How to protect yourself from malware (for Vista)

It was not written for Win XP. It is for all versions of Windows althoough obviously there is more in there that relates to WinXP and older since they have been around longer.

You should ask in the Software Forum. But reviews of AVs are typically out of date by the time they are published. This happens because many programs update 3 to 5 times per day and even just one update can drastically improve or reduce an AVs test score.

You are not comparing apples to apples. Avast is just an antivirus. Comodo Internet Security includes all of the below:

• firewall
• antivirus
• Host Intrusion Protection System (HIPS)
• BOClean Anti-Malware is not being included in CIS

 

Okay but it is still not an easy thing to answer for a few reasons.

• As mentioned previously any reviews of software are out of date before they are even published. AntiVirus program are changing very rapidly in an attempt to keep up with malware.
• And Comodo has not yet really had there antivirus program go thru some of the typical reviews like you would see here: http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests
• Comodo is going thru some big changes and expects to have significant changes and improvements in their AV around September of this year.
• It is a good program already but the Host Intrustion Protection System can drive some people crazy as stated here: http://www.brighthub.com/internet/security-privacy/reviews/8752.aspx?p=2

We don't really have the time ourselves to perform a full analysis and comparison of all programs which is why I was suggesting you go to the Software Forum to get some input. Every single program has issues and they all have false postive issues. Some just have more than others. Some are faster scanning and some are very slow. Sometime the slow ones can also be the ones with a higher detection rate. And you can just go back and forth on all of this.

However to try an give a more direct answer with a choice between only Avast and Comodo AV's. At this point in time I would suggest that you use Avast and then in the 3rd quarter of this year revisit where Comodo AV is at. If they do as good a job in improving their AV as they have done with there firewall ( which is excellent ) then Comodo AV will be very good in the future.

In reality any of the free programs should work quite well for you if you follow all the guidelines in the How to protect yourself thread and use common sense when surf. Many people are their own worst enemies.