Top 10 Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware of 2006

A Review

Published on May 6, 2006 By Mithun Pal In Personal Computing

There are several reviews on Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware on the web. One I found at Top10Reviews.com.The review result is just as follows:

Top 10 Anti-Virus of 2006: A Review by Top10Reviews.com

	Excellent
	Very Good
	Good
	Fair
	Poor

Rank

Reviewer Comments

Overall Rating

Ratings

Ease of Use

Effectiveness

Updates

Feature Set

Ease of Installation

Help/Support

Features

ICSA 2005 Certified

√

VB100% 2005 Certified

√

W.C.L Level 1 Certified

√

W.C.L Level 2 Certified

√

Virus Defintions Updated (Average)

2-3 hours

hourly

1-10 Days

Daily

As Needed

Daily

Weekly

Daily

Scanning Time 80 GB HardDrive

20 Min

8 Min

35 Min

30 Min

24 Min

1 Hour

35 Min

24 Min

30 Min

35 Min

Scanning Capabilities

On-access Scanning

√

Realtime Scanning

√

On-demand Scanning

√

Scheduled Scanning

√

Heuristic Scanning

√

Manual Scanning

√

Adware/Spyware Scanning

√

Script Blocking

√

Scan Compressed Files

√

Auto-Clean Infected Files

√

Quarantines Infected Files

√

Email POP3 Protection

√

Instant Messaging Protection

√

P2P/File Sharing Protection

√

Registry Startup Protection

√

WebMail Protection

√

Detailed Virus Information

√

Updates

Yearly Subscriptions to Definition Updates

$14.97

$39.95

$24.95

$27.30

$34.95

$29.95

$33.30

$9.95

$39.95

Automatic Definition Updates

√

Automatic Program Updates

√

Manual Definition Updates

√

Manual Program Updates

√

Other Features

Online Virus Scanner

√

Estiamted Scan Time

√

History/Report logging

√

Password Protect Settings

√

Outbreak Notice

√

Technical Support

Live Chat

√

Phone Support

√

Manual/FAQ/Knowledge Base

√

Tutorials

√

User Forum

√

Email Support

√

Product details

Detail

Supported Configurations

Windows XP

√

Windows 2000

√

Windows ME

√

Windows NT

√

Windows 98

√

Windows 95

√

Rank

TOP TEN PRODUCTS

BitDefender

Kaspersky

F-Secure

PC-cillin

ESET
Nod32

McAfee
VirusScan

Norton
Antivirus

AVG
AntiVirus

eTrust
Antivirus

Norman
Virus

Top 10 Anti-Spyware of 2006: A Review by Top10Reviews.com

</tr>

	Excellent
	Very Good
	Good
	Fair
	Poor

Rank

Reviewer comments

Lowest price
*(annual price)

$24.95*

$29.99*

$19.95*

$29.95

$29.99

$29.95

$41.91

$39.95

$39.99

Overall Rating

Ratings

Feature Set

Effectiveness

Ease of Use

Customization

Ease of Setup/Installation

Help/Support

Features

Components that are Searched For

105,000+

36,000

37,691

56,940

23,675

36,254

38,996

Rollback/Restore Capabilities

√

Indicates Spyware Severity

√

Descriptions of Found Spyware

√

Scan Scheduling

√

Auto Updates

√

Tracking Cookie Blocking

√

Real-time Blocking and Protection

√

Scans Removable Media

√

Detection and Deletion Capabilities

Adware

√

Spyware

√

Keyloggers

√

Trojans

√

Active X Configuration

√

Scumware

√

Dialers

√

Malware

√

Data Mining

√

Parasites

√

Toolbars

√

Drive-By Download

√

Tracking Cookies

√

Spyware Registry Keys

√

Browser Hijackers/BHO's

√

Technical Support Available

Toll Free Phone

√

Built-in Application Help

√

Knowledge Base/FAQs

√

Forums/Email

√

Online Chat

√

Product Details

Detail

Supported Configurations

√

2000

√

Rank

TOP TEN PRODUCTS

Spy
Sweeper

Spyware
Eliminator

Counter
Spy

Trend
Micro

Anti
Spy

Spy
Doctor

Pest
Patrol

Ad-aware
Pro

Spyware
Begone

McAfee
AntiSpy

So, according to the review of Top10Reviews.com BitDefender and Spy Sweeper are the winners in the Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware section respectively. What's your decision? Want to go with the leader?

sources: source1, source2

Comments (Page 2)

Incoherent

on May 10, 2006

Well personally I used Norton for a long time but got tired of it's issues, so I went to mcafee, and it had even more issues in my opinion, but then my good friend introduced me to AVAST. And I have never even thought of switching. In my opinion it out performs most other AVs and it is free unless you are a business.

I also currently use Windows Defender and Ad-Aware SE.

I haven't had any issues in a while with this set-up.

Adamness

on May 10, 2006

After I reformat in the next week or two, I'll be looking around for a new and better AV program. I'll probably go with BitDefender.

Anyone have any information on (software) firewalls?

twobadmice

on May 10, 2006

What no NOD32 for AV? Why wasn't it tested? Also, they missed out Ewido for anti spyware!!!

Jacki0Chan

on May 10, 2006

The results are expected. I have been using Kaspersky and Webroot for a long time.

George Rogers Jr

on May 11, 2006

Mr Incoherent, Appreciate the experience(info)you've had using AVAST! I think I'll try it!

Mithun Pal

on May 11, 2006

Anyone have any information on (software) firewalls?

Till date ZoneAlarm Pro is the best.

Mithun Pal

on May 11, 2006

What no NOD32 for AV? Why wasn't it tested?

Top10Reviews has included NOD32 in their review. You would find it at the 5th place. I'm posting the result once again:
#1. BitDefender
#2. Kaspersky
#3. F-Secure
#4. PC-cillin
#5. ESET Nod32
#6. McAfee VirusScan
#7. Norton Antivirus
#8. AVG AntiVirus
#9. eTrust Antivirus
#10. Norman Virus Control
- Top 10 AVs reviewed by Top10Reviews.com.

Mithun Pal

on May 13, 2006

Want to buy BitDefender 9? Then here is a good news for you - purchase from Herman Street and save $15.

twobadmice

on May 13, 2006

Top10Reviews has included NOD32 in their review. You would find it at the 5th place. I'm posting the result once again:

You didn't come across my glasses did you?

twobadmice

on May 13, 2006

(this post was left blank)

liquidguru

on May 13, 2006

having now fully read all the reviews in the first table, i'm very glad i'm using NOD32...the review for BitDefender seems as if it were written by BitDefender's marketing team...

all the AntiVirus programs, apart from AVG, passed all the June 2005 VB100% and all the level 1& 2 Checkmarks from West Coast Labs., whatever they may be...

the only reason that NOD32 was marked 'down' was because

Nod32 is a first-rate antivirus program that offers several levels of superior protection. However, the product is somewhat hard to understand because of the technical jargon and wouldn't be our first choice for the average home user.

i don't mean this as a plug for NOD32, just that the review was written for 'the average home user' and it's worth probably downloading a few different trial antivirus programs and see which one suits you best...

on a side note, for me the most important thing is how much resident memory the programs use...it's very hard to find any info on this...my memory usage is

nod32krn.exe 20MB
nod32kui.exe 1.5MB

total 21.5MB

that's with the email scanner, file system moniter and internet moniter all running..

it would be interesting to see the figures from other products

seapup

on May 13, 2006

I've just switched from Norton Anti-virus 2002 to Bit Defender because I'd read it was top in the PC magazine.

With Norton this year they required a software update to 2006 instead of renewing the 2002 yearly subscription, so I decided to switch.

So far I really like Bit Defender....it has more updates and it caught two old trojans that I didn't even know I had on my computer. It's cheaper than Norton and my internet connection has speeded up...so I'm happy I switched!

Ionolast

on May 13, 2006

What about Spyware Blaster?

Jafo

on May 13, 2006

Nothing from Norton will ever be on this machine again.

I can't put it more succinctly than that.

Literally YEARS of running Norton didn't find that old email attachment in my ancient PST file...so old it was via martinp@smart.net.au [provider is LONG gone - 3 years or so]....BitDefender found it...and removed it.

I'm still running the 'trial'...it took forever to do a thorough scan of my half million files [or there abouts] on 4 physical drives ....350 gig or so ...but I'm fairly confident it's all cleaner than it was...

Threi

on May 13, 2006

Ive Tried pretty much every antivirus and spyware out there and they are all good, each with seperate strengths and weaknesses. Whichever antivirus you want depends on what your needs are:

1. If you want pure speed and performance: I suggest AVG Free
2. If you want #1 with good protection: I suggest NOD32
3. If you are one of those paranoid types that want the absolute best protection possible: I suggest Kaspersky
4. Bitdefender does everything REALLY good, but nothing exceptional
5. Avast free is good, but offers no scheduling
6. AntiVir took up 100% of my cpu straight on installation........

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