Which antivirus would cause less impact on gaming?

[kornkid212]

And still be effective against viruses?

Im torn between Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast and Panda Cloud

[White Midnight]

An Anti Virus is only going to prevent and catch what it has definitions for and what the maker considers might be a harmful item, this varies immensely among manufacturers. A good AV that does not impact gaming is light, non intrusive, and has reasonably often definitions updates. You're not going to be 100% safe, period.

I've been using MS Security Essentials and haven't had major malware or virus problems to date, but Im also savvy about the links I click and the websites I visit, and I know how to manually remove things anyway. It has not caused any major compatibility or launch issues on any game to date under any localization.

Avast is known to cause launch issues with PSO2, I cant say much about Panda Cloud

EDIT: I should mention, a hardcore Gentoo Linux user that was president of the Computer Science club told me MS Security Essentials are a good AV, if that means anything.

[Chik'Tikka]

according to a friend's tests, MS Security essentials is tied with Norton 360 as most effective (both swapping 1st and 2nd place as most effective) with McAfee in the number 3 spot, guy's a total security nut, purposefully infecting his own machine to see what catches what+^_^+ i don't know anything about Panda Cloud, but i think MS sec essentials is better then Avast (also, who has more cause in protecting their own software then M$?)+^_^+

[Crevox]

Avast

[kp77]

ESET NOD32 Antivirus doesn't eat CPU, and gets the job done.

[kornkid212]

ESET NOD32 Antivirus doesn't eat CPU, and gets the job done.

Yes, unfortunately its not free =(

Which free antivirus would you advise?

[Ueno54]

MSE has been much easier to get along with than Avast! ever was for me.

[ZeroRageX]

I've never had an issue with AVG

[Chik'Tikka]

Yes, unfortunately its not free =(

Which free antivirus would you advise?

Microsoft Security Essentials really impresses me, and remember to get a anti-malware program (i recommend Super Anti Spyware) too to scan installed programs and files for malware (anti-malware programs don't need to run 24/7 like antivirus programs, i use it to scan once a week and turned off the launch when machine boots of)+^_^+

[Mag-X]

+1 for Microsoft Security Essentials.

[White Midnight]

Microsoft Security Essentials trumps AVG and other free AVs that I've tried. Its reasonably light, unintrusive, and you get your definition and program updates through Windows update if you opted to do so. Getting those through a system process that already runs as part of the regular OS is a huge plus in my opinion.

My vote is still with them.

[DreXxiN]

Avast has been working wonderful for me without (visibly) affecting my game performance. However, I've heard really good things about Microsoft Security Essentials. I'd avoid AVG like the plague though as I hear it has a lot of memory leaks.

[just2good]

Avast hands down, can't live without it now.

It has free realtime scanning for your folders(when they are opened) + web browsing and doesn't affect your gaming at all.

[IAmSecretSpy]

MSE is the best AV you can get, if you have any version of Norton i advise you to cancel your subscription and start using MSE. As an IT Tech and Computer Savvy Individual i can say from experience that MSE is by far the best AV out there and best of all its free. For Malware i advise Malwarebyte's Anti Malware They have a Free Version and that's all you need.

[kantaris]

MSE is the best AV you can get, if you have any version of Norton i advise you to cancel your subscription and start using MSE. As an IT Tech and Computer Savvy Individual i can say from experience that MSE is by far the best AV out there and best of all its free. For Malware i advise Malwarebyte's Anti Malware They have a Free Version and that's all you need.

+1 for MSE as best free antivirus, once you get into large-scale environments, MSE needs licenses (then it's forefront and that sucks to manage)

[IAmSecretSpy]

yea you should be looking into different solutions when your managing big networks. While MSE is very nice for personal Computers or small businesses, big networks i can imagine would suck deff. suck to manage.

[xBladeM6x]

Microsoft Security Essentials. Lightweight, and catches everything. If anyone ever tells you to get Kaspersky, kill them. Lol

[eharima]

Common sense 2012.

Ohwaitlol.

[Whit]

Common Sense 2012 Golden Master Edition.

[Chik'Tikka]

yea you should be looking into different solutions when your managing big networks. While MSE is very nice for personal Computers or small businesses, big networks i can imagine would suck deff. suck to manage.

not true, MSE is great on big networks, but companies and CEOs are dumb, and nothing is full proof, so if you manage a big network, buy anti-virus, that way, if something goes wrong they can't say "well of course we got hacked, our stupid admin was using free crap software!! fire him/her nao!!!" if you pay premium for anti-virus, your boss can attack them going "we pay how much to you?? and you give us crappy software???" it's all about liability with big networks+^_^+

[IAmSecretSpy]

not true, MSE is great on big networks, but companies and CEOs are dumb, and nothing is full proof, so if you manage a big network, buy anti-virus, that way, if something goes wrong they can't say "well of course we got hacked, our stupid admin was using free crap software!! fire him/her nao!!!" if you pay premium for anti-virus, your boss can attack them going "we pay how much to you?? and you give us crappy software???" it's all about liability with big networks+^_^+

I think you missed the point, its great software but its hard to manage in a big Network atleast from what i had to deal with and what i heard. I haven't used MSE and most Companies wont use it as its slated as Freeware and they see it as garbage and want something that's worth money. I have had success using it on small networks and the like and never came across a problem but i can see where the problem comes in with big networks. Regardless and off topic MSE is a great software and is the best when it comes to AV :)

[Brian Andrew]

My opinion is that Avast is too good..It's very difficult now to live without Avast..http://www.free-antivirus.co/antivirus/avast-free.html

[Brian Andrew]

Well,I think AVAST is the best because it has very low impact on games..http://www.free-antivirus.co/articles/How-to-Remove-a-Computer-Virus-128.html

[drizzle]

Common sense 2012.

Ohwaitlol.


Common Sense AV has kept me virus free for well over a decade. No updates required, no cost, no impact on anything, it just works. Highly recommended.

[Taurus83]

no one used Avira?

[Vylera]

Avast is a pretty good antivirus that rarely causes problems with games.

+Recommended.

[Hobbez]

I've never had an issue with AVG

I use AVG as well. They have a free version that works really well. I'm using the retail version currently as I feel they deserved some money for all the years I used for free. Out of the dozen+ AVs I've tried, AVG is the only one that has never messed with my gaming.

[Keiko_Seisha]

Microsoft Security Essentials
+
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
+
Common Sense

Those three are all you ever need to keep your computer perfectly safe.

[Xane]

Common Sense 2012 Golden Master Edition.

This. And Avast since 2005.
Never had a problem, ever.

[PAZUZU]

I use AVG as well. They have a free version that works really well. I'm using the retail version currently as I feel they deserved some money for all the years I used for free. Out of the dozen+ AVs I've tried, AVG is the only one that has never messed with my gaming.

Yes AVG is excellent. The only conflict with a game I've encountered is that you have to disable it when playing Guild Wars 2, but no problems with PSO2.

[buri-chan]

Been running AVG Free for years now, and never had any problems/viruses.

[kdrakari]

I've never had a problem using AVG or Norton, but if you're looking for something with minimal impact on performance stay as far away from McAfee as possible.

I've never tried MSE though, always kinda assumed that wasn't really a full antivirus program.

[Dan Maku]

As long as it's not Norton, you should be in good shape. I, myself, use Webroot.

[Chik'Tikka]

As long as it's not Norton, you should be in good shape. I, myself, use Webroot.

what's wrong with Norton?? i have had 0 issues with Norton 360 whatsoever+^_^+ the days when Norton bogged machines down is long past+^_^+ still, only reason i have it is i got it for free and i like it's interface+^_^+

[Crimera]

I like how in one post someone says "get this x AV". Then in the post right after it, someone says "as long as it isn't X AV, then you're good".

Very confusing.

The fact is, different systems have different experiences with AVs. No one can tell you how it is going to perform on YOUR system. I would suggest you try the "trial" or free versions of all the ones you are interested in. It may take some time, but you'll be set for awhile.

Personally, I use Malewarebytes only + Common sense 2012 edition. No performance issues as it only runs when I suspect something (and I am REALLY good at noticing when something is wrong with my computer).

[ScottyMango]

Use Avast. It uses almost no resources, and it even has a 'gaming mode' you can activate when playing games, so that it doesn't interfere with gameplay at all.

[Nu Lo Yin]

Can you get viruses through playing this game?

[Arkios]

I've never seen so much bad information in my entire life.

Check out the charts available at av-comparatives.org:
The latest summary from March: http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/docs/avc_fdt_201203_en.pdf

As you will see, MSE actually falls into the bottom of the list.

As far as performance goes, just exclude the programs files for your game from the AV real-time scanner so your game files aren't being scanned when they're accessed/modified. The footprint of the AV isn't going to affect gaming performance unless you have an extremely under performing machine.

Honestly if you're playing a full screen game and not browsing the web or doing anything else while playing, just disable your AV while you play and then re-enable it when you're done playing.

[ScottyMango]

Can you get viruses through playing this game?

Are you joking?

[Chik'Tikka]

wow, Arkios, now i know why me and people i know always had so many issues with Webroot+^_^+ just look at all the false positives that PDF says!!+^_^+

[genjen]

i use comodo internet security premium and spybot search &destroy

[mctastee]

ESET NOD32 Antivirus doesn't eat CPU, and gets the job done.

I can vouch for this. Although, there are always things you can do yourself to help prevent you from getting a virus.