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 3)

George Rogers Jr

on May 14, 2006

Paul, I've always wondered how long it would take to scan 4 physical HDD's in RAID configuration along with having to defrag all that space as well....guess when you start you just leave everything running & hit the hay!!!

Jafo

on May 14, 2006

guess when you start you just leave everything running & hit the hay!!!

Yep...

joeKnowledge

on May 14, 2006

How come no one mentioned Spybot???

Just wondering.

Threi

on May 14, 2006

Spybot S&D is average in detection (not great), offers minimal proctection, and makes actual files hard to delete manually

I have tried many Anti-Spy/Adware programs as well as antiviral programs, and in terms of anti-spyware:

The best in my opinion is Spy Sweeper, it has a very good detection rate, Updates frequently, and has good protection features

Ad-Aware has good scanning speed, but a mediocre detection rate
Spybot S&D isnt reccomended by me

Mithun Pal

on May 19, 2006

I've just downloaded and installed CounterSpy 1.5 trial. It has detected two keyloggers in my system. But, very soon as I reboot my computer in safe mode, to my surprise I found it running in safe mode. The third-party software can only run on demand in safe mode. But, it started running as a start up process. Look at the following pictures:

Jafo

on May 19, 2006

I bit the bullet and bought BitDefender 9 standard .... only 'odd' thing is once a scan completes the icon disappears from the tray...[though the processes are still running] [could be a LS issue].

...and after every signature/update it sets a restore point...and since it can update every hour it pays to keep an eye on just how many points are made....[bit overkill, really]...

Mithun Pal

on May 20, 2006

I bit the bullet and bought BitDefender 9 standard .... only 'odd' thing is once a scan completes the icon disappears from the tray...[though the processes are still running] [could be a LS issue].

...and after every signature/update it sets a restore point...and since it can update every hour it pays to keep an eye on just how many points are made....[bit overkill, really]...

Share your experiences with BitDefender support team.

Underdog45

on May 29, 2006

My anti-spyware strategy is using Firefox for everything possible, IE7 for the rest (mainly just Windows Update), and avoiding downloads that look like they might have sketchy origins. The only spyware I've ever had was when a roommate tried to load a pirated program on my computer. It wasn't even the program that did it, but the keygen program. SpywareBlaster also is a nice bit of preventative maintenance. I run Spybot and AdAware every now and then for fun, but they never find anything. As for antivirus, I get McAfee free from my university so i just use that. No problems yet in 3 years.

Adamness

on Jun 07, 2006

I bit the bullet and bought BitDefender 9 standard

I'm about to reformat, and am looking for a new AV prog. Would you recommend Bitdefender, Jafo?

What's the resource (memory) usage like?

StephanA

on Jun 08, 2006

Norton 2006 screwed my computer. I had to reformat and now also looking for AV having to give up a 12 month subscription to Norton.

Jafo, what is your further experience with Bitdefender and did you manage to control restore point issues? After a time, accumulation of restore points can add up to a few gigs on the hard drive.

Adamness

on Jun 08, 2006

Is it just me, or does it still say this post hasn't been responded to in 10 days...

StephanA

on Jun 08, 2006

Bash2Cool gets responses. I can't even get lettering size to respond.

Adamness

on Jun 09, 2006

Maybe it will update when using forums.wincustomize.com...

Edit: nope...

Anyone else seeing this problem in other threads?

PredictorX

on Oct 14, 2006

Before buying anything from Herman Street, I strongly suggest checking out their vendor reviews at ResellerRatings.com:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller11505.html

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