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About 4 years ago, I found Kaspersky and have been using the most current version since. Most people try and argue the use of AVG or Avast to me, and there are some very solid reasons I do not want to go that route. Over the years, I have found Kaspersky to become bulkier and bulkier, and have had issues setting it up for friends/family/clients. I am just curious on possible recommendations from other users, with my criteria in mind:

What I like about Kaspersky in the past:

  1. The license sold in stores in a 3 pack, is considered a commercial license, and emails from Kaspersky in response to my questions, make it clear that I can do with the 3 licenses that I want, providing I do not use more than 3 installs per key. So, allowed me to buy 3, 5, and 7 packs, and resell to users at a cheaper cost than what they would pay if they bought their own license.

  2. The ability to easily obtain a currently updated .exe for installation on multiple peoples machines.

  3. Power of the scan. Kaspersky has been a good solution for me (even when using a trial license) on cleaning up machines that were badly infected (in which AVG and AVAST were unable to.)

  4. Speed of install/update. After a cleanup of Malwarebytes, Spybot, McAfee Stinger, CCleaner, and ComboFix, I used to be able to get Kaspersky Internet Security installed and updated in around 5 minutes.

The issues that I have with the free AV, is strength of protection. In my opinion for someone who is a 'power use' these are good alternatives, because such a user should be trained or knowledgeable enough to be careful and not get themselves in trouble. Most of the users I assist, are too PC ignorant to know any better, and go hogwild on the web. It has been my experience that the number of people coming back to me with spyware/malware/virus issues since I have converted from AVG to Kaspersky has been cut down to around 20% of what it used to be 4 or 5 years ago.

In a perfect world, I could install and use Kaspersky Internet Security 2008, and be very happy. But this is not the case anymore. So after this long description of what I used, and have used, does anyone have any good recommendations on AV that isn't going to cost me too much per install?

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  • It sounds like you are happy with Kaspersky. Are you asking for alternatives?
    – jzd
    Feb 9, 2011 at 13:23
  • Yes, I am sorry for not clarifying, but I was happy with Kaspersky years ago. Current state of it is bulky and clunky and not what it was years ago.
    – DaBaer
    Feb 9, 2011 at 14:18
  • Please edit your question title to be a little more descriptive. Feb 9, 2011 at 15:49
  • Is that better?
    – DaBaer
    Feb 9, 2011 at 16:06

5 Answers 5

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The only AV I use is free AV because I don't see the point in buying AV when there is just as good AV that is free. Most of the people at my work (data center) are fairly tech savvy. We use MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials). This product is free. Just go to Google and type MSE Download, and it will be one of the first links. This AV is made by Microsoft for the Microsoft OSs. I prefer this because it is lightweight, and gets the job done.

I have had a sales guy manage to infect his computer even while using this, but anyone can install a virus using AV if they give the virus permission to install itself, similar to installing a regular program. If a program has permission to install itself, it is hard to stop it when you are saying "Go ahead and install!" This is exactly how the sales guy at my work installed a horrible virus on a work computer.

Lately I have noticed that AVG has lost it power on the free version, but AVAST is still treating my home computer nicely. AVAST warns me of possible threat websites, and allows me to terminate the connection before anything is possible (I was testing the AV). AVAST is a little more bulky than MSE though.

In conclusion, I would recommend MSE as a good, cheap (free), AV for any Windows OS.

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  • 3
    The cool thing about MSE is that it uses Windows Update to keep up to date, so you don't have to worry about an install becoming stale.
    – Chuck
    Feb 9, 2011 at 14:32
  • Free is the worst (unless it's Microsoft security essentials) because these companies harvest your browsing data/etc. spy on you and sell it to 3rd party. guaranteed. nothing is free unless it's made by Microsoft and it's not windows 10. these companies that make "free" AV are the devils.
    – vsync
    Jul 16, 2016 at 12:33
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I use Avast and MSE. the combination runs together fine on my Win7 machine and provides a safe level of comfort. that said, I have moved family from Windows over to Linux. For what they do, web, email, etc, they have been fine on linux with less risk of any malware. If my 92+ yr old grandparents can do it, anyone can.

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  • Why the combination? I used Avast for years and switched to MSE. Are there risks to just using MSE, or what?
    – xdumaine
    Feb 9, 2011 at 20:09
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A very lightweight and one of the best AV's is ESET Smart Security. Not very expensive, very easy to maintain and protects against everything. Lots of configurable options if you are an advanced user. Updates itself automatically with the latest AV definition. I believe it can be installed on multiple computers with one license as I have done at home, not completely sure though. It definitely is one of the best, I have been using ESET Smart Security for a few years now and have yet to encounter slow-downs because of it, nor have I had any viruses on my computer whatsoever. One of the best AV's ever and a relatively reasonable price for it.

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This site pretty much is THE site when it comes to Anti Virus Software benchmarks. Maybe you'll find a replacement.

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I use MSE plus an anti-virus from MYSecurityCenter.com which supplies 3 user licences. I also run their PCTuneUp a couple of times a week to keep my PC running smoothly and clear registry errors. All in all I am happy with the all round protection I get from all 3.

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