[SOLVED] What is the ACTUAL best antivirus software?

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TheShaun

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Every search result from google brings up reviews claiming the same programs. Such as Avast, Norton, McAfee, etc. But any person I've personally asked who actually has or has had any of these tell me they are crap. Well, at least those three. So, I can't trust any of those reviews or any reviews from those sites because it looks like they were bought off by those software companies to give them good reviews even though actual users of those software claim they are crap. So, what is a user tested, easy to use, no run arounds, no tricks to squeeze more money, actually finds ALL viruses and spyware that any other software can find, fast (don't want to wait for hours long scans) type of antivirus program? Or am I hoping for a miracle program that doesn't exist yet?

Sorry if this was long and silly sounding, I'm antivirus --------. I've tried a bunch of the "best" free ones, but they only say they found things and won't do anything about them unless I pay. If I'm going to pay money, I want the best. Even if it's expensive. As long as it's the best, money is not an issue for me. Two top concerns are - finding ALL (or as much as any can) viruses and spyware, and speed. I just want to be able to catch them all as fast as I can when I do a scan. Like as if it's The Flash as a virus Pokemon trainer.

Edit: Just tried Bitdefender and it only found 2 things, but they were legit programs that I know what they are. Spyhunter found a bunch, but wouldn't do anything about them unless I pay. And I had to search their name and found they are indeed spyware. So I do have spyware on my PC, I just want to know the #1 best program to use to get rid of it. Doesn't matter how much it costs.
 

Remeca

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I usually hear Windows Defender is good enough, unless you need a piece of specific software to get rid of a specific infection, as well as don't pirate stuff and click on sketchy email attachments. Run malwarebytes, or spybot or something similar once in a while.
 

TheShaun

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I usually hear Windows Defender is good enough, unless you need a piece of specific software to get rid of a specific infection, as well as don't pirate stuff and click on sketchy email attachments. Run malwarebytes, or spybot or something similar once in a while.
Windows Defender is the built in antivirus that comes with Windows, right? If so, it's never done anything. Not once has any built in antivirus ever done anything on any PC I've ever owned. I don't go to unknown sites, but I've had my credit card number stolen more than once and I only buy from places like Amazon, Ebay, and other well known trusted sites. So idk how.

I don't open emails from sites I don't know. If it's not a known website, I send it straight to spam.

Malwarebytes takes too long. They are the reason I mentioned speed. I've waited for over an hour before and it still wasn't finished scanning.

I'll have to try spybot.

By chance is there something else I may have missed that made me vulnerable? And ty for the fast response.
 

TheShaun

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I have Defender, Malwarebytes and Emsisoft Anti-Malware installed which include a surf protection, a file guard, behavior blocker, anti-ransomware. Never had any problems but like Remeca said it's up to you to minimize the risk.
I just tried Bitdefender and it only found 2 things that were legit programs. Even though Spyhunter found a lot, but wouldn't handle them without buying the full version.

I've never heard of Emsisoft, but I will check them out. Btw, is it a free one or paid? I ask because I'm starting to think free ones aren't going to do as much as paid ones and I am willing to pay as much as needed as long as it does the job. Money isn't a problem. I just need a user tested guarantee. Oh and ty for the fast response.
 
I just tried Bitdefender and it only found 2 things that were legit programs. Even though Spyhunter found a lot, but wouldn't handle them without buying the full version.

I've never heard of Emsisoft, but I will check them out. Btw, is it a free one or paid? I ask because I'm starting to think free ones aren't going to do as much as paid ones and I am willing to pay as much as needed as long as it does the job. Money isn't a problem. I just need a user tested guarantee. Oh and ty for the fast response.

Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a paid one. Cost me like 50 a year for it but I never had any problems with it. It doesn't take much RAM like 150MB to stay up and running with 0% cpu usage. It comes with real time protection which is kinda good too. Most free anti-virus won't let you use the real time protection unless you pay for the premium version.

I recommend you use Defender with at least another anti-virus and the free malwarebytes. I can vouch for Emsisoft anti-malware. It has a small impact on your system compared to big antivirus software and it has amazing reviews online and I have been using it for 4 years and 0 malwares or virus BUT i do not click on shady email attachment etc.

You should install Ublock Origin for your browser which block ads and pop-up. :)
 

TheShaun

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Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a paid one. Cost me like 50 a year for it but I never had any problems with it. It doesn't take much RAM like 150MB to stay up and running with 0% cpu usage. It comes with real time protection which is kinda good too. Most free anti-virus won't let you use the real time protection unless you pay for the premium version.

I recommend you use Defender with at least another anti-virus and the free malwarebytes. I can vouch for Emsisoft anti-malware. It has a small impact on your system compared to big antivirus software and it has amazing reviews online and I have been using it for 4 years and 0 malwares or virus BUT i do not click on shady email attachment etc.

You should install Ublock Origin for your browser which block ads and pop-up. :)
Ok, definitely going to look into Emsisoft. Just waiting for a few more answers from people so I can build a list of all the good ones. I might just buy all of the top 5 best ones just to be safe and never have to worry again. My PC can handle it. I spent a lot of time learning how to build a badass PC (which can handle plenty of these programs) but never had an issue with viruses until lately. So I'm still virus retarded.

Not going to mess with Malwarebytes anymore though. It's scans take hours. I'm very impatient and that's why I'm willing to throw money at the problem and just buy the best program. Or best 5 programs. As long as they are fast and find every bit of malware.

I already got a pop up blocker. The generic adblock does that well.

Edit, side note: Have you tried any other paid software? If so, was any better than Emsisoft, even if more expensive?
 
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Just tried the trial version of Emsisoft and it found nothing, but I know there is something on my PC.

How are you sure?

The problem here is that you're not sure. You find some of them with an anti-virus and if you find 0 with the next you can't be sure something is left.

The only real way to be sure there is no virus left is to format and do a clean install of Windows.
 
Avast isnt all that bad, its certainly worth using.
Malwarebytes is a solid choice for virus removal, but not prevention (at least for the free version).
Just a note as well, you are going to expect long scans, "fast" and "thorough" are not possible together.

If you are so certain you have some sort of virus, wipe the drive, start over with a clean install of windows, and move your important files back over from a backup. It is going to be much faster and much more certain than chasing tails over the "best" AV.
 

TheShaun

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Avast isnt all that bad, its certainly worth using.
Malwarebytes is a solid choice for virus removal, but not prevention (at least for the free version).
Just a note as well, you are going to expect long scans, "fast" and "thorough" are not possible together.

If you are so certain you have some sort of virus, wipe the drive, start over with a clean install of windows, and move your important files back over from a backup. It is going to be much faster and much more certain than chasing tails over the "best" AV.
I like your approach. But the way the virus is affecting me is a very minor one. Not worth losing everything I have on my PC and starting over. It's just a petty malware making Bing pop up when I'm trying to google something. I'd spend less time researching for a program to find it than I would searching and downloading all the things I already have. I got about a TB of stuff that would take me months to find all of it again. I've had this type of malware before and dealt with it with the free software, but now the free ones don't do what they used to back in the day, So I'm looking for the fastest fix without losing all my stuff.

Edit: it was so long ago that I can't remember how I got rid of the malware last time, but I do recognize the names of the malware and know they have an easy solution to delete them. I'm thinking I used a free software but they aren't working this time. So I assume I need something stronger this time. Like a paid antivirus. I'm willing to pay, but I need to know which software is the best in speed and accuracy.
 

TheShaun

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You still should be able to backup your data without issue to an external device and then wipe the drive.
A different discussion is why youd have so much important data without a backup in place.
Yeah, I got no backup. I've not had a problem with viruses in years. Didn't think I needed one since I had a couple free programs for malware and never go to sketchy sites. Still don't know how I got this malware. If I caught them, then so can any of you, cause all I do is Youtube and video games. Ok.... and occasionally pornhub. But I ain't been on it in days and the malware showed up today.
 

TheShaun

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Ok, is there a place where I can ask these questions with voice instead of typing? I feel that would go much faster. I am so bad at trying to explain in text. With voice I can explain the whole thing in less than a minute.
 
No, text based is the only form of assistance we have here.
Its actually better overall too since it means users can hop on and off as their time allows, vs a call that would be dependent on availability.

Most of your virus scans are probably missing this because a default search engine is not really grounds for malware. The program already did what it wanted and is no longer running.
 

TheShaun

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No, text based is the only form of assistance we have here.
Its actually better overall too since it means users can hop on and off as their time allows, vs a call that would be dependent on availability.

Most of your virus scans are probably missing this because a default search engine is not really grounds for malware. The program already did what it wanted and is no longer running.
That's what I thought too, but it's still doing it. I can't use google without it suddenly going to bing. I put up with it for about 2 hours before I looked it up and found nothing to help, then came here to ask for help. I thought if I ignored it, it would just stop since it was browser based, but it's still doing it. I don't know how to explain it without typing a mile long explanation or just speaking it out loud for about a minute or two. As I was typing this reply it started doing something new. I need to talk to someone.
 
You sure this isn't like your browser that is telling to use bing as your main search engine? This is in the options. You can choose which search engine it goes first. If you're using the google search bar and it goes to bing. That is probably that option I'm talking about.

What browser do you use? Sorry I don't want to read all of that again ;P
 

TheShaun

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You sure this isn't like your browser that is telling to use bing as your main search engine? This is in the options. You can choose which search engine it goes first. If you're using the google search bar and it goes to bing. That is probably that option I'm talking about.

What browser do you use? Sorry I don't want to read all of that again ;P
It only started tonight when I got home from work. I haven't changed anything or went to any sketchy site. For the last so many months I just played the games I got from Steam, Uplay, Epic, etc, or surf through youtube. I literally have done nothing to acquire a virus. And now I feel like I'm arguing with people that are trying to help (which I do appreciate) but it's getting me nowhere but feeling like I'm being attacked for being virus stupid. Now I just want to talk to someone verbally so I can explain faster and more thoroughly. The latest replies here seem like they have ignored the original post or any of my previous replies that regarded those suggestions. People are making me feel like I'm being backed into a corner with their accusations of me going to sketchy sites or doing something that earned the virus when I've done nothing different for the last so many months. I'm not stupid and I know to not go to unknown sites. I know as well as anyone how to avoid places that are risky. Either it's been sitting dormant for years or I got it from youtube or one of the game sties that everyone else uses. Or something I'm not seeing. But it doesn't help when people act like I automatically did something wrong when I do nothing but play games and surf youtube.

I'm so sorry for that rant. I was getting frustrated.
 

TheShaun

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I don't know how this turned into this situation. All I wanted was a user tested list of antivirus programs. I tested all the free ones mentioned here and none of them found the issue. 2 'free' programs that I found on my own found the issues but want money to get rid of the issues. So if I'm going to pay money, I want to know which is the best one to buy. I will no longer mess with any free software suggestions, they don't do <Mod Edit>

Sorry if I sounded irritable.
 
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TheShaun

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You sure this isn't like your browser that is telling to use bing as your main search engine? This is in the options. You can choose which search engine it goes first. If you're using the google search bar and it goes to bing. That is probably that option I'm talking about.

What browser do you use? Sorry I don't want to read all of that again ;P
Google chrome. Same one for the past so many years. Nothing was changed. I did nothing different than I've done for years. But the problem started earlier today. So no, it's nothing I did that caused the virus. I don't need to know how I got the virus, I only need to know how to get rid of it.

Apologies for my irritability.
 

TheShaun

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No, text based is the only form of assistance we have here.
Its actually better overall too since it means users can hop on and off as their time allows, vs a call that would be dependent on availability.

Most of your virus scans are probably missing this because a default search engine is not really grounds for malware. The program already did what it wanted and is no longer running.
It's still running. It only started today and I've done nothing different for the past so many years. Youtube and video games. The games are from Steam, Epic, Uplay, etc. The legit game sites. And yes, there are malware that attach themselves to only one aspect of a PC, like browsers. I had this issue before years ago, but I forget how I dealt with it.
 
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TheShaun

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Open Chrome. Go to settings. Go to search engines. Click on manage search engine. If you see BING at the top please change it to Google.
I know about the default search engine setting. Its been google for years and I never changed it. I also checked that in case the virus changed it. It still says google. It's a pop up virus. It ignores my settings and pops up bing anyway. I don;t need to know how I got the virus or ways around it. I need to know what is the best Antivirus program. That's all I'm asking.
 
I know about the default search engine setting. Its been google for years and I never changed it. I also checked that in case the virus changed it. It still says google. It's a pop up virus. It ignores my settings and pops up bing anyway. I don;t need to know how I got the virus or ways around it. I need to know what is the best Antivirus program to get rid of it. That's all I'm asking.

I understand what you mean but what you have to understand on your side is that a few things can cause what you're explaining. I had to make sure it wasn't your settings since some virus will change that. Thanks for letting me know this isn't this.

Now. Unwanted programs. Go to your Windows add/remove programs. Do you see anything "tool bar" or "search engine" or anything suspicious. There is a good chance that you already removed the virus but the action that the virus done to your system is persistent. Which would mean that something somewhere is redirecting your google search to bing. An unwanted program could easily be the cause and removing it will fix your issue.

You already scanned your system for virus and malwares a few time. If they did not detect anything there is no way that you will try 150 more anti-virus to be sure. Consider your PC clean right now but still being affected by what the virus did.
 
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