MS Security Essentials - no measurable impact at all, the virus definitions updates seem to take place at least twice a day, low resource usage, and can be turned on / off easily when disconnected from the internet. I had Kaspersky before which was very good too, however since going Windows 7 with MS including backup and recovery utilities I am saving my annual christmas spend on anti-virus and imaging software by going down the Microsoft route.

Duke_of_boom


Got a new system with x1 installed. Win 7 64bit w/ 8Gb ram, and a 2.27Ghz processor.

Any suggestions for a superior antivirus to use on the computer?

ESET's NOD32.. I have tried many over the years and Eset is truly invisible.

No ill effects with AVG.  It can be disabled by opening the main screen, double click "Resident Shield", uncheck "Resident shield active" and save.  I use the the free version.

As a guy who has been very lucky to experience virtually ZERO crashes or freezes using SONAR , I have always followed the #1 basic rule of Pro Recording Studios ....

If you can afford it, your Studio DAW PC should be a dedicated system...

1) No internet access
2) No Antivirus programs
3) Minimal other software applications installed
4) No Windows O/S once you have a rock solid system

Any updates or patches can be downloaded and virus scanned on a separate work computer and transferred to the dedicated Audio DAW PC.

In other words, your DAW PC is 100% dedicated on recording and nothing else.

Use a laptop or other PC for all your web browsing, saving photos, WORD, EXCEL, WI-FI, webcams, graphic utilities, etc.....

This is the most sure way of avoiding glitchy conflicts in a DAW environment

I have always used Avira with no problems.

mikespitzer


Use a laptop or other PC for all your web browsing, saving photos, WORD, EXCEL, WI-FI, webcams, graphic utilities, etc.....

Mike,
You are absolutely right.
But many people cannot afford to act like "professionals"  and have to do with one computer.

Microsoft Security Essentials was rated 8 out of 10 in Maximum PC magazine. That was the highest rating for a free AV program. I've been using it for a while. It works and its relatively transparent unlike Avast and AVG that annoy you with constant reminders to update. 

I know money is tight right now but if you got the bucks why not buy a cheap desktop (I've seen some as low as $250) and hook that up to the internet; (get a USB flash drive to transport files if need be)
 
If you have a dedicated DAW, or any computer you need for your livlihood, why hook up to the internet at all.
 
Even if virus software is working for you at this moment, it doesn't mean it will protect you two weeks from now.
 
there are some smart dudes in cyberland that are trying to crack these safe guards as we speak.

tlw


I've found Kaspersky to be fine,

+1

I have had one infection a while back (I did something stupid) and then tried the trial version of various anti-virus applications and the only one that completely cleaned up the mess was Kaspersky so I bought it. (Norton, McAffee, AVG and a few others that I don't remember didn't manage to get rid of the infection).

UnderTow

MS Security Essentials works great for me with x1