Okay, we’ve got ten different antivirus programs to list in just one page, so let’s skip the introductions and get right into the list.
10- AVG Free
One of the best of the free antivirus programs, AVGFree is designed to be very easy to use, and it is. Some users actually consider it a little too easy to use, however, and prefer something a little more customizable, like, say…
9- Avast! Home Edition
Avast’s website really pushes the Pro edition of this package, but the free home edition is, honestly, all you need. It offers a little more than AVG in the way of options and features. Of course… some say that Avast has a few too many bells and whistles without really being a full security program, and they recommend…
8- Avira AntiVir
Avira AntiVir may very well be the best of the free antivirus programs. It’s easy to use without being too dumbed down, and most importantly, it gets daily updates, if not several updates in a single day, ensuring the most up to date database of known viruses anywhere.
7- Panda
Panda offers a few security programs, and their antivirus is amongst some of the best bargain priced virus software. It gets regular updates and it gets the job done, with user friendliness to boot.
6- Kaspersky Anti-Virus
Kaspersky tends to get great reviews with just one little trifle- It can eat up a lot of memory. However, if you’re virus savvy and know how to reduce exposure, you should be able to keep the scanner from getting too busy, saving your RAM in the process.
5- G-Data Antivirus
G-Data is designed as a no nonsense virus killer. No bells and whistles, no fancy interface, just easy to use, automatic updates, a wide database of known viruses, and great results.
4- McAfee Security Center
Simply put, McAfee might well be the only security software you ever need to buy. It covers spam, viruses, Trojans, popups, you name it, and all in one, easy to use package.
3- Vipre Antivirus and Antispyware
Don’t forget, viruses aren’t all you have to worry about. Vipre isn’t quite a full package, but it does a great job against both viruses and spyware.
2- F Secure Anti Virus
F Secure is great when it comes to two things: User interface, and updates. It gets daily updates, and it’s easy to use, making for a great little virus killer.
1- ESET Nod32
ESET Nod32 is a great combo of firewall and virus scanner. It also defends against spyware, adware, spam, popups, and so on.
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YOU HAD ME UNTIL ‘McAfee’ YOU ARE COMP. GEEKS AND YOU THINK ‘McTrashy’ IS THE BEST software antivirus software??? please!!!
How much are they paying you??????????????????
Hi Joel.. the article says ten of the best not THE BEST, you could always give us your opinion why “mctrashy” is no good and what you recommend ?
Joel is a fool and obviously doesn’t know what he is looking at here. If he knew what he was all about would he be reading this list to begin with. My Guess is that he wouldn’t know the best Scanner if he was using it.
Basically McAfee is a quite powerfull suite, but as many idiots that are online commenting like Joel here, I would bet that this fool doesn’t know how to configre his power button little lone a security software. So Hear say to the rest of the viewers, “JOEL IS AN IDIOT AND DOESN”T KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT ANYWAY. it is probably trashy to him becuase he downloads new porn videos daily, there-fore making any antivirus software look like trash.” Best on in that list is KAsperSky, and BTW AVG is the worst one out there, I can’t even have people come over to my house with AVG installed, it gets black right away becuase of nosey scripts accessing all the PC’s in the network. Not Antivirus software needs to have access to anything but the PC it is installed on. There is something Fishy about AVG, that is for sure!!
i prefer 3 antivirus namely 1. ca-e trust 2.kaspersky & 3. nod32 . these 3 r very power ful scanner. but today market is run by kaspersky. u can choose any 1 of this
Wt abt BitDefender ???????? Surely it is one of the best in the market if u r willing to pay. BTW jason i agree with Joel as McAfee cant even detect basic trojans.
Definitely agree with Rooney & Joel, McAfee has a great deal of holes in their security. NOT a great program at all. Unfortunately I can say from experience that the company I work with CHOOSES to use it, much to their detriment. Have been a faithful and VERY satisfied CA user for over 12 years, with no problems – EVER!! Can’t really comment on the others, except of course Norton, which isn’t much better than McAfee.
Well I didn’t particularly mean that McAfee is the best, it is powerfull that is all I said. The Catch is that you must know how to harness it. I use to use it regularly and well I too never had a problem and no one that hacks, and is anything less then great busted in completely while I was using it. I don’t however beleive that anyone should use it if they have no idea on how to harness it’s potential. In comparison’s, I don’t think that McAfee deserves to be in this list to be frank. Most users don’t even know how to use there PC’s little lone configure a security suite correctly. For this Fact, McAfee is a total waste of money for the average user. Even for a more advanced user McAfee can be a pain and a consume a lot of time to get it to work right. If you can’t deal with that at all then well it isn’t for you.
I will never suggest that anyone buy it again, and KasperSky in a realistic Cost to Performance rating, is the best thing out there to take the noobie suggested install settings. Advanced users will love the ability to secure the system during installation if they know what they are doing. However if they don’t as many probably will, Kaspersky will be there worst enemy. So anyway, Kasper Own’s even while using the default installation settings. NOthing else out there matches it. BEsides why use something that isn’t allowed full access to the System kernel. To me that is just stupid, and to spend more then 100 bux for a security suite on a home user machine, is just ignorance. Shoot most professional Network administrators will have time with a full blown Commercial software!!
I tested 10 antivirus software
Top 5 best antivirus software for me
1. bitdefender
2. kaspersky
3. webroot
4. avast
5. eset nod32
Thats odd, Bit Defender on Effectivness on a typical review does rate high, but then it is built for Windows. Do you rate it #1 because of ease of use or for effectiveness?
AVG = Crap
@Jason
I’d actually agree with the others. I dislike McAfee as much as Norton. And security is not only a hobby, it’s my uni degree.
Hobbies include dissassembling virii/virsuses, trying out detection algorithms, beating them, etc. And yea, McAfee just doesn’t do it for me.. I don’t like Avast either though, my grandparents use it and I personally think it uses too much memory and is too annoying. It doesn’t need to take over the computer. 
Like AVG.
I would also disagree with your statement ” BEsides why use something that isn’t allowed full access to the System kernel”. You do not want ANYTHING with full access to the kernel. Think of it this way, everything that has full access is another door into full system control. And one bug in the antivirus can bring your computer down (BSoD, random errors, etc) if it’s hooked in too tight.
Avira, Kapersky, Nod32 are all one’s that I’ve tried and I would reccommend all of them. I personally use Malwarebytes as a once-a-week-scan and Commodo as my firewall. Malwarebytes has 2 modes, free and paid for. Free means you can do a scan, get updates, etc. Paid for means it can run in the background, which is actually not needed.
All you really need is a decent firewall and safe browsing habits. Then keep Malwarebytes or an antivirus of your choice installed just to cycle (start, update, run a full scan, then close) once a week. An antivirus can only detect what it has definitions for, so it can only find old viruses, so a properly configured firewall will do just fine.
Think of it like a house.. Firewall is lock on door, antivirus is rottwieller that has been trained to attack certain people. It won’t get everyone, but that’s why you have a lock.
So articles like these are good, but miss the whole point of security.
Businesses of course would be running a more secure system, but even they don’t need an antivirus taking up cpu cycles 24/7. Firewall with IDS, locked down network, preferrably with DMZ (while the effectiveness of them is up for debate, they’ll keep out script kiddies which is good enough) then running IE8 in lockdown mode with a whitelist of allowed sites.
Inexpensive, easy to set up and extremely effective.
I would have to agree that a software with full access is bad but somethings are just good to have able to do that. I have myself with my looking for viruses have found a few that get into the kernel, and well if you don’t have full access to it then well your not fixing it. This is the reason I suggest Kasper. Kasper will fix you 100% and if a infection fails to clean the first attempt it is blocked by default to the firewall policies. On the next reboot the infection will not launch, and it will be deleted.
other softwares have no business to have rights to teh kernel in my beleif, but with the intense security issues in teh spyware and most definately Malware, something needs full access to the kernel and work real close with MS. That way they can get you fixed up right.
Only viruses that act at kernel level are rootkits, and if you have one of those, you’ve been hacked. Big time.
Normal viruses can’t do that. Unless of course, they’ve affected a program that runs at kernel level, in which case then yes, they’ll be running at kernel level as well. Which is why you don’t allow direct access to the kernel. 
The inclusion of a firewall with the antivirus (AV) is one of the best parts about Kapersky. And the best reason ever for allowing a firewall and AV to be the same program. It’s also one of the few cases where it actually works.. I normally prefer to have the firewall and AV seperate so that 1, you have less resources used and 2, a flaw in one doesn’t mean your whole security setup has been comprimised. Most “security suites” also don’t implement them both properly, they may have an excellent AV but a dodgy firewall or vice versa.
I still don’t like kernel level though.. I ran Lavasoft Ad-Aware and had an instant BSoD. Turns out that a default scan includes system files which are in use by the computer. Ad-Aware tries to scan, instant denial of service to the computer, computer dies. Kernel level programs are like that.. Too deep and they can make for a really bad day.
I agree, Kasper is the only thing that I let do as it will. It is becuase I will go looking to get infections that are extreme, and of allt he other softwares, Kasper Owns on a Home user leve, and most definately dominate on defaujlt settings!!!!
yeah mc**** is i truly agree avira is also one of the best! ive tried it for two consecutive yearsand it doesn’t faill me til now.but the problem is it has a slow scanning ability.how ’bout sophos? can you help me, if is it good?
Eset Nod 32 is the best anti-virus i ever use! The next generation of Eset Nod 32, Eset Smart Security also very good!