From: Eric Allen on
Out of curiosity, which avti-virus program is better, Avast or AVG ?
From: MEB on
On 02/08/2010 02:25 PM, Eric Allen wrote:
> Out of curiosity, which avti-virus program is better, Avast or AVG ?

Real question?

You know as well as I, that is based upon personal preference and what
the program SUPPOSEDLY rates at via the various testing services.
Having said that: Avira Antivir apparently rates consistently better
than both of those in almost any type of test, and each of those you
questioned rate at different levels depending upon what was tested and
what the "testers" defined for the testing process. Hence the results
are essentially controlled and may not be reflective of real world
activities particularly when taken in conjunction with Service Pack
level and update status per the OS in question DURING the supposed
testing. One application may excel at one type of malware where it may
not be quite as good for others.
Moreover, it also depends upon WHERE in the update process for the
malware/AV application that the testing was done since one may have AT
THAT TIME had a better scanning engine and defs, where if tested TODAY
the results may be different especially if the OS SP and/or update
status level has changed AND what other protections may be involved.

Being the two most used FREE applications does not mean they are
necessarily the best. Therefore, its more of a "what do you feel more
comfortable using" situation. Of course this is only my opinion <grin>.

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.org/ref/windows-main.htm
Windows Info, Diagnostics, Security, Networking
http://peoplescounsel.org
The "real world" of Law, Justice, and Government
___---
From: Eric Allen on
MEB wrote:
> On 02/08/2010 02:25 PM, Eric Allen wrote:
>> Out of curiosity, which avti-virus program is better, Avast or AVG ?
>
> Real question?
>
> You know as well as I, that is based upon personal preference and what
> the program SUPPOSEDLY rates at via the various testing services.
> Having said that: Avira Antivir apparently rates consistently better
> than both of those in almost any type of test, and each of those you
> questioned rate at different levels depending upon what was tested and
> what the "testers" defined for the testing process. Hence the results
> are essentially controlled and may not be reflective of real world
> activities particularly when taken in conjunction with Service Pack
> level and update status per the OS in question DURING the supposed
> testing. One application may excel at one type of malware where it may
> not be quite as good for others.
> Moreover, it also depends upon WHERE in the update process for the
> malware/AV application that the testing was done since one may have AT
> THAT TIME had a better scanning engine and defs, where if tested TODAY
> the results may be different especially if the OS SP and/or update
> status level has changed AND what other protections may be involved.
>
> Being the two most used FREE applications does not mean they are
> necessarily the best. Therefore, its more of a "what do you feel more
> comfortable using" situation. Of course this is only my opinion <grin>.
>
mine are up for paid renewell, just wondering which I should stay with,
paying for two is getting expensive.
From: MEB on
On 02/08/2010 03:09 PM, Eric Allen wrote:
> MEB wrote:
>> On 02/08/2010 02:25 PM, Eric Allen wrote:
>>> Out of curiosity, which avti-virus program is better, Avast or AVG ?
>>
>> Real question?
>>
>> You know as well as I, that is based upon personal preference and what
>> the program SUPPOSEDLY rates at via the various testing services.
>> Having said that: Avira Antivir apparently rates consistently better
>> than both of those in almost any type of test, and each of those you
>> questioned rate at different levels depending upon what was tested and
>> what the "testers" defined for the testing process. Hence the results
>> are essentially controlled and may not be reflective of real world
>> activities particularly when taken in conjunction with Service Pack
>> level and update status per the OS in question DURING the supposed
>> testing. One application may excel at one type of malware where it may
>> not be quite as good for others.
>> Moreover, it also depends upon WHERE in the update process for the
>> malware/AV application that the testing was done since one may have AT
>> THAT TIME had a better scanning engine and defs, where if tested TODAY
>> the results may be different especially if the OS SP and/or update
>> status level has changed AND what other protections may be involved.
>>
>> Being the two most used FREE applications does not mean they are
>> necessarily the best. Therefore, its more of a "what do you feel more
>> comfortable using" situation. Of course this is only my opinion <grin>.
>>
> mine are up for paid renewell, just wondering which I should stay with,
> paying for two is getting expensive.

AH, you run two at once?

Or is one used as a standby not running commandline/interface check
only status?

Anyway, I would think that it would be what you thought was the best
and which gave the fewest false positives during the course of usage.
Either AVG or AVAST! have users who will claim they are the best, so I'm
not sure what you expect to find in any answers you might receive.
Pick one of the other free AV applications and only run it when
necessary to cross-check what your chosen program finds, or preferably
use one of the bootable CD versions like MultiAV, Barts, Hiren's, Linux,
or similar for those cross-checks.

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.org/ref/windows-main.htm
Windows Info, Diagnostics, Security, Networking
http://peoplescounsel.org
The "real world" of Law, Justice, and Government
___---
From: Eric Allen on
MEB wrote:
> On 02/08/2010 03:09 PM, Eric Allen wrote:
>> MEB wrote:

>
> AH, you run two at once?
>
> Or is one used as a standby not running commandline/interface check
> only status?
>
I have 3 machines, and yes, I can run each AV as stand alone to check up
on the other, but as I said, paying for 2 or 3 AV's is getting
expensive. Just trying to get input from others and choose just one to keep.