Who can recommend a very good antivirus app?

[Geneo]

I had the same question. After researching AV programs for hours, there's only 2 I'd personally recommend: Bitdefender and Kaspersky, especially after reading the german AV test labs reports.
http://www.av-test.org/en/home/
Click on the Windows 8/8.1 test, the latest is from April.
Windows Defender tied for worst in 'protection'... and most sites reviewing it agree- that MS just hasn't got the AV thing down yet.

However, there are some pretty good (but not great) free AV programs out there. I'll let you look at the list (there's a bunch of them!) and decide/do more research for yourself.

Me? I'm putting Bitdefender Antivirus Plus on my SP3.
EDIT:
Oh, and AdBlocker.
And CCleaner. I love it because it won't do anything bad to your system (it errors on the side of caution) and because it's one of the few programs that let you select (one time) which cookies to keep (like the one for this forum) and it will delete the rest.
Those 3 will keep me surfing with no problem.

 

[DanL]

Here's my favorite on demand scanner. Scans using Kaspersky and Bitdefender engines from the cloud. Definitely worth reading up on.

 

[DanL]

Scans fast with powerful cloud computers:

 

[ewoodrick]

Scans fast with powerful cloud computers:

View attachment 2411

It's pretty hard not to use the processor to scan the disk drive that's attached to it. It's pretty hard to scan the entire disk in just 49 seconds. Disks, even the SSD in the SP3 just don't go that fast yet.

 

[Geneo]

That's what I was thinking.
I wouldn't trust any "scan" that only took 49 seconds.

 

[jnjroach]

Any AV you chose make sure it supports ELAM as it well so that it protects against Rootkits and other Bootsec Virus/Trojans...

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/dn168167.aspx

 

[sharpuser]

Kaspersky does it all. There are plenty of programs that do it all. I like Kaspersky, because it quietly and efficiently runs, saved me from malware and infections many times (I do lots of international travel - wide exposure), and does not spam me to death. Good price, too. I use Kaspersky on my PCs and Macs. It just works.

I've tried, and also like, others, but this is the one I stuck with. I would place ESET as second place.

Here are some recent comparisons from PCMag, and TopTenReviews.

 

[hmhoshino]

I recently purchased Kaspersky Pure 3.0 because I was fed up with how Norton and Constant Guard from Comcast.net let in malware and infections. I have had to refresh my HP Envy numerous times, and some how my computer was still getting corrupted. That is what made me go with Kaspersky Pure 3.0.

Henry

 

[scottysize]

I've been using AVG Free Version since it first launched in oh 2003ish? It's all I use. I've never gone back to Norton/McAfee since. Between AVG and using good computer practices, I haven't had a virus in years.

 

[vanhalo]

Can someone recommend a very good antivirus application that is not intrusive? I did a scan yesterday using a free app and found a bunch of Malwares in my comp, although none are threatening to the point of formatting, it still bothers me that I now have to get rid of them..

Webroot SecureAnywhere

 

[kristalsoldier]

Kaspersky does it all. There are plenty of programs that do it all. I like Kaspersky, because it quietly and efficiently runs, saved me from malware and infections many times (I do lots of international travel - wide exposure), and does not spam me to death. Good price, too. I use Kaspersky on my PCs and Macs. It just works.

I've tried, and also like, others, but this is the one I stuck with. I would place ESET as second place.

Here are some recent comparisons from PCMag, and TopTenReviews.

Do you use the AV on your Surface Pro too? Any negative impact on battery and does it generate heat or otherwise bog down the device? Thanks.

 

[ipaq_101]

I know a lot of people recommend malwarebytes and it does work, but it doesn't find everything. The only program that I have found that detects things that even malwarebytes doesn't is ADW Cleaner. I had Norton, Malwarebytes, Ad-Aware, all fail to detect a few items on my old PC, ADW found it all in a fraction of the time and got rid of all my headaches.

https://toolslib.net/downloads/viewdownload/1-adwcleaner/

There is no one solution, I use a combo, Norton Internet Security 2014, ADW Cleaner, and Malwarebytes. I only use ADW and Malwarebytes when something seems funky or maybe once every few months.