I know this is an on-going issue..the best anti virus changes from year to year. I thought Kaspersky used to be good, and a recent review i saw rated kaspersky pretty badly in one aspect.
I personally use microsoft security essentials.its free, and it seems to do the job, but at times i wonder, and get worried thinking that the protection is too thin..that some suspect files can get in through the protection. so was just wondering what you guys use around here, and what seems to be the best/most recommended?

The best anti-virus is common sense, Microsoft Security Essentials is great to use and is fast for any that you may get.

be smart on the internet and don't click suspicious looking links.
Install Adblock Plus as well, to get rid of any malicious ads.


I got Kaspersky free with my bank account but it made my startup 5-10 seconds slower. I uninstalled it after this.

I'd say Kaspersky but since this is a really controversial topic, I guess it should be locked before it turns into flamewars...

Can I just point out that at any given time there are about 5 "best antivirus" topics floating around the Microsoft Operating System forum? Search button is your friend, yohanevindra. Mods tend to get irritable when they see the same topic over and over.

I use 360.

Oh.sorry about that guys. Yeah,I guess Microsoft security essentials is the best and you need to know what you're doing and have some common sense.
I've installed adblock plus,but I've got the one or two online casino ads popping up.should check that out.

I use Avast Antivirus as well as Ad-Block, however i do agree with "Fallen Souls" that the best idea is to use common sense!

most effective is format c:

I used to use Avast and before that AVG but now I use Microsoft Security Essentials. It works fine for me. If you are careful and smart you really should be fine. However, be careful with flash drives. I used my flash drive on my uncle's computer and it got infected.

MSE detects most viruses right? that's my only worry..

plus i do tend to format my computer every 9 months or 12 months..

I use Norton Internet Security, and it looks good, i've never had any problem with it.
In the past i used Avast and i got a lot of virus so i don't want to use it anymore.
Norton has plenty of functions, it's surely not the best antivirus, but for me it's enough.

Use what you think works best...

yeah..i guess so..its partly personal pref..

and when you get a virus, ur computer will die right?u dont get viruses which just lurk without doing anything?

Sure, it's totally due to personnal preferences.
The user makes his choice about details : beautiful GUI, vocal notifications, or if he used to use this particularly antivirus.
A detail that i don't like in Avast is the woman voice vocal notification, and what i prefer in Norton is surely the GUI.

I use COMODO firewall+anti virus, never got problem with it, working good on my laptop.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials as well and I am pretty satisfied by it. It did catch some viruses in files I downloaded from the internet and always finds viruses on my flash drives when I come back from school. ) I haven't had virus related problems on my computer but that may be also because I am pretty careful when downloading stuff from the internet.
The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it doesn't show detected viruses before the scan is finished only a generic Viruses found message but that's not a such big deal to me.

That's true. The inability to SEE what it's finding is a little annoying. However, I consider it a worthwhile tradeoff since MSE works so well in every other area.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials and love it. I went to my brothers house to help him with his computer because he said he needed help with it. I did a scan with his norton 360 and it didn't show up with any type of virus. But once I installed MSE and did a scan it found about 50+ viruses. I use to use AVG but once I started using Windows 7 I would randomly BSOD and it was AVG. If you use Firefox you should install Adblock Plus and NoScript at the end of the post I'll post a link to them both.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... lock-plus/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... /noscript/

After trying all of the others I found COMODO is the most informative out of all of them, if a bit paranoid.

"Paranoid" would be annoying for me, as I do a lot of coding. Even with MSE I've had some of my batch files marked as virii. It's a simple fix, but an annoying one. Also, I can live without seeing a live report on what's been found. If I REALLY need that I'll run DrWeb CureIt.

I have use kaspersky internet secuirity since V.7, and I think this was the best antivirus in market. But now with V.2012, this gone not effective as pervioius versions. But still this is the best antivirus.

I must respectfully disagree. I used Kaspersky on one of my old computers and was getting viruses at least once a month. Then AVG. Then Avast. MSE is the first one I've used that does its job and stays out of my way.

where i work macafee is used so far we never had any problems

Well, MSE is the only free one that allows for use on up to 10 computers in a business.

Personally, I think that Microsoft Security Essentials is great. It is free and does the job. But, if you are looking to buy one I think that Symantec's Norton is pretty good.