Antivirus protection

[Harold Dye]

I currently have the free Avast antivirus on my computer. I have had no problems with it and everything seems to be fine. I was wondering which is better the Avast or Malwarebytes anti malware. Do they do basically the same thing? I know I probably would be better off if I used the paid version, at least I would have more options but I don't know about that. Any thoughts?

[Wiz Feinberg]

I currently have the free Avast antivirus on my computer. I have had no problems with it and everything seems to be fine. I was wondering which is better the Avast or Malwarebytes anti malware. Do they do basically the same thing? I know I probably would be better off if I used the paid version, at least I would have more options but I don't know about that. Any thoughts?

Avira is a standard anti-virus program. Anti-virus is best at detecting known threats based upon matching file definitions. Commercial versions of some of these AV programs offer better protection by expanding their virus definition databases to the cloud, then delaying execution of files while checking for new matches.

Free anti virus programs are usually updated a couple times a day at most. Paid versions may receive more daily updates. Somebody has to pay the programmers!

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a more targeted gate keeper. It watches for and identifies malicious of potentially undesirable software that traditional anti-virus ignores. Malwarebytes paid version is especially adept at blocking zero day exploits.

The free version of Malwarebytes will not protect you at all, but may be able to remove threats that have already taken hold. Only the paid version turns on real time protection.

[Dave Potter]

I currently have the free Avast antivirus on my computer. I have had no problems with it and everything seems to be fine. I was wondering which is better the Avast or Malwarebytes anti malware. Do they do basically the same thing?

Your question has obviously been answered. But what about the free Windows antivirus protection, which does offer real-time protection, do you find objectionable?

[Wiz Feinberg]

I currently have the free Avast antivirus on my computer. I have had no problems with it and everything seems to be fine. I was wondering which is better the Avast or Malwarebytes anti malware. Do they do basically the same thing?

Your question has obviously been answered. But what about the free Windows antivirus protection, which does offer real-time protection, do you find objectionable?

If you are referring to Microsoft's Windows Defender, it ranked dead last in the August 2015 AV Test. I would not recommend this to my worst enemy, unless it is backed up by MBAM, MBAE and limited User privileges.

[Wiz Feinberg]

I don't know how many of you will remember this (I know Jack Stoner will), but Windows Defender used to be Windows Security Essentials, which used to be Microsoft AntiSpyware, which used to be called "Giant AntiSpyware." Microsoft bought out Giant A.S. in 2004 and rolled it into the MS family and renamed it.

[Charlie McDonald]

Avira is a standard anti-virus program.

Does this mean that you prefer Avira over Avast? I used Avast until they did some things I didn't like, and reverted to Windows Defender,
which I actually heard would be sufficient to my needs, not involving any risky internet activity (except for the Forum, which is risky enough).
I also use Malwarebytes.

I gather you imply that Avira or Avast is preferable to Defender; correct?

[Dave Potter]

If you are referring to Microsoft's Windows Defender, it ranked dead last in the August 2015 AV Test. I would not recommend this to my worst enemy, unless it is backed up by MBAM, MBAE and limited User privileges.

Well, that's not too encouraging. I do use MSE. I guess it's my NAT router and a little common sense about what to "click" that's kept me out of trouble so far. It also surprised me that Trend Micro came in second to last - I thought that one had a decent reputation.

[Wiz Feinberg]

It also surprised me that Trend Micro came in second to last - I thought that one had a decent reputation.

I am surprised too. I use TMIS on all my computers and have zero problems or infections. It sometimes detects malicious or undesirable code in downloaded files and quarantines them. I usually hold them a few days and rescan, in case it was a false positive that got corrected with a definition update.

The more useful feature of Trend Micro products is the web protection module. If active, it blocks malicious web pages from loading. You can override the block at your own peril. I do so because I have NoScript running and use a limited user privileges account. All the attacks use JavaScript to launch Flash, Reader, Java, Silverlight, or VB attack code. NoScript stops them in their tracks so I can see the JavaScript source code.