Goodbye Avast, and good riddance; Hello, Bitdefender.

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evilsmirker

Contributor
I know, I know. You don't really need an anti-virus, just common sense and windows built-in security. Or just switch to Linux. But I mess around too much with random things and sail a little here and there and I needed a a plan anyway for my parents- so I thought it's best to be safe. Plus, I've always had one, for some reason.

I developed a slow hatred for Avast over the years. I remember getting on board when it was touted as the best free anti-virus around (and back then, my younger self really needed one). I eventually got the paid plans for years for the family. But then the pop-up ads, the shoving of their VPN down my throat (telling me my IP address was 'exposed', whilst I was already using one) and god-awful insistent UI. Not to mention that my system seems to have dropped 30 seconds off its start-up time (as per Glary Utilities) after I uninstalled that rubbish. Don't know if it's just a co-incidence, but I'm glad to not have to use that trash again.

I hope I don't have to come back to this forum in a few months bemoaning bitdefender as well. One day, hopefully, I'll just switch to Linux instead of pussyfooting around with it on spare devices and pet projects.
 
Have you tried Kaspersky? It has a very low overhead and good at what it does. Considering the recent ban on their products in US does not affect users from other countries, I wonder why it does not get enough recognition.
 
evilsmirker said:
But I mess around too much with random things and sail a little here and there
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evilsmirker said:
One day, hopefully, I'll just switch to Linux instead
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No need, do your unsecured thingies in a VM, now that the windows sandbox is built in it's easy spin one up real quick, or if you need data persistence look into other solutions.

Or much better if you sail very often, consider a separate PC for those sorts of things and keep your personal stuff off of it.
 
Heisen said:
No need, do your unsecured thingies in a VM, now that the windows sandbox is built in it's easy spin one up real quick, or if you need data persistence look into other solutions.

Or much better if you sail very often, consider a separate PC for those sorts of things and keep your personal stuff off of it.
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I've only recently started getting into containers and the like, though I've run everything 'bare-metal' so far. Will look into proxmox and the like soon and do this migration.
Silent47Assassin said:
Have you tried Kaspersky? It has a very low overhead and good at what it does. Considering the recent ban on their products in US does not affect users from other countries, I wonder why it does not get enough recognition.
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That was also in the running, but I flipped a coin and picked bitdefender. The anti-Russian stuff played a role, although I'm sure Bitdefender isn't any better if one delved into it.


ibose said:
Folks still use that ?!! It went from being an antivirus to a virus ages back.
If you really really need any AV outside of what Windows already provides, Eset would be my choice. It's paid so you also get a warm cozy feeling that its adding some value.
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I didn't really realise how bad it was until much later when I was reading around privacy and Avast came up as a big no-no. Will look into eset, thanks!
 
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+1 for ESET - Amazon has a 2 year - 2 device sale in between - keep a lookout. It is great value for money if you can snag it for cheap. If budget is a concern opt for the Antivirus option. If not grab the Internet Security variant with the built in firewall.

I use ESET on most of my machines. It is lightweight and adds very little overhead to the machine. Take a 30 free trial of any variant before you take the plunge of buying a paid license.
 
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