Nearly every piece of malware I see rates 0/51 on virustotal. I would recommend picking one of those that has a high detection ratio, but you see...
Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
11–18 of 18 posts
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#12Nearly every piece of malware I see rates 0/51 on virustotal. I would recommend picking one of those that has a high detection ratio, but you see...
Some of those with high detection ratios either (a) use excessive heuristics or (b) detect things that could be considered "riskware" or a "hacker tool", even if the software runs in the foreground and does not cause any problems for the user. Then again, if you never use "hacker tools", then it may not matter much to you.
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is wrong, they are the same thing.
Interesting - Windows Defender is an antivirus product for Windows 8+. However, for Windows 7 and older, it is only an anti-malware product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Defender
What's the difference between the two? Wouldn't all viruses be considered malware? Is there some standard that the software has to live up to to be labeled antivirus?
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#14After I stopped using Windows I've revisited my definition of "works well". Not trying to troll or bash Microsoft here and perhaps you have strong reasons to stay on it, but sometimes people try to treat symptom not the problem.
Could it be that the "problem" in this case is that Windows has been so popular over such a long period? The popularity not only makes it a desirable target for malware but also makes it a desirable platform for cookie-cutter anti-malware programs, many of which are not worth the bits they are printed on. Another part of the problem is that many people are still running old versions of Windows (some even before User Account Control was implemented), which Microsoft is clearly trying to resolve here with the gratis Windows 10 upgrades.
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting - Windows Defender is an antivirus product for Windows 8+. However, for Windows 7 and older, it is only an anti-malware product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Defender
What's the difference between the two? Wouldn't all viruses be considered malware? Is there some standard that the software has to live up to to be labeled antivirus?
Viruses infect executable files (or other files that can potentially contain executable code) while non-virus malware infects machines, browsers, or other types of "hosts".
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#16You could create a "Standard" account for your day-to-day. Then no need for virus protection. ^_^ To install software, you'll have an extra step of typing in the admin user name and password. Nice.
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#17Avast free, but NOT for the antivirus. It has a really convenient software updating utility which will make you far more secure than any antivirus feature ever could.
Re: Ask HN: Recommend a good antivirus for Windows
#18Avira always seems to be at the top of the charts on http://www.av-comparatives.org/. I have used it for years without issue.