Top Antivirus Programs, June 2008 Listing

[Scooter]

With the recent buzz about the Facebook Trojan, there will be a renewed interest in the question, "Is my antivirus program good enough?"

This is the latest antivirus ranking from Virus.gr at http://virus.gr/portal/en/content/2008-06%2C-1-21-june

The test was made on 01-21 June 2008, using Windows XP Professional SP2 on a P4 3200 Mhz, 2048MB DDRAM.
All programs tested had the latest versions, upgrades and updates and they were tested using their full scanning capabilities e.g. heuristics, full scan etc.
The default settings of each program were not used, in order for each program to achieve its maximum detection rate. Because of this, there is a possibility for the tested programs to detect a few false positives.
All programs were updated on 31 May 2008, between 09.00AM and 12.00PM GMT.
The 246705 virus samples were chosen using VS2000 according to Kaspersky, F-Prot, Nod32, Dr.Web, BitDefender and McAfee antivirus programs. Each virus sample was unique by virus name, meaning that AT LEAST 1 antivirus program detected it as a new virus.
MS-DOS based virus samples were not used.

See where your antivirus ranks in.

Rank

1. G DATA 2008 version 18.2.7310.844 - 99.05%

2. F-Secure 2008 version 8.00.103 - 98.75%

3. TrustPort version 2.8.0.1835 - 98.06%

4. Kaspersky version 8.0.0.357 - 97.95%

5. eScan version 9.0.742.1 - 97.44%

6. The Shield 2008 - 97.43%

7. AntiVir version 8.1.00.331 Premium - 97.13%

8. Ashampoo version 1.61 - 97.09%

9. Ikarus version 1.0.82 - 96.05%

10. AntiVir version 8.1.00.295 Classic - 95.54%

11. AVG version 8.0.100 Free - 94.85%

12. BitDefender 2008 version 11.0.16 - 94.70%

13. Avast version 4.8.1201 Professional - 93.78%

14. Nod32 version 3.0.650.0 - 93.36%

15. F-Prot version 6.0.9.1 - 91.87%

16. BitDefender version 10 Free - 91.32%

17. ArcaVir 2008 - 88.65%

18. Norman version 5.92.08 - 87.72%

19. Vba32 version 3.12.6.6 - 87.21%

20. McAfee Enterpise version 8.5.0i - 86.57%

21. McAfee version 12.0.177 - 86.39%

22. Rising AV version 20.46.52 - 85.87%

23. Norton 2008 - 83.34%

24. Dr. Web version 4.44.5 - 82.87%

25. Antiy Ghostbusters version 5.2.3 - 80.23%

26. VirusBuster version 5.002.62 - 77.19%

27. Outpost version 6.0.2294.253.0490 - 75.35%

28. V3 Internet Security version 2008.05.31.00 - 75.23%

29. ViRobot Expert version 5.5 - 74.50%

30. Virus Chaser version 5.0a - 73.65%

31. A-squared Anti-Malware version 3.5 - 71.66%

32. PC Tools version 4.0.0.26 - 69.82%

33. Trend Micro Antivirus+Antispyware 2008 version 16.10.1079 - 67.28%

34. Iolo version 4.325 - 63.98%

34. Panda 2008 version 3.01.00 - 61.41%

36. Sophos Sweep version 7.3.2 - 54.71%

37. ClamWin version 0.93 - 54.68%

38. CA Anti-Virus version 9.00.170 - 51.08%

39. Quick Heal version 9.50 - 47.97%

40. Comodo version 2.0.17.58 - 43.15%

41. Trojan Hunter version 5.0.962 - 31.39%

42. Solo version 7.0 - 21.10%

43. Protector Plus version 8.0.C03 - 20.14%

44. PCClear version 1.0.8.0 - 19.63%

45. AntiTrojan Shield version 2.1.0.14 - 14.74%

46. Trojan Remover version 6.6.9 - 13.49%

47. VirIT version 6.2.94 - 8.63%

48. True Sword version 4.2 - 3.42%

[EDIT] So what is the best option?
Norton and McAfee are both outranked for detection by Bit Defender and AVG. I have used both of these and they are very good. But for the benefit of free, there is usually a cost, and that is the lack of a resident scanner component - i.e., the program is not running continuously in the background scanning files as they are read and written. Frequent scans with these free programs are therefore needed to keep the computer clean.

In a pinch, programs I would recommend are Bit Defender Free, AVG Free, and one that is not listed - the Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (based on the top-ranked Kaspersky engine). To get these programs, go here:

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivir...val-Tool.shtml
AVG Free: http://free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-...s-free-edition
Bit Defender Free: http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-1...e-Edition.html

Remember to not install more than one antivirus program as multiple programs can conflict and leave your computer without sufficient protection.
[END EDIT]

[Milton4doe]

Thanks Scooter, There's a good article today about the FACEBOOK VIRUS
http://www.sync-blog.com/sync/2008/0...ng-news-f.html I hope it's okay I posted the link

[jenna321]

Thank you for this valuable information Scooter!

[Meg1112]

I have kaspersky
Its very easy to use

[crumpet]

Everyone kept telling me to get AVG free, and I did, but didn't like it. I tried Norton, McAffee, Panda, AVG free, and Avast!. Thanks for this list. It'll really help.

[Racefan]

I use AVG.

[roseofblack25]

we have avast was going to get AVG but we have dial up and it wont download keeps timing out after about five minutes so we are stuck with avast and its 13th place so guess it isnt that bad

[Mbgurl]

we have avast was going to get AVG but we have dial up and it wont download keeps timing out after about five minutes so we are stuck with avast and its 13th place so guess it isnt that bad

I had that problem with timing out. Occured when I was running my scans of my computer, when defragging and other stuff too. I solved my woes by going into the "Control Panel" and clicking on "Display" where I then clicked on the tab for my "Screensaver." Changed my amount of time for the screen saver to come on after my mouse is inactive and my problems were solved. Set my setting up further to 60 minutes which is more than I need hooked up with DSL which downloads quite quickly. Some programs, like AVG will continue run "in background" even after your screen has timed out and screensaver is bouncing about, or so AVG info I read told me but I don't remember all pertaining circumstances?

Try changing the amount of time before your Screen Saver pops up and see if that helps?

Somewhere on our computers is also place to change your settings for saving power and other auto functions that can "time out" your machine and even automatically turn it right off and even though you are technically still using it sometimes. The computer doesn't recognize downloading as a machine in use for some reason? With .gifs and other animated things that can be going on with anybody's monitor display, it would be too hard (I suppose) to track inactivity of computer use through the display. Pretty sure it's done through tracking of mouse use or lack thereof? When your screen saver pops up wiggling your mouse around brings back your desktop, so likely gauges inactivity by amount of time since last mouse movement most likely?

Anyway, if changing screensaver timer setting does not work, PM me and I'll poke around my machine for that other settings page and get back to you if you like, or maybe the mod here can help out?

[Scooter]

Yes, you can try the screensaver settings trick.

What might also be happening is that if you are on dialup and try downloading during "peak usage" time - for example around 4-5 PM when a large number of people are using the net - you will discover that your connection speeds are infuriatingly slow.

What happens in this case is that the server on the other end that you are trying to download from will sever your connection or give a timeout rather than keep a connection open that has a small kilobytes-per-second transfer rate.

Try downloading from an alternate server instead - for example FileHippo or CNET Downloads. This may give you better results.