Hi. I've seen several posts on here recommending antivirus software, but usually recommendations are for freeware. Can I ask for people's opinions on which is best whether the software is free or not. I have heard some say that Norton is better than Macafee but other say they are about the same. I would really like what people think. Thank you.

Well, Norton and McAfee are certainly the most popular and well known on the market. I believe they are both inferior products, especially Norton. The best of the best? Nod, TDS - 3 and Kaspersky would be amongst most experts choices, and I find them very difficult to separate. However, I use the latter.

I'm one of the flock that uses Norton and it seems to work well for me. This year it caught both Bugbear and Sobig before damage was done. It has frequent updates and a great website for help. I also like the intutive interface.On eBay you can get it for about $10. On the other hand, Kaspersky seems to score the best as all around AV program. Here are some testing results. If $$ is a factor, the pro version cost $99. Frankly, I don't see the problem with Norton. Folks say it uses too many resources and is too intrusive. Well, how much is too much and don't you want your AV program to be watching everything? Anyway, that is my view. Best to you.

Have used Norton for years with absolutely no problems on many of my own boxes. If I had to change, I'd move to Kaspersky Pro.

hi david i, the best av's are nod32, kapersky labs(for its trojan engine) the best at's are Boclean, and Tds (high learning curve) best firewall Look'n Stop all the best, murve

The best programs that I have used are Solo, Nod32, Norton and ETRUST and recommend. The new version of NOD32 is beginning to get special mention by the computer magazines, it has simplified its interface and eliminated two icons, it used to have three. It holds the product record for virus detection at the Virus Bulletin Labs. I agree with Murve about trojan software, BoClean is the best, but I really do like Tauscan for its ease of use and customer support. TDS is also very good, but you need to know what you are doing to really get the best out of it. Firewalls=Zone Alarm pro and Look'n Stop if you are buying one. Sygate, Outpost and Kerio are all excellent and are free!

It all depends on what criteria you use in judging an antivirus program.And everyone has their favorite program. Norton and McAfee:I don't use either of the two. BUT,they pass the VB100% Awards frequently. That means something to me cuz not every av program passes those tests. One difference between NAV and McAfee is the ability to "unpack" compressed(zipped)files. McAfee can,NAV doesn't do that very well yet. I use Kapersky Personal 4.5(the $49 version). It updates almost daily and is configurable.Scan reports are easily found.I like it a lot. RAV was cool until MS bought the program. F-Prot for windows is an interesting av program that costs the same as RAV for a license($29).Plus there is some type of offer from the developer for RAV customers. It does very well on the European av tests,somewehere below KAV. If you want to dig into how some of the programs fare on a number of av tests check out Freebyte.(www.freebyte.com/antivirus/) BillC linked a very recent test that I use as a guide also. I always look at test results and customer feedback posted in various forums.If I'm looking for an av program I trial based on that. Regards, JB.