which one is the best free anti-virus( avast or avira)?

[polonus]

Hi forum friends,

The question is wrongly put and directed, because of lack of insight in the real threat theater of to-day....
The solution sought after should be that one what will make the machine more secure, and that is not this or that resident av solution to choose from, but rather just one resident av solution combined with a non-resident malware scanner like for instance SAS and/or MBAM. This to close the vulnerability window as completely as could be which either of the single solutions could leave slightly open just because of what their signatures are (and they do not protect against anything all the time)

polonus

[ardvark]

The better program is the one that runs the smoothest on your system configuration.

Hi all...

I would agree with the above along with detection rates.

Regards...

[CharleyO]

***

Hi forum friends,

The question is wrongly put and directed, because of lack of insight in the real threat theater of to-day....
The solution sought after should be that one what will make the machine more secure, and that is not this or that resident av solution to choose from, but rather just one resident av solution combined with a non-resident malware scanner like for instance SAS and/or MBAM. This to close the vulnerability window as completely as could be which either of the single solutions could leave slightly open just because of what their signatures are (and they do not protect against anything all the time)

polonus

+ 1


***

[phyniks]

I gave up with avast since v5 when my system ruined twice by two KNOWN malwares though i was using an updated avast (with its 6 different shileds) and Avira could detect them both with its simple software
in my opinion DETECTION is the most important feature in antimalwares and others are in the background
avast has more features and a much nicer software but its virus database is not comparable to avira and thats why their detection rate is somewhat different:(avira personal & premium has the same engine and database):

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_retro_nov2010.pdf

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/pua/avc_pua2010.pdf

[YoKenny]

I gave up with avast since v5 when my system ruined twice by two KNOWN malwares though i was using an updated avast (with its 6 different shileds) and Avira could detect them both with its simple software
in my opinion DETECTION is the most important feature in antimalwares and others are in the background
avast has more features and a much nicer software but its virus database is not comparable to avira and thats why their detection rate is somewhat different:(avira personal & premium has the same engine and database):

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_retro_nov2010.pdf

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/pua/avc_pua2010.pdf

That is an obsolete test!
They did not test avast! V6.0.1000

[essexboy]

As an aside there is a rogue out there at the moment going by the name Avira or Anvira (it uses both)

It is horses for courses, using this since 4.something  pre-webshield anyway.  Total infections zero. 

I have cleaned Avira systems that let rogues through, along with the A to Z of all the others so there is no perfect solution apart from being aware of what you are doing...

End of sermon 

[phyniks]

That is an obsolete test!
They did not test avast! V6.0.1000

I have cleaned Avira systems that let rogues through, along with the A to Z of all the others so there is no perfect solution apart from being aware of what you are doing...

first of all I should say NONE IS PERFECT,we are not talking about THE PERFECT,but THE BETTER CHOICE,offcource you may get malwares using any software but depending on what antimalware you are using,the possibility may differ.I think Avast Team have been very generous presenting lots of features for their free product but if they wanna compete,they should firstly improve their database and also their support.
when i find a suspicous file i submit it to avira lab(http://analysis.avira.com/samples/) and they answer me as soon as possible,in details.(i have seen the same action in symantec,sophos and mcafee and the last one(mcafee) is the best in that case),but what about avast....?

in 2010 Avira got the second place seeing F-Secure in first and Symantec in the third rank and avast was not in top 5
avira took ADVANCE+ in every test they did(7/7) while avast ADVANCE+ score was 3/7
http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/summary/summary2010.pdf
in early 2010 avast users said "let V.5 participate in tests and you ll see"
v 5 was even worse(at least in results) and now you say v.6 will be better


ok...I hope so  

[DavidR]

Well firstly these are on-demand tests.

The free version of avira doesn't have mail or web protection as far as I'm aware, two areas that avast does cover and avast's web shield is very effective as stopping hacked web sites even delivering that payload by detecting the exploit you don't have to detect what the payload might be at the other end if it is stopped from being activated.

The avast network shield is also on the lookout for worm/virus/exploits on commonly exploited ports. It also has a malicious sites list, now this and the above aren't tested in av-comparatives.

I don't know if avira free also has any P2P monitoring, etc.

So in choosing which one is best, it is a subjective test as it is which one is best for your needs and if you consider any of the above shields necessary to your use of the computer then that must be a factor in your choice.

The tests may well give 1st, 2nd, 3rd places, etc. but the margin between those places is often not that great. Whilst this cumulative test doesn't actually list detection rate percentages.

[phyniks]

well
they also have something called dynamic test in which they evaluate the suites "real world" capabilities and the scope of protection covered by the SUITES(not the mere antivirus) and this is the result:1-F-secure 2-Symantec #-Avira .....8-Avast
http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/dyn/wholedynamic2010.pdf
as I said it before avast is more featured comparing to Avira but let me tell you something
Avira personal does not have web and mail protection ,whenever you download malwares from email or from a site,it will be detected and blocked just after the download is finished(mili seconds) and before it launches so you will not get infected if the malware is in Avira's database
but if you D L something bad which is not in avast database which of these shields will help you.beleive me,NO ONE
so, as i said it before the best feature is DETECTION RATE and others are in the background
i accept avira's weakness such as bad updates(which has been improved but still not as good as avast)but in my opinion you can be more confident using avira(with it's great database and reputation) than other freebees
I hope there comes a software whith the power of Avira and the Features of Avast (e.g norton 2012 antivirus with one year trial  ) so that we all migrate to that
sincerely yours
bye

[bob3160]

but in my opinion you can be more confident using avira(with it's great database and reputation) than other freebees

You are entitlied to have your opinion but please allow others to also have theirs. Thanks. 

[Omid Farhang]

maybe it is a trick question..........  


if you give the wrong answer you are banned from the forum for 3 years......

LOL!!!!  


p.s., my Opinion is that if you want free AV, avast just offer more features in compare to free AV, even that Avira free has way a better protection, also their update servers have improved with more bandwidth recently.
About a paid product, I will stick with Avira Premium Security Suite. (Sorry avast fans!)

These days some AV vendors are doing everything else than being Detecting malwares, it's a sad story.
Antivirus, as its name says should be Anti-virus, if antivirus don't detect malware who cares how good looking it is? how light or heavy it is? how many guard it has, how light its update is? what would be benefits of them!

So to choose an AV first you should choose an Antivirus that can detect highest rate of malware with minimum FPs and then think about how it can prevent those detected malwares come into your computer (how its guard works).

[bob3160]

About a paid product, I will stick with Avira Premium Security Suite. (Sorry avast fans!)

Omid, I'll give you the same answer:
You are entitlied to have your opinion but please allow others to also have theirs. Thanks.
 

[Omid Farhang]

@bob: I just shared my thought!

@David: Avira free has not WebGuard, MailGuard, Firewall. And about P2P Shield, Avira even in Paid products does not have a module named as that, but I never could understand point of P2P and Messenger protection because avast Shield and Avira Guard both of them scan all windows activity so what they (P2P, Messnger guard) do over just on-access shield/guard?

[DavidR]

The point of the resident shields keeping it outside your system, rather than detecting it when it is on your system and having to deal with it, prevention rather than cure.

[phyniks]

Antivirus, as its name says should be Anti-virus, if antivirus don't detect malware who cares how good looking it is? how light or heavy it is? how many guard it has, how light its update is? what would be benefits of them!

So to choose an AV first you should choose an Antivirus that can detect highest rate of malware with minimum FPs and then think about how it can prevent those detected malwares come into your computer (how its guard works).

100% agreed