unless you are going to include freeware. Kaspersky and Nod32, thats it, why take a chance with the most important component software on your computer? If you cant afford those, then Avast is the only real free alternative. JMO.

Don't DL porn, use torrents, open email from people you don't know or surf warez sites, and you'll never need it anyway.

The major point (70-80%) of an A/V review should be "how well does it work on preventing / finding / removing virus' " the MPC A/V review is kind of like rating a Ferrari a 9 & rating a Porche a 5 because it isn't a Ferrari... & since there's no effectiveness data listed...

I don't think Avast! rocks, but it does seem to get the job done. Personally, I would give Avast a 7.5, since for me, it's faster (as far as actual scanning goes) than AVG pro, & seems to be the best U3 USB thumb-drive compatable A/V, not that there are a lot of options to choose from... Avast, McAfee, & TrustPort A/V are the only options I know of for U3 enabled thumb drives. Of course, being a U3 edition, it may be stripped down to basics which may be why it runs fast for me...

One other reason Avast! is of interest to me, a 3 year BART (Bootable Anti-Virus & Recovery Tools) CD subscription for repair techs if available. Unlimited usage on any PC, but it isn't cheap. http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_bart_cd.html



If only that were true... Those are just the easiest ways to get infected. You can still get email from people you know... who are infected. Sites that you think are safe might not be... etc...

Yeah, I know. Your point is valid. But seriously, I've only ever had maybe 2 virus' in all these years, due to some safe surfing habits and those others I listed above.

Yep. I've never had a virus because of that, plus Winpatrol and the free version of Avast have iron grips on my system. Actually, Avast protected me from a Goatse site once. My friend was all "HAHA you saw goatse" so I replied "Oh, is that why it was blocked?". Not to mention that if you do go to the point where it tells you it's blocking something, you get the big "BWOOOOOOOOP VIRUS DETECTED" sound.

You know, why don't we settle this. Use Avast for standard protection only, and use something else for scanning only. No system slowdown from running two apps since you only use one of them to scan only.

I use Kapersky Internet Security Suite, and have been since its release, the only virus I ever had contact with was on my sons computer, it was called the " autorun.inf" and it was really bad, when you get something like that , you can forget Malwarebytes or Superantispyware, it wont remove it permanently, the only option was a low level format and completely reinstall all software, its the only way I felt comfortable telling him it was gone.

Autorun.inf isn't the infection name. It's a file used by Windows XP/Vista for AutoPlay. When AutoPlay is enabled, it will automatically do the selected task, which is why I recommend disabling AutoPlay in the first place.

To get rid of that particular infection, all you have to do is delete the autorun.inf file from the root of the system drive (Normally, C:\autorun.inf). After it is deleted, the infection won't show up again, at least that particular one.

Hey thanks, I will remember that, when I tried to fix it, it wouldnt let me open any programs or the control panel, so I just felt better doing a reformat. But I will remember your advice if I ever run into this again. Thankyou.