Which antivirus shall I use on my new gaming laptop?

cns00 · Apr 20, 2025

I had an Alienware laptop. Long ago I was using Kaspersky Internet Security on it and then one day I also installed Malwarebytes on the laptop. Things were ok for some time and then I suddenly started getting memory management BSOD. I got 6 BSOD in a few months. I found out in the end that Kaspersky Internet Security was clashing with Malwarebytes and it caused the BSOD. I formatted the nvme ssd and clean installed Windows and I used Bitdefender Internet Security on the Alienware laptop.

I used Bitdefender Internet Security for 5 years. It's good but the problem is that it's EXTREMELY strict and it's very aggressive with false positives and I am getting virus alerts on clean stuff like BitComet, Cheat Engine, some Fling trainers and a few other programs. It started becoming annoying in the end and I had to make an exclusion list which was long.

Soon I will buy a new gaming laptop which has Windows 11. I am unsure if I want to use Bitdefender Internet Security on it and I am considering using ESET Home Security Essential. https://www.eset.com/me/home/protection-plans/ compares the plans. Essential is enough for me and I don't need the features in the higher plans.

I want to ask is ESET Home Security as good as Bitdefender Internet Security and it can also protect me without being aggressive with false positives?

Please don't reply and tell me to use Windows Defender. I don't like it.

cereberus · Apr 20, 2025

What is not to like about Defender. It is non intrusive, updates quitely in the background and just sits there doing its job?

cns00 · Apr 20, 2025

cereberus said:
What is not to like about Defender. It is non intrusive, updates quitely in the background and just sits there doing its job?

Thanks for your reply but I am not asking for opinions about Defender.

Flashorn · Apr 20, 2025

Yes ESET is a top tier AV. Just don't have MBAM along side it as you might have the same problem as before.

You will most likely find that having a 3rd party AV installed, Defender will not activate as it will defer to the 3rd party AV
as is the case with MBAM on mine. But, I have to say that Defender is just as good on it's own as any other AV.
You could just manually activate Defender to make sure that you have a second opinion once in a while.

I also use cloud AV such as F-Secure Online scanner.

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SlicEnDicE · Apr 20, 2025

Kaspersky, ESET, Bitdefender, Malwarebytes and Windows Defender are all good, with different interfaces and features. I've used them all. Just make sure you ONLY use 1 at a time for online scanning or you'll end up in same situation as before.

For offline scanning it's good to have a second opinion from multiple AV-vendors.

Personally I would stick with Defender as it's very good and has features that can be enabled that the others don't have. Of course it also lacks some features that others do have. But this is the case no matter which AV you choose. Another reason for my pick is that Defender is free.

Anyways, you don't have to like an AV, as long as it does it job the way you want it to. If we just go by personal feelings when picking AVs, we would all be infected. Choose functionality over beauty.

EDIT: By Windows Defender I mean the whole Windows Security suite, which is built into Windows. It's not just an AV but also contains everything related to security in one place. You can make it very strict or loosen the rope a bit, depending on your preference.

Stigg · Apr 20, 2025

Nothing

hdmi · Apr 20, 2025

While it is true that ESET is ranked very close to the top of the list as far as performance and the detection rate are concerned, it is still nevertheless a step behind Kaspersky when it comes to false positives (whereas MBAM is indeed terribad in that regard, lol..). Also, ESET detection rate is not THAT much better than the one that you do not wish to talk about. I know that a lot of people choose to believe that, each time when I say that 3rd party AV (AV here being just an "umbrella term" that covers multiple other threats besides virus..) are a money grab, it is just "a typical-old knee-jerk reaction" from me. The irony is in the fact that, almost always, they are the ones who persistently refuse to discuss this particular part of the subject. It's one of those reasons why usually, I come here looking for entertainment and not much else.

Latest Tests

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cereberus · Apr 20, 2025

cns00 said:
Thanks for your reply but I am not asking for opinions about Defender.

I am asking why you have a bad opinion about the most used tool?

I have used it for a decade and never once had an infection.

glasskuter · Apr 20, 2025

Whichever AV you use is totally subjective. Lots of threads here about ths issue. Here's one with a lot of opinions.

Best Light Weight AV?

I switched over to Windows 11 a few months back and Bitdefender is causing high slowdown. Explorer becomes almost unusable in some cases. Tried playing about with the settings but it doesn't seem to make much difference. What are the best options available for a low resource AV? Currently...

www.elevenforum.com

Helmut · Apr 20, 2025

Most of what you are on about is configuring your settings in any AV application.

e.g. why not whitelist/exclude " BitComet, Cheat Engine, some Fling trainers and a few other programs."

The reason those are flagged up is their nature of intrusive virus like behaviours, so not exactly clean.

90% of security is down to the User, whether the rest is 9.97% or 9.98% is neither here nor there.

On all my previous AV and Anti Malware Apps they all needed configurations and white lists/exclusions.

cns00 · Apr 21, 2025

cereberus said:
I am asking why you have a bad opinion about the most used tool?

I have used it for a decade and never once had an infection.

We each have our preferences. You like it. I don't.

kelper · Apr 21, 2025

Flashorn said:
But, I have to say that Defender is just as good on it's own as any other AV.

This is just your opinion of course. MS defender never comes top in lab tests. It is good but not best. Many of Microsofts security settings can be applied whether or not you use Defender ( or whatever it is called this week). Bitdefender certainly score higher in tests from the major labs.

SlicEnDicE · Apr 21, 2025

kelper said:
This is just your opinion of course. MS defender never comes top in lab tests. It is good but not best. Many of Microsofts security settings can be applied whether or not you use Defender ( or whatever it is called this week). Bitdefender certainly score higher in tests from the major labs.

It's right there up with one of the best solutions. If you fire over 10000 malware variants against it and it let's through just a handful and gives about a handful of false positives, I'd say that's pretty freaking impressive. These tests vary from month to month. Sometimes some of the latest malware hasn't caught the attention of every single AV provider, or some of them just haven't reached the latest definition files just yet.

Being number one on a list of detection rates, does not mean the software or the whole solution itself is the best...

But what I can say is, that Windows Defender and especially the whole Windows Security suite is very impressive and good. Sometimes even a bit too good for my taste. And best of all, it's free for Windows users.

SlicEnDicE · Apr 21, 2025

What comes to white listing files and folders...that I have had to do for every AV I've ever used. Being it for performance reasons or false positives...they're all the same.

TraderGary · Apr 21, 2025

kelper said:
This is just your opinion of course. MS defender never comes top in lab tests. It is good but not best. Many of Microsofts security settings can be applied whether or not you use Defender ( or whatever it is called this week). Bitdefender certainly score higher in tests from the major labs.

Have you ever wondered how these "major labs" make their money?

SlicEnDicE · Apr 21, 2025

Speaking of Bitdefender. I used to love it, until one update screwed up my whole computer. It did something no AV should ever do. It filled my desktop with garbage. First I thought I was infected, until I found out it was Bitdefender itself. Clean installed, canceled my sub and never looked back.

Steve C · Apr 22, 2025

cns00 said:
Thanks for your reply but I am not asking for opinions about Defender.

Best of luck if you want to waste your money but Defender augmented by offline scans using Malwarebytes (free) is all you need.

TairikuOkami · Apr 22, 2025

cns00 said:
I used Bitdefender Internet Security for 5 years. It's good but the problem is that it's EXTREMELY strict and it's very aggressive with false positives and I am getting virus alerts on clean stuff like BitComet, Cheat Engine, some Fling trainers and a few other programs. It started becoming annoying in the end and I had to make an exclusion list which was long.

360 TSE (ad supported) or Adaware, it uses Bitdefender signatures, but not it's strict behavior protection.

kelper · Apr 22, 2025

Why can't y'all respect the OP's wish not to promote Defender?

SlicEnDicE · Apr 22, 2025

Because we have had issues with ESET and Bitdefender and have had to pay real money for those problems, when Windows Defender runs silently in the background for free and does its job fine?

Which antivirus shall I use on my new gaming laptop?

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