Antivirus Ease of Use Comparison

In an ideal world, the best antivirus software would be easily installable, and you'd be able to set it and forget it so that your computer is constantly protected but you don't feel the existence of the software.  During our extensive antivirus comparison we downloaded and tested all of the top antivirus solutions so that we could determine which ones truly run smoothly.  In comparison of each company's ease of use we've also considered how easy it was to find what we were looking for on each company's website and to access customer service or find other answers we were looking for.  We've noted the strongest and weakest aspects of each antivirus solution and provided our findings in the table below.

  Positives Negatives View Learn More
Eset -nod
  • Intuitive control panel
  • Installation wizard told us how long we could expect the process to take
  • Roundabout help desk was frustrating

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Norton
  • Relatively fast download time with updates so users know how much time remains
  • Ability to run highly specialized scans, such as Facebook scans as well as general computer scans
  • Once installed, the software must also be activated, something which isn't immediately obvious
  • Scans do not have a timer or progress bar, so users can't tell how much longer remains

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Avg
  • Straightforward installation process
  • When activated, Linkscanner changes the look of your search engine so you know you're protected at all times
  • Proper installation requires a system restart
  • Difficult to purchase more than 1-2 year plans for more than 1-2 computers

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Kaspersky
  • Ability to submit specific files for inspection
  • Control panel is easy to navigate
  • Very lengthy installation process
  • Requires you to uninstall any other antivirus software on your computer
  • Upon installation users aren't automatically sent to the control panel

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webroot
  • Fastest download and scan time
  • Ability to submit specific files to Webroot for inspection or checking
  • Website is extremely difficult to navigate
  • Comparison feature on the site didn't work well
  • Site doesn't work well in Chrome

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