Bright Hub's Top Antivirus Software Selection for Windows 7

Written by: Mark Muller • Edited by: Bill Bunter
Updated Aug 9, 2011 • Related Guides: Windows 7 | Antivirus Software | Antivirus

This is the list of the best antivirus software for Windows 7. You'll find our article continuously updated as more vendors release antivirus solutions that are compatible with Windows 7.

Introduction

We have been looking to find the best antivirus software for Windows7 everywhere, including, but not limited to the following products:

AhnLab V3 Internet Security
AntiVirus + AntiSpyware trendmicro.com
Antivirus - bitdefender.com
Antivirus Pro - pandasecurity.com
AppRanger
Ashampoo AntiVirus
a-squared
avast! Professional Edition
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Avira AntiVir
BullGuard Internet Security
CA Anti-Virus
ESET NOD32 Antivirus
F-PROT Antivirus for Windows
G Data AntiVirus
K7 AntiVirus
Kaspersky Internet Security
Lavasoft
McAfee VirusScan Plus
Microsoft Security Essential
Windows Live OneCare
Norman Antivirus & Antispyware
Norton AntiVirus
Quick Heal AntiVirus
Rising Antivirus
Sophos Anti-Virus SBE
Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus - pctools.com
Spyware Terminator
TrustPort Antivirus
Verizon Internet Security Suite
VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware
VirusBuster
Webroot AntiVirus with AntiSpyware
ZoneAlarm Antivirus

Our quest for the best antivirus software included reviewing relevant products from every official Microsoft Windows 7 Consumer Security Software Provider according to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-7.aspx . Those Windows 7 Consumer Security Software Providers which don’t have standalone antivirus software had their security suites being looked at, but by coincidence none of these Internet security suites’ antivirus ratings were top.

Below here you find the top list including a summary of the anti-virus software in alphabetical order. All anti-virus software has a rating of very good or excellent denominated graphically. If you can’t find a particular piece of software it could mean that it is not yet officially Windows 7 compatible, or that it did not qualify as very good or excellent.

The quoted prices are subject to change! The links to the official product pages can be found at the end of this article under Reference.

AVG Anti-Virus
Rating

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition provides essential anti-virus and antispyware protection. The software also includes the Free AVG LinkScanner, discussed in Bright Hub's article Free AVG LinkScanner Review, to protect you from fraudulent sites.

Among other advantages AVG Anti-Virus (not Free) extends the AVG Free edition’s basic anti-spyware and antivirus protection with anti-rootkit functionality as well as Webshield to safeguards your downloads. The AVG Anti-Virus license is $34.99 for a one year subscription which includes free support.

For about twenty dollars more you can obtain AVG Internet Security which extends AVG Anti-Virus and includes identity protection, anti-Spam features as well as an enhanced firewall for example.

Avira AntiVir
Rating

The new Avira AntiVir comes in three Windows 7 compatible editions personal premium and business. The personal edition providing basic AV functionality is free for home users. The premium edition including antiphising, an email scanner as well as, for instance WebGuard, can be tried one month for free and carries a price tag of €19.95. The Avira AntiVir version 9 Professional edition made for business purposes starts at €19.95 per anum.

BitDefender Antivirus
Rating

If you protect your computer with BitDefender Antivirus you are not only protected against malware but also safe from phishing sites and identity theft; Instant Messaging encryption is also included. The vendor claims that its latest high-detection rate AV software scans your PC twice as fast as previous versions using fewer resources. BitDefender only costs $29.95 for up to three PCs for an entire year.

The BitDefender Antivirus “Premium editions” BitDefender Internet Security and BitDefender Total Security include useful add-ons / features like a file vault to securely store personal files and data, a two-way firewall, parental control as we an automatic backup for example

CA Anti-Virus Plus Anti-Spyware
Rating

CA Anti-Virus Plus Anti-Spyware, from Computer Associates, protects your data and important files from virus and other malicious software thereby also preventing system slowdowns. Also included in CA’s anti-virus software are parental control and an anti-Spam filter. Buying CA Anti-Virus Plus Anti-Spyware for $49.99 includes 2 GB online storage for safe backups, but we believe it would be definitively worth considering the Plus suite:

CA Internet Security Suite Plus which offers much more complete protection including, for instance, a firewall, anti-phishing as well as ID theft prevention for an additional twenty dollars a year.

Comodo Internet Security
Rating

Comodo AntiVirus is now part of Comodo Internet Security suite, which is still free and includes the award winning firewall. Please find the full Bright Hub review of Comodo Internet Security here and note that there is also a Pro edition which extends the antivirus and antispyware with Wi-Fi Security and 24/7 Live Security Expert support for example. Complete coverage for $39 a year.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus
Rating

ESET NOD32 Antivirus protects you from malware including viruses, spyware and Trojans for example. The software, for instance, includes self defense mechanisms, system tools, gamer mode and watches SSL-encrypted communication channels like HTTPS in real-time. ESET NOD32 Antivirus starts at $39.99 for one year of protection, multi-user and multi-year licensing discounts are available.

ESET Smart Security 4, which is CSA certified for Windows 7 and includes a personal firewall and Anti-Spam has a base price of $59.99.

F-PROT Antivirur
Rating

F-PROT‘s Antivirus for Windows is fast and provides easy-to-use protection against malware. The home edition is extremely competitively priced: 29$ for 5 home computers for one year! Please find all about it in our full-depth review F-PROT Antivirus for Windows.

There is no F-PROT Premium edition however. Therefore it is recommended using it in collaboration with free AVG Link Scanner mentioned above under the title AVG Anti-Virus.

McAfee VirusScan Plus
Rating

McAfee's latest award-winning VirusScan Plus provides state-of-the art antivirus and anti-spyware for your computer. The software protects your web sites visits with McAfee SiteAdvisor, and the integrated firewall is helpful for keeping hackers at bay. The one year subscription of McAfee essential VirusScan Plus costs 39.99$, free support for 30 days included.

Please note that the 3-User McAfee Internet Security license costs only ten dollars more, and extends McAfee VirusScan Plus with identity protection, parental controls and data backup. If you want to have McAfee protection including an onlinebackup then you should look at McAfee Total Protection.

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Mike Aguilar Feb 6, 2012 5:51 AM

RE: Bright Hub's Top Antivirus Software Selection for Windows 7

Followed very closely by Eset NOD32.

Mike Aguilar Feb 6, 2012 5:50 AM

You made 2 errors: Buying an HP and using AVG. Ever since Carly Fiona took over HP a number of years ago their support services have been terrible. Most professional users despised Vista, also. McAfee isn't bad, but I would recommend Kaspersky or Eset.

C.R. Antoniak Feb 6, 2012 3:40 AM

Just a warning folks: I was just forced to reformat and upgrade to Windows-7 due to an AUTOMATIC AVG (Free) update gone very, VERY, wrong. Itcorrupted my MBR and because of that, I could not access my HP Recovery Partition despite trying the Recovery Disks, G-Parted, PartImage, P.I.N.G., UbuntuLiveCD, and even another full-version of Win Vista x64 Ultimate DVD! PROS: Very efffective and free. AVG has worked very well for me, overall, for the past 3 years. It has protected me well from EVERYTHING accept...itself! CONS: Those @*#&$^%! automatic program updates! They WILL get you every time! My 64-bit Vista Home has worked amazingly for the past 4 years however, the last time (which was the first time) my computer got TRASHED, it was due to an AVG upgrade from the 2010 version to the 2011 version. Fortunately, I was able to fix it and I still trusted AVG. This time I was not. I received one of the free "Vista to Win-7" upgrades from HP back when I bought my HP Pavilion Elite m9457c but the 64-bit Vista Home was working fine so, why fix it if it ain't broke, right? Well, it done got broke...bad broke and it was AVG that done broke it! :( Sorry, but though as unfavorable as it may be, I am going to switch to the McAfee Enterprise version the Army gives us... (despair) -C.R.

Free Windows Software For PC Feb 3, 2012 2:05 PM

If free antivirus solution is needed for Windows PC, Microsoft Security Essentials seems to be a good choice. I have been using it for quite some time now and it works quite well.

Mike Aguilar Nov 18, 2011 5:34 AM

Kaspersky's tech support replies within hours usually. PLUS, when you submit a questionable file to them, especially when you provide them with analysis of said file, they analyze the file and, if necessary, incorporate it into their virus definitions within 24 hours. Panda's Titanium and BitDefender don't rate very high.

Mike Aguilar Nov 18, 2011 5:32 AM

If you don't want to pay anything, AVG is almost acceptable. Online banking isn't your only worry. Do you manage your bank or credit accounts with your computer? What about family photos? I recommend either Kaspersky Internet Security or ESET Smart Security to all of my clients. $59.95 is cheap insurance.

Mike Aguilar Nov 18, 2011 5:28 AM

Aisha, as a computer security professional for the past 10 plus years, I recommend either ESET's NOD32 or Kaspersky Antivirus.

Mark, Aisha didn't ask about Panda's Titanium product, she asked about TrendMicro's product.

Mike Aguilar Nov 18, 2011 5:26 AM

ESET's NOD32 is very good. Almost as good as Kaspersky. Kaspersky does have a trial edition.

Oslove Nov 17, 2011 9:20 PM

Am I missing something here in your Alphabetical list above you have BullGuard yet NO comments. Yet you have comments on BitDefender & not listed in yout Alphabetical list? Or are the same company ??? I for one would not touch BitDefender reading through there forums it gets the same complaints year in year out, with extremely poor tech support. Certainly not with any patch's that will overcome 'Any of the many' problems one has. It is like reading the same book you read 12, 24 or 36 months ago. I suggest to that any purchaser of a product read the Forums of the product & see of frequent the same error occurs also how quickly it is resolved. Yes Kaspersky holds the crown in the AV field.

William0702 Nov 17, 2011 3:41 PM

This list is Alphabetized?? What alphabet are you using?

iphoness Sep 1, 2011 1:24 PM

No big loss. This is a really crappy AV anyway but IF they think this type of “out of stock” thing (what does that even mean, anyway) helps their sales, then their marketing department is probably worse than their development team.

iphoness Sep 1, 2011 1:23 PM

Mike Aguilar Jun 20, 2011 9:57 PM

KIS vs ESS

I've tried a number of AV and internet security applications over the years. I used to receive weekly updates from a number of international organizations pertaining to computer security and ESET and Kaspersky have always been the most highly rated pieces of software available. That being said, I belong to an online community that looks for malicious code embedded in video clips, mp3 files and other types of downloadable files. We usually find at least 3 or 4 a week. When we verify that the code is malicious, by reviewing the actual code , we will send them off to the various AV makers, such as AVG, ESET and Kaspersky Labs. While most of these companies add the code we find and submit to their virus databases, usually within a week, Kaspersky is the only one that replies to us, thanking us for our submittal and then gets back to us with what they have found out. And they will attach updates for their software to those emails. None of the other vendors EVER reply to us, only Kaspersky.
It's for this reason that I will only use KIS on any system I own or work on.

Mack Duck Apr 5, 2011 7:02 AM

Thanks for Help

Get to know about Windows virus scan software for security of your PC against all the malicious threats with the help of tech experts.

Bel Mar 28, 2011 9:52 PM

Kaspersky

The best antivirus for any compouter and any operating system is Kaspersky without any doubt,no antivirus havs ever been at the top of best 100 softwares than kaspersky.Kaspersky doesnt give any free edition because the company knows the value of its software.It`s the best ever.

Mark Muller Mar 23, 2011 12:46 AM

@Aisha

Aisha,
The last review of Titanium Antivirus by a Bright Hub colleague some time back was not so positive, but we might look into the current release in the near future.
Here you find two recent reviews of Titanium Internet Security and Titanium Maximum Security which both include the Titanium Antivirus engine:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/reviews/95637.aspx
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/105873.aspx

I hope this will help you choosing a good anti-virus product.
Cheers,
Mark

Aisha Mar 22, 2011 3:43 PM

Titanium trend micro

hello mark,
Im using windows 7 intelcore i3 (sony) and i've been using trend micro antivirus which i cant seems to find frm the list,does that means its not a good one?. it'l be expiring nxt month and am wondering which one i should go for, pls advise.

Nadeem Mar 19, 2011 10:25 AM

Outpost

Hi,

Mark, you should check out Agnitum Outpost Security Suite also. Best protection in my opinion .. I have been using Outpost for 3 years now and have never been infected once but then again I tune it extensively.

Regards

Oslove Mar 8, 2011 1:16 AM

BitDefender IS 2011

After 3 years of trouble lack of support, I have got rid of Bitdefender IS 2011. It slows the PC to a slow crawl, Stops responding, crash's the PC.
Their support is a joke from suggesting re-formatting to what ever you can think off. A real 3rd rate product, having said that IF I repeat IF you manage to get it working it's low in my ratings as a product.

Mark Muller Mar 2, 2011 1:35 PM

@nazia

Nazia, I recommend you check out vendor support or re-install AVG.

nazia Mar 1, 2011 1:13 PM

antivirus

my avg antivirus didnt get updated ever.whenever i updated it, it gets failed..could you help me please?

lorraine Feb 6, 2011 10:35 AM

i have tried a few antiviruses, like macafee & avg, & found that my computer kept freezing, i tried avira, but had to keep doing it manually as ive got a dongle & because it did'nt get on line straight away i used to have to do myself, ive now got kaspersky & it's great, am really pleased with it,

Mark Muller Jan 22, 2011 1:38 PM

@J. Joslin

I am using the (free) AVG software myself. I really belive it as very good choice, yet I recommend tweaking the advanced settings for optimal protection against pups for example.

J. Joslin Jan 22, 2011 4:21 AM

Thanks for the help!:)

My Kaspersky Antivirus Software had just expired. I'm not very knowledgable when it comes to antivirus softwares, so I rely on trustworthy advice from my older brother. Since I do no online banking and just standard computer use, he suggested I install the AVG software. Seems it has very good reviews & with the confidence my bro has in the product, I'm choosing the AVG antivirus. Thanks for the info & reassurance.

Eddie Guerrero Dec 22, 2010 4:16 PM

get full security suite, not just AV

You're mad if you get only and Antivirus product, but surf online, nowadays. You're getting attacked at the application layer, through browsers, etc and the attack doesn't always have to be a file that gets downloaded to the PC. That's the only time the Antiviruses do anything of note, when a file get downloaded or makes its way into your PC. It does nothing for XSS scripting, browser jacking, stealing cookies info, etc.

Get a full internet security suite, not just an AV product. I like Bitdefender, Panda and ESET Smart Security 4. Don't get ESET if you're not good with security, yourself, or you WILL lock yourself out of everything-and their tech support is not the fastest to return emails. Bitdefender has been very good with their heuristics and behavioral detections, so I'd recommend their total internet suite 2011.

Mark Muller Dec 12, 2010 7:56 PM

@ Vivekanand

I suggest you download and install the trial version of Kaspersky AV 2011, and if you are satiesfied keep to what works well for you.

Vivekanand Kumar Yadav Dec 12, 2010 4:08 AM

Kaspersky 2011

Currently, I'm using K7 antivirus which has got a license upto April 17-2011 but it seems that it is not working well and I'm trying to shift to Kapersky 2011. My system has got 2.2 Ghz Pentium Dual Core processor n 3 Gb DDR3 ram. Plz suggest me any good antivirus.

anonymous Nov 10, 2010 12:05 PM

i would fairly recommend Kaspersky internet security 2011, AVG internet security 2011 and Bitdefenders internet & total security 2011 (both are pretty good).

AVG won't slow down your computer and it has fairly good security. Kaspersky is very very good but might slow down low end pc's, Whereas Bitdefender's total security is the best and internet security is no.1 in toptenreviews but they use quite an amount of resources.

i've used all of these my pc is 3.2 GHz and personally i like AVG and kaspersky so i've installed both of there security suites on my pc !

Hope it helps u in choosing the best for your windows 7 too =)

Takecare

M.S. Smith May 17, 2010 2:23 AM

Re: CXP

You have not used Norton Internet Security lately, have you?

Norton cleaned up their act, beginning in 2009. They are now the premium Internet Security solution. Check any review - they routinely are recommending by major publications.

I know people like to rag on the top dogs, but Norton Internet Security is deserving of the praise it has received.

white Jan 16, 2010 10:44 AM

The general consensus from the net seems to be that among free products, MSE is very effective and efficient, Avast is pretty good on both, and AVG is neither very effective nor efficient.

In my experience, I've tested MSE with (real-time) A-Squared -- both can run without conflict and MSE alerts before A-S) and A-S basically never catches a legitimate threat so Security Essentials MUST be doing a pretty good job.

Personally, Bit Defender and Panda both slow my (fairly fast and well-equipped) system to a crawl.

FWIW A-Squared, Norton, Avira Paid, and Microsoft Security Essentials are the only AV products that I would use. When my A-S subscription runs out, I'm switching to MSE.

Mark Muller Dec 24, 2009 5:40 AM

@Praveen

Yes, Quick Heal Anti virus for Windows 7 is called Quick Heal Antivirus 2010 and our review is found here:

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/reviews/59335.aspx

Regards,
Mark Muller

Praveen Shevade Dec 24, 2009 2:55 AM

Quick Heal Anti virus

Is there a review available for Quick Heal Anti virus for Windows 7.

Mark Muller Dec 2, 2009 4:51 PM

@swatti

Yes, VirusBuster is now compatible according to the vendor. I will have a look at it in the days ahead.

Regards,
Mark

swatti- Dec 2, 2009 10:18 AM

VirusBuster Windows 7 x86-x64 Ready Version 6.2.43

windows 7 Ready..Really

VirusBuster Windows 7 x86-x64 Ready http://www.virusbuster.hu/en/download/products/home Version 6.2.43

Phil Nov 26, 2009 6:45 PM

AVG Killed my Win7 Home Premium

I tried AVG Free version 8 and got a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).
I tried AVG Free version 9 and all my PC did was freeze all the time. As soon as I got rid of AVG every thing worked again.

I finally went with Avash Home (Free version) even though its GUI is hard to understand

Mark Muller Nov 24, 2009 5:08 AM

@Dinesh

Top Antivirus Software for Windows 7's rated section features the TOP AV products which by definition are above average and thus have 4 or more stars.
Those pieces of AV which are on the candidate list but not featured have a rating of at most 3 or are not Win 7 compatible as stated on page 1 of the article: "If you can’t find a particular piece of software it could mean that it is not yet officially Windows 7 compatible, or that it did not qualify as very good or above."
If we gave a top antivirus software a rating of 3 ("average"), wouldn't that sound awkward?

Dinesh Nov 24, 2009 3:46 AM

4star for all

That's funny. No antivirus got less than 4?

Mark Muller Nov 5, 2009 4:21 PM

@cxp

As this is a top list a piece of Win7 anti-virus software must be better than average (>3 stars) to have a featured listing.

I did hear some negative things about Norton before, but personally I cannot confirm them with respect to the software mentioned in this article.

When Testing Norton AV 2010 it made a very good impression, hence 4 out of five stars.

Does your experience relate to Norton AV 2010 or to an earlier version?

Kind regards,
Mark

cxp Nov 5, 2009 9:13 AM

Everybody got 4+ stars

Giving four or five stars to every vendor, including the dreaded worse-than-virus Norton is bad for your credibility.

Mark Muller Nov 1, 2009 7:47 AM

@Cal: After reading your comment I have been testing Kaspersky AV 2010 again on Windows 7 and did not perceive any problems (non-productive test system).
So the latest build 9.0.0.736 seems to work fine, but if your problem persists I think you should contact vendor support.
BTW: Kaspersky AV 2010 must be installed using "Run as Administrator" by right-clicking the setup file (http://usa.kaspersky.com/store/how-to-install.php), the usual admin approach really won't work.

Kind regards,
Mark

Cal Oct 31, 2009 10:44 PM

Kaspersky definatly NOT compatible

Every post that I have found on the net states that Kaspersky 2010 is fully compatible with windows 7, however installing it on 11 different computers and laptops has revealed that it is not. Each system ran fine preinstall of Kaspersky, however once it was installed all systems would randomly crash giving a blue screen of death. Each error code varied from CPU issues, Memory isues, etc. Each machine recieved the same errors in different occurances, and i find it dificult that 11 different systems, that we new out of the box would have the exact same problem.

Mark Muller Oct 28, 2009 11:05 AM

@swatti: VirusBuster editions, as of today, lacks a vendor statement of Windows 7 compatiblity. I have just checked their English site again.

Kind regards,
Mark

swatti- Oct 20, 2009 5:58 AM

VirusBuster for Win7

VirusBuster Windows 7 Ready and good URL: http://www.virusbuster.hu/en .

Carpal Tunnel Sep 8, 2009 9:11 AM

G Data Internet Security 2010 W7 Beta

G'day. Just to say that I am running this beta which seems very good so far, I mean you must get better cover running two AV engines simultaneously! Have a shufti at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqQAiLzk57s

MaB69 Aug 28, 2009 9:02 AM

Another candidate full compatible with 7 (RTM) is Filseclab Twister Anti-TrojanVirus.
Stable and light

EJF Aug 11, 2009 6:11 PM

AVG 8.5

Replaced Norton Beta for Win 7 with AVG 8.5
AVG Runs EXCELLENT. Norton was really NOT quite ready for prime time yet... I think I will stay with AVG, does fast and superb job without slowing down everything. Norton Beta has too many issues and seems to have been slapt together too fast.

Bright Hub's Top Antivirus Software Selection for Windows 7

Introduction

AVG Anti-VirusRating

Avira AntiVirRating

BitDefender AntivirusRating

CA Anti-Virus Plus Anti-SpywareRating

Comodo Internet SecurityRating

ESET NOD32 AntivirusRating

F-PROT AntivirurRating

McAfee VirusScan PlusRating

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