So my computer is fucked. Solutions?

[leptoon]

I use Microsoft Security Essentials. Free and uses very little CPU (I'd assume lower than any others with no ads or notifications unless it detects something) and with that said I have not had a virus in YEARS.

Ultimately each AV application uses their own database of definitions... I'm sure almost all of them are updated to the best all the time so you can definitely compare them with each other.

yeah that's all very true. Security Essentials is a good piece of software, despite being developed by Microsoft.

For me, the choice between AV programs comes down to three simple rules. Weight, flow and reliability. NOD32 meets and exceeds all of those requirements for me.

[Benjamin]

Woooah hold the phone! Kaspersky is better than NOD32 and Avast is a good free AV? What are you smoking cause I want some of it! NOD32 is what my company has used for almost a year now and we would never consider using anything else.

avast is pretty damn good for a free antivirus, 96% detection rate, compared to NOD32's 95% detection rate, only difference being NOD32 detected 3% of the files while being downloaded and 2% of the malicious downloads got blocked.
Kasperksy only detected 89%, but many of these being 0-day & 0-hour exploits got detected, the 11% was only from PuP's, which it did warn about when installing.