We have been using McAfee TOPS as the virus scanning software on our computers. Though the software works well enough, the indirect reseller arrangement we have had with McAfee has been problematic since the beginning. Consequently, we are dropping McAfee TOPS and in search of something better.

I put together a small survey and queried a couple of technology mailing lists, seeking first-hand information on various virus scanners. Since I used a free SurveyMonkey account to run the survey, I was not able to export the results. Instead, I have manually summarized them here.

The questions were very simple:

1. Which Windoze virus scanning software do you use?
2. How satisfied are you with your software?
3. Would you recommend your software?

Here is the summary graph (click to see it larger):

Virus Scanner Survey Answer Summary

The three “No I am not satisfied and no I do not recommend the software” answers were for: AVG (twice) and Windows Live One Care (once).

Beyond that, there were four write-in virus scanners and several comments. Here they all are:

Other Virus Scanners
Windows Live One Care
Avira
symantec endpoint protection
eset

Comments
Scanner: AVG
Comment: I just had to remove AVG from my system. It is a huge resource hog while it scans and if you’re trying to do development work as I am it’ll slow your system almost to a stop. I’m on WinXP with a quad-core CPU and 4GB of RAM. Run PhotoShop and Flash together, while AVG scans, and it will take over a minute to open a browser window. I’d rather be unprotected than tolerate this kind of inefficiency.

Scanner: AVG
Comment: less expensive, lighter footprint on our computers, does the job.

Scanner: AVG
Comment: I have never used the Paid software and I know it has a lot more bells and whistles. That may not be a good thing.

Scanner: eset
Comment: eset.com – recommended by my isp, award-winning – it picked up many trojans that AVG had missed – 90 day free trial, buy in the UK as the pound is so low

Scanner: symantec endpoint protection
Comment: minimum 5 users, sold via license. can be installed as a managed copy, but likes more than 1 GB of RAM on the PC with that module installed.

Scanner: Kaspersky
Comment: See my email to the ProviderTalk group. I like it and I’ve been through Norton, McAfee, CA EZ Armor, and TrendMicro.

Scanner: F-PROT
Comment: This is the only one we recommend.

Scanner: Avira
Comment: Lightweight, daily updates, scored a 99.7% detection on independent test (2nd highest among AV software tested including above) with very few false positives, and only about $50 USD. LOVE IT!

Scanner: AVG
Comment: have over 500 workstations protected with AVG

Scanner: Trend Micro
Comment: No problems!

Scanner: Windows Live One Care
Comment: Manage multiple pPC’s from one mastger.

Scanner: AVG
Comment: Five Licences paid.

Scanner: AVG
Comment: I first thought I liked it; then it just slowed down everything; and my computer locked up, etc. I uninstalled it today.

Given the comments about performance and two votes of dissatisfaction, I think we will avoid AVG. Beyond that, I still have not decided.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Desktop Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.