Is it worth it to upgrade from avira free to Bitdefender free?

[Theminecraftaddict555]

I heard that Bitdefender is free and better to use than Avira...

Also I am worried that Avira may have some malicious stuff in it like stated in these two videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVWFRQ47SG8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO4ruS6K18M

 

[drkatz42]

I've used Bitdefender Free for the past year, definitely has caught some slackware and appears to have a very small footprint.

 

[geofelt]

Most virus intrusions come through "social engineering"
Like opening email attachments or clocking on malicious links.
Prudence and adequate external backup is your best defense.
I find that the free Microsoft security essentials does the job.
It updates with windows update and is unobtrusive.

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

Most virus intrusions come through "social engineering"
Like opening email attachments or clocking on malicious links.
Prudence and adequate external backup is your best defense.
I find that the free Microsoft security essentials does the job.
It updates with windows update and is unobtrusive.

Isn't MSE a terrible product like many people said?

 

[geofelt]

Most virus intrusions come through "social engineering"
Like opening email attachments or clocking on malicious links.
Prudence and adequate external backup is your best defense.
I find that the free Microsoft security essentials does the job.
It updates with windows update and is unobtrusive.

Isn't MSE a terrible product like many people said?

I think not.
The fancy testers are testing how well a virus in the wild can be detected.
That is nice, but that is not common.
MS is gathering reports of infections and is trying to protect against the frequently found ones.
Regardless of what antivirus or malware checker you use, you must protect yourself against the possibility of infection.
It can happen to anyone. A trusted web site could run a malicious ad, for example.
Backup externally whatever you value.
Clone a "C" drive to recover your OS and your apps. Keep that offline.
If anything, MSE is free, easy to use, scans fast and is updated easily.

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

Most virus intrusions come through "social engineering"
Like opening email attachments or clocking on malicious links.
Prudence and adequate external backup is your best defense.
I find that the free Microsoft security essentials does the job.
It updates with windows update and is unobtrusive.

Isn't MSE a terrible product like many people said?

I think not.
The fancy testers are testing how well a virus in the wild can be detected.
That is nice, but that is not common.
MS is gathering reports of infections and is trying to protect against the frequently found ones.
Regardless of what antivirus or malware checker you use, you must protect yourself against the possibility of infection.
It can happen to anyone. A trusted web site could run a malicious ad, for example.
Backup externally whatever you value.
Clone a "C" drive to recover your OS and your apps. Keep that offline.
If anything, MSE is free, easy to use, scans fast and is updated easily.

Is it normal for MSE to take very long on full scans? I do have alot of stuff installed in my computer....Also why is bitdefender less better than MSE

 

[geofelt]

MSE has both a quick scan and a comprehensive scan.
As I type this, I did a quick scan on 80878 items in approximately one minute.
Admittedly, I am using a ssd and a strong cpu.
If you wish, you can limit the cpu usage to something less than 100%

All such apps have their fans and detractors. Probably the only way to tell which is better for you is to try several.

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

So far I tried Avira and I am trying out Bitdefender on another desktop computer besides mine...Avira took 3 hours or so for a full scan and I am not sure if it is reliable more than bitdefender or MSE....I recently uninstalled MSE because people said it had a bad detection rate also when it comes to viruses and trojan

 

[eatmypie]

The things you are calling malicious are just pups that you have the option to uncheck when you install that AV. So as long as you paid attention to what you agreed to let avira install onto your system you are fine. Those videos simply just refereed to how AV companies simply are letting these unacknowledged users who just click okay, okay, Agree, Install get unwanted programs onto their systems that a lot of AV companies are allowing these people who sell the pups to buy into their installation software so they can make money per install from the unexpected user installing it. Just don't install anything that says like AV safe search or that as well, they are also pups. You are fine with either of those AV's, and they are both very light on your system, just make sure you pay attention to what you are letting it install in the check boxes. I would also install unchecky to prevent this from happening on commonly downloaded programs.

Also MSE only has about 30% of signatures for known viruses in its database, the chances of it detecting anything in the wild that isn't in it's database is really slim as well, it has poor monitoring for anything malicious.

 

[Dashing_star]

I have both avast and MSE when i insert pendrive avast show no virus but MSE shows virus blocked?..
So i again check with paid version of Norton Anti virus which shows virus in it...
MSE is safe and updated easily through MS...
Regards

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

So MSE reliable or not? I am getting mixed answers :/

 

[eatmypie]

If you want to put performance before security MSE is terrible but I guess you can use it, but I would honestly stick with avira or switch to bitdefender free. They both won't affect your systems performance really at all, I think the people saying it's great really need to consider doing research in the differences between the signature databases and the technologies it has for catching stuff in the wild, MSE fails at both. Also there is problem with avira where the real time protection won't work after a certain update until you uninstall it and reinstall it https://www.avira.com/en/support-for-home-knowledgebase-detail/kbid/1775 If you don't mind switching just use bitdefender. I honestly think the bitdefender internet security is worth it if you can afford it, it has the whole package safe banking,small IDS,theft protection, and a lot more.

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

I decided to stick with Avast 2015 free AV with Hardened protection (not agressive) enabled. I also saw the review with the Free AV with aggressive mode turned on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z3jv6FOMjY

Though I will look into Avira again for backup just in case Avast does those popup things again

 

[eatmypie]

Avast isn't bad either, just make sure you check all the check boxes when you install from now on, that is the only way those AV programs will cause you to get those pups.

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

Yep i unchecked it on custom installation and they claim that they have a google toolbar that comes with a download? hmm suspicious

 

[eatmypie]

What was the downloads source? did you get it from their website?

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

It was from the avast official website..When i did the download/setup I unchecked the toolbars including the google toolbar they stated that will come with the AV..

 

[eatmypie]

Those are just programs that get money each time they get installed, they aren't real malware or viruses. If you download almost anything now days they come with those types of things because the authors or the people who run the site that you download it from make money from it. If you unchecked it and didn't install it what are you so worried about?

 

[Theminecraftaddict555]

I am just pointing it out

 

[eatmypie]

Well it just is another reason why free will never truly be free, people who install the toolbars are paying the pup creators around $1-3 per install. There isn't really anything anyone can do now to get some of the AV companies to change that. I don't use AV since I run malware and other things in VM's to analyze them. But I normally install bitdefender internet security, kaspersky, or F-Secure on small office computers and the only pup that comes with any of those is from F-Secure with their re-branded Google toolbar which is called F-Secure Safe search. But the other two don't give you any options to install pups.