Best Anti Virus for 2016

nicknack35

nicknack35

nicknack35

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Hi wonder if someone could point me in the right direction and help with a good anti virus please. My mum has been without an anti virus for couple of weeks now and i want to go and get her one today. Any advice on what to get be grateful thanks
 
The antivirus built into Windows 8/8.1/10 is normally sufficient and doesn't require a paid for alternative.

You could run MalwareBytes sporadically, although the best antivirus/antimalware is your Mum, she needs to understand opening attachments from unknown senders is not a good idea. Equally downloading software/.exe's from unknown sources is not a good idea.
 
davidmt83 said:
The antivirus built into Windows 8/8.1/10 is normally sufficient and doesn't require a paid for alternative.

You could run MalwareBytes sporadically, although the best antivirus/antimalware is your Mum, she needs to understand opening attachments from unknown senders is not a good idea. Equally downloading software/.exe's from unknown sources is not a good idea.
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I would go with a third party AV, Defender is actually not great on performance resources around 16.2 score , have a look here http://www.av-comparatives.org/performance-tests/ , so around ten AVs there with better performance on systems.

End of the day better free AV alternatives that are lighter and better detection rate then Defender.

Avast, Avira seem to be popular for free alternatives, with good detection rate and performance hit below 3% I can see why, Bitdefender free version is also another option.
 
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I'd add:

In short: Windows Defender isn’t bad, per se, it just isn’t as good as your other options. However, it’s by far the least intrusive, considering most other antivirus programs come bundled with crapware, install problematic browser extensions, and contain occasional popup ads.

If you’re following common sense and other good security practices, Windows Defender may be fine, depending on your risk tolerance. However, if you’re regularly downloading pirated applications or engaging in other high-risk behaviors, you may want to skip Windows Defender and get something that does better against the collection of obscure malware samples used to test antivirus software.
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http://www.howtogeek.com/225385/wha...r-windows-10-is-windows-defender-good-enough/
 
The thing is with nagging popups is if you install it on your own machine you know what's what. If you install it on someone else's machine, they'll probably get annoyed by these, unsure why they keep appearing, and maybe turn off/uninstall AV altogether.

It doesn't matter if it's top of the tests if it's uninstalled...
 
davidmt83 said:
I'd also add when looking at statistics, bear in mind the following article:

http://uk.pcmag.com/opinion/35016/microsoft-goes-from-cellar-to-stellar-in-new-antiv
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Yet the same website you linked gave Defender a poor review of the beta version, http://uk.pcmag.com/windows-defender-beta-2/25697/review/windows-defender-beta-2 .


Bottom Line
Windows Defender tries to protect your Windows 8 or 8.1 installation if you don't have third-party antivirus installed. Testing reveals that you'll be much, much better off installing almost any other free antivirus utility.
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However good to see it doing better then the old days with AVtest scores, https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-10/october-2015/microsoft-windows-defender-4.8-153747/ .


End of the day its a preference thing I guess and how comfortable you are with using the AV in question.
 
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Clarkson said:
Got kaspersky total security for 1.99 recently. Details on HUKD. :cool:

Before that I just used Avast free version.
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Good choice, http://www.pcworld.com/article/3024714/security/kaspersky-and-bitdefender-get-top-marks-from-independent-testing-firm.html

Independent antivirus testing lab AV-Comparatives works hard all year testing AV suites to let consumers know what to expect from the major service providers. The Austria-based organization just released its 2015 report rating 21 major security suites for Windows, with Kaspersky Lab taking the award for product of the year.

Kaspersky won top honors for having the best overall performance across a variety of tests such as real-time protection, file detection, and malware removal. Although Kasperksy won the top spot, it actually tied with Bitdefender—but AV-Comparatives' rules against awarding a company product of the year two years in a row bumped the 2014 winner to second place.
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I use Bitdefender Total Security 2016 myself(purchased over Xmas for £8 multi-licence for two years).

Can't go wrong with either :) .
 
I really don't trust the sites rubbishing MSE/Defender. Who's to say they're not taking a backhander from some lesser regarded companies?

I've been might mighty dubious that these group tests are as unbiased as they claim after one of the reviews I saw claimed NOD32 as one of the worst performing offerings, and it's always been staggeringly, almost notoriously efficient in both performance and resources, going back to the XP days, and it's still as fluid now. That alone makes me cast doubt on many of these reviews.

I've never had a problem with MSE/Defender on any of the systems I've built for others. I use NOD32 and used to use Kaspersky (just because it was also free thanks to Barclays) on my main computers, and while Kaspersky has always been well regarded, it's not as fluid as it once was, so I've resorted to Defender on that PC.
 
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this_is_gav said:
I really don't trust the sites rubbishing MSE/Defender. Who's to say they're not taking a backhander from some lesser regarded companies?

I've been might mighty dubious that these group tests are as unbiased as they claim after one of the reviews I saw claimed NOD32 as one of the worst performing offerings, and it's always been staggeringly, almost notoriously efficient in both performance and resources, going back to the XP days, and it's still as fluid now. That alone makes me cast doubt on many of these reviews.

I've never had a problem with MSE/Defender on any of the systems I've built for others. I use NOD32 and used to use Kaspersky (just because it was also free thanks to Barclays) on my main computers, and while Kaspersky has always been well regarded, it's not as fluid as it once was, so I've resorted to Defender on that PC.
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Anti virus software are not all equal, some are better then others.

I could argue is Microsoft better at making AV then specialized AV companies that have been in the AV business for many decades?.. I think if you are honest then you know the answer to that one.


I think "The Windows Club" says it all, http://www.thewindowsclub.com/is-windows-defender-sufficient-enough-windows-10




Defender is far from the best out there for obvious reasons.
 
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the end user will always be the highest risk in any factoring. Been using MSE or defender for years now without incident. Use ESET at work, which runs great and is the only AV I would shell out for.

It has been discovered that IE uses hidden hooks in the kernal to improve performance, I would not be surprised if defender is doing a similar thing (it might not related to performance, but maybe detection and keeping the service running).
 
The best defence is the user being careful on what links they click on and what attachments they open.

However having a good antivirus helps add to the protection as browsing any seemingly harmless site can lead to unwanted scripts being run or sometimes a user may be expecting a file from a friend, but they open a file they shouldn't because that friend has been hacked. There are also other ways viruses can sneak onto a system.

I personally use Windows Defender or Avast. In Avast Pro you can turn off the annoying popups and get a better detection rate.

Microsoft are far from the best when it comes to detection rates.

Source: http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/avc_factsheet2016_02.pdf
 
ESET or Kaspersky - both are decent. Adblock for the browser can help stop unwanted clicking of sites that could be comprised (or the adverts themselves being comprised which does happen).
 
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