Which antivirus package should I use?

There are hundreds of different antivirus packages available for Windows.  While you will likely only recognize the name of a few, it is important not to pick one based solely on name recognition. 

Here are a few important bits to remember:

• No matter what package you choose, you can still get infected with a virus or some type of malware
• The costs of an antivirus package does not have any relationship to the likeliness of infection
• Most importantly, your usage habits and computer settings have the most impact on your PC safety
• Research what you want.  Once you choose one, you should stick with it.  Removal can sometimes be tricky.

Some of the most marketed software is just that.  When you purchase a copy of a big-brand-name package, you are likely paying more for the marketing so that you feel comfortable in knowing its name.  While these products work well, there are others that work just as well or better available for a better price.

First, I will list some of the popular packages and some of their disadvantages:

• Norton: Works very well, but naggy, confusing and will seriously slow down your PC
• TrendMirco: Mixed experiences, but overall  overrated.  More practical for large deployments
• McAfee: Bad experiences, works ok, but overall a bad choice
• Symantec: Works very well, but also naggy, confusing, and will seriously slow down your PC
• Kaspersky: Simply overrated.

If you already have one of these products, don’t panic.  You are fine with what you have.  Remember that usage habits have far more influence on safety than your antivirus software.  Although once renewal comes up, you may want to consider switching.

Upon switching, you should consider:

Avast Professional has recently become my favorite since it is well liked by my clients and has performed very well thus far.  Avast offers a free home version version for non-commercial users. It is very affordable for business licensing.  Licensing starts at $39.95 per year and goes down dramatically with volume purchases.  Check out Avast’s Cost Calculator.

AVG Antivirus is popular for its ease of use, small footprint and overall effectiveness.  AVG also offers a free basic home version for non-commercial use.  Also starting at a bargain price of just $39.99 per year, this suite works sweet for business workstations.  While a more enhanced version, Complete Internet Security is available, I recommend sticking with the  standard antivirus suite.

Avira is among the top and no less powerful or practical than the others listed above.  Avira, amongst the others, offers a free personal edition available for home non-commercial users.  Avira Premium licensing starts at only $26.95 per year. 

Clamwin is among the few that are GPL licensed, General Public License (free as in no cost, and free as in freedom).  Contrary to much commentary, Clamwin is very effective and has a very small footprint.  Clamwin does not have a real-time on-access scanner which, to some, is a disadvantage.  To others this may be an advantage since this will significantly increase the performance of a PC. 

Panda Antivirus is a highly rated and powerful solution offering enterprise and cloud protection products for environments where security is an essential part of business.

Microsoft Security Essentials is new 2009 released FREE product from Microsoft for complete virus and malware protection.  While this new product has not yet been widely used yet, it has scored high in reviews.  I have not yet fully evaluated this product, but since it is a trusted product of Microsoft and I have yet to hear any complaints, I would recommend people to give it a try.

Many technicians and authors have suggested that “you get what you pay for” in antivirus software.  While that is true for most products, software is often an exception for many reasons including marketing, manufacturer contracts and incentives, name recognition and more.