Gaming best anti virus program

[FAST6191]

I actually vote for not getting an anti-virus at all.
Just be careful while browsing the internet, and you're good.
No need for a CPU and RAM-eating program to ruin your experience.
As long as you watch out, you'll be fine.

But if you really want one, then I suggest Avira, which served me well. Note that if you're getting the free version, you'll get an ad in a window by itself (which you can simply close) every couple hours or so. But it's really good.

Much as I would like that to be the case I can not agree and will have to call dangerous advice-
Advert networks have displayed malware before
There have been vulnerabilities in web browsers and plugins/extensions before (see anything made by adobe for more)
There have been vulnerabilities in sites before that allow them or part of their code to be hijacked before
There have been sites that have gone bad thanks to rogue admins before.
Sites have unintentionally uploaded malware before (one of the uploaders say had a virus and that attached to a file they uploaded).

And it goes on and on but those five are quite common. Occasionally you even get something novel as well.

 

[hnguyen2010]

I using AVAST and pcworld magazine give it 4 out 5 stars on this product.

 

[marcus134]

I actually vote for not getting an anti-virus at all.

I have to agree that the best anti-virus program a computer can have is a vigilant user.
I've seen computer with decent and updated AV getting messed up by viruses because of the user.

good AV + dumb user < weak or no AV + good user

 

[yuyuyup]

For spyware, I think http://www.superantispyware.com/ is pretty powerful

 

[Skelletonike]

My fave antivirus has always been Kapersky, it's light, it's fast and it's really good, it's damn worth a purchase, only one I buy every year tbh.
As for free ones, I use Microsoft Security Essentials, it's pretty good for a free anti-virus, at least I prefer it over the other free ones.

 

[ferret7463]

windows icebox

 

[Originality]

Since the idea of not having an AV has been mentioned, no good virus-related thread would be complete without the following suggestion:

The best AV of all - Linux (cos Linux don't get viruses).

Well, OK, you can't really get better than the combination I've got. An ISP with industrial strength firewalls and filters, network firewalls (not the default router ones, but custom ones), software firewalls (weakest in the chain, because I don't want something that will actually slow down my internets) and Kaspersky AV, and a user who has extensive experience dealing with viruses over the years keeping an eye on everything. But that's just me being paranoid (better safe than sorry).

 

[Qtis]

OS X + Symantec End Protection. Also Network Monitor for tracking incoming/outgoing connections. Used to use F-Secure (Beta for mac), but for some reason I lost my beta license and switched to Symantec. F-Secure on my windows comp (WinXP) and Symantec End Protection on my Bootcamp Win7 partition.

So far I haven't had any problems. Thus what @marcus134 said.

 

[FencingFoxFTW]

I still use NOD32 version 2.7

good av, not a resource hog, works even on Windows 7

 

[Rydian]

I actually vote for not getting an anti-virus at all.
Just be careful while browsing the internet, and you're good.
No need for a CPU and RAM-eating program to ruin your experience.
As long as you watch out, you'll be fine.

Absolute bullshit.

Any site that displays advertisements has the chance to serve up an infection.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20000898-245.html
You can get infected by a driveby even here on gbatemp, due to the nature of ads online.
"Watch where you go" doesn't mean shit when even The New York Times can do it.

And then there's things like sites you know being hacked and having malware planted on them, so even if you're using ad-blockers, the site itself contains the malicious content so the ad blockers don't block it. This is getting more and more common as more and more companies and people put up websites without really knowing how to secure them.
http://sysmox.com/blog/hacked/how-to-find-injected-malware-in-a-wordpress-website

And let's not even get into things like DNS poisoning.
http://blog.watchfire.com/files/dnsp_port_exhaustion.pdf (PDF, just one of the studies)

 

[yellowsnowcone]

I actually vote for not getting an anti-virus at all.
Just be careful while browsing the internet, and you're good.
No need for a CPU and RAM-eating program to ruin your experience.
As long as you watch out, you'll be fine.

But if you really want one, then I suggest Avira, which served me well. Note that if you're getting the free version, you'll get an ad in a window by itself (which you can simply close) every couple hours or so. But it's really good.

I third the sentiment that this is bad advice. In the last several years, it has only been normally safe websites with 3rd-party ads that have threatened any computer I've used.

I use Avast!, because MSE sometimes steals focus while gaming, and Avast! has a silent mode.

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

I used Avira Free, but switched to Avast a couple of days back.

No problems so far

 

[snakepliskin2334]

OS X + Symantec End Protection. Also Network Monitor for tracking incoming/outgoing connections. Used to use F-Secure (Beta for mac), but for some reason I lost my beta license and switched to Symantec. F-Secure on my windows comp (WinXP) and Symantec End Protection on my Bootcamp Win7 partition.

So far I haven't had any problems. Thus what @marcus134 said.

can you play any windows based games on os x ?

 

[Zetta_x]

If you don't want to get any new viruses; isolate yourself from the network. No internet, no thumbdrives, no connections. In all seriousness, you will be surprised how much vulnerabilities you have. Just because you don't notice anything strange, doesn't mean you aren't infected.

 

[Qtis]

OS X + Symantec End Protection. Also Network Monitor for tracking incoming/outgoing connections. Used to use F-Secure (Beta for mac), but for some reason I lost my beta license and switched to Symantec. F-Secure on my windows comp (WinXP) and Symantec End Protection on my Bootcamp Win7 partition.

So far I haven't had any problems. Thus what @marcus134 said.

can you play any windows based games on os x ?

Ever heard of Bootcamp (multiple OS's on a Mac) or virtualization? Both make it possible to play Windows based games. Most of the time I don't even have to open the Windows 7 partition

In the long term I'd prefer a smooth OS and near no bugs/viruses with the normal use (I have quite a lot of consoles for gaming). Also I mentioned all the programs I used

ps. Win7 runs flawlessly on the computer, though I rarely open it anymore. Mainly for games that don't run as well as I'd want on OS X due to programming.
pps. Quite a few games run natively on OS X nowadays

 

[klim28]

Nod32 isn't helping me. My desktop and laptop are infected by a stupid zaberg virus. It also infect external devices/memories. And google is also isn't helping. It keeps coming back.

 

[Sicklyboy]

OS X + Symantec End Protection. Also Network Monitor for tracking incoming/outgoing connections. Used to use F-Secure (Beta for mac), but for some reason I lost my beta license and switched to Symantec. F-Secure on my windows comp (WinXP) and Symantec End Protection on my Bootcamp Win7 partition.

So far I haven't had any problems. Thus what @marcus134 said.

Since the idea of not having an AV has been mentioned, no good virus-related thread would be complete without the following suggestion:

The best AV of all - Linux (cos Linux don't get viruses).

Well, OK, you can't really get better than the combination I've got. An ISP with industrial strength firewalls and filters, network firewalls (not the default router ones, but custom ones), software firewalls (weakest in the chain, because I don't want something that will actually slow down my internets) and Kaspersky AV, and a user who has extensive experience dealing with viruses over the years keeping an eye on everything. But that's just me being paranoid (better safe than sorry).

Hurr, those might be good answers if the OP was asking [/b]Which OS should I run on my computer that has a lower target rate for malware?[/b]

Except he isn't.

 

[wafflestick]

ignore the dont use an anti virus at all. its a must have especially if your a legal down loader ahem and i recommend AVAST!! for virus protection its thee best and for virus CLEANING, i recommend malwarebytes. best part being that both software are free

 

[wafflestick]

OS X + Symantec End Protection. Also Network Monitor for tracking incoming/outgoing connections. Used to use F-Secure (Beta for mac), but for some reason I lost my beta license and switched to Symantec. F-Secure on my windows comp (WinXP) and Symantec End Protection on my Bootcamp Win7 partition.

So far I haven't had any problems. Thus what @marcus134 said.

can you play any windows based games on os x ?

aside from bootcamp, which requires a reboot each time you want to use windows, theres parallels which is not actually free but better in the sense that it requires no reboot, runs right of your OS and it supports windows 7

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

ignore the dont use an anti virus at all. its a must have especially if your a legal down loader ahem and i recommend AVAST!! for virus protection its thee best and for virus CLEANING, i recommend malwarebytes. best part being that both software are free

While I am an advocate of AV programs and security software, if they don't want to use them and have never suffered any side effects or consequence, then why change their status quo?

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it." If their rig is working fine, don't introduce a change into the system