Tonight I have been working on cleaning a new variation of the Internet Security 2010 infection that somehow got past Kaspersky...  The first I have seen to do that.  ...Which only goes to support my answer to your question.

There are none that fit all of your requirements.  ...And if there were, there is no guarantee that they would still be next year.  ...Or next month.  However, here are my insights and suggestions.


The top three performers that I recommend (that aren't resource hogs) are Avira, Eset, and Kaspersky.

AVG and McAfee are the worst. Norton used to be just as bad.  NIS 2009 was definitely an improvement, but not enough for me to recommend.  I'm watching to see if 2010 is any better.

Avast and Microsoft Essentials  -- along with all others not mentioned here -- are just "average".   (...And "average" will serve you very well, if you keep your system maintained, and avoid sources of infections...)

I use Avira Premium Security Suite on my critical systems. It has a slightly higher rate of false positives, but I'd rather deal with a few false positives than get an infection.

Other advice...

1.) Realize that no AV or security program will block everything all the time.  They all will miss something, sometimes.

2.) Understand that there is a difference between "Anti-Virus" and "Anti-Malware" programs.  This could take a page of explanation by itself.  So' I'll leave it at that.

3.)  Toss all official "lab" evaluations of AV performance because they are all conducted on identical systems under pristine conditions.  This is useless for a "real-world" product that must perform consistently within a huge range of hardware and software configurations, and an equal range of adequate maintenance.

4.)  Toss all all individuals reporting that their favorite security programs "have never failed them".  ...Never failed them against what?  If they are smart, and stay away from potential infection sources, their security software will never be tested very well, so "average" will work fine for them.  Also, these kind of people tend to be ones who keep their systems well maintained -- and that's half the battle against infections by itself.

5.)  Toss all reports recommending AV software on the basis of popularity or the number of viruses they detect.  1.)  Popularity is almost entirely based on a companies marketing effectiveness, and has little to do with it's performance.  2.)  Detection rate is NOT the most important characteristic of an AV.  The most important characteristics are how well it can defend against a powerful attack, and how well it detects and blocks the really "nasty" viruses (as opposed to the insignificant annoyances.)

If you want to find the best AV, ask people who use their PC's the same way that you do, and for the same things.  Make sure you're getting advice from people who *know* positively that their computer has survived a serious security attack because their AV functioned properly.

I can vouch first hand for the setup which I've been recommending for a little while now.  I used to use AVG all of the time.  However, it has definitely gone downhill, so I started looking for something else.  I decided on Avira Antivir.  But that's only a small portion of the whole picture.  You can have the best antivirus app and/or best antimalware app(s) in the world, and still have problems.  You need something to keep any of that from getting downloaded, and then installed to start with.  So, here's what I think is the best "real world" scenerio for most people:

Think of it this way.  I'm going to start from the jack from the wall coming into your house..

1. You've got your modem first - no protection there..
2. Next is your router, this is your first line of defense, and in my opinion, your most important.  You need to have a hardware firewall, which is a router, well not exactly, but the idea works for keeping it simple.
3. On your router, make sure the firewall settings are set to "stealth" or basically tell the router to drop incoming packets rather than try to deny them.  That makes it look like you don't exist to at least some attackers.
4. Also on your router, another good idea is to be sure you are using a secure DNS source.  For instance, many people do well to use OpenDNS.org's DNS (Domain Name Server) addresses.  They are free, they are VERY fast, and they offer additional protection that the standard ISP does not.  Also to better customize that, you can actually create your own user account at OpenDNS.org, and customize things like parental controls
5. Next is a software firewall.  Since SP2, the firewall in Windows XP has been much better than prior to that.  Also, since then, it seems the Windows firewalls have been not too bad.  However, there is better.  I highly recommend everyone I speak with to use Comodo Internet Security or Tall Emu Online Armor.  Comodo is a little stronger, but Online Armor is easier to work with, in my opinion.  Online Armor isn't available - yet - for 64 bit systems.  Both of these applications offer program start protection as well as firewall protection, which I think is a big part of why they are so powerful at preventing infections.  If it can't run, it can't infect you.
6. Next is the AV software.  My personal preference, currently, is Avira Antivir.  I've read good things abotu Nod32, but I can use the free version of Avira for well, free.    Nod32 does not have a free version.  If I were going to spend money on AV software, I might go with Nod32, but I might still stick with Avira Premium.
7. Antimalware?  Antispwyare/Antiadware?  Well, that area is still so broad b/c so much stuff is out there.  I persoanlly prefer to have these installed at the least: Malwarebytes Antimalware, SuperAntispyware, Windows Defender, SpywareBlaster.
8. Then on top of all of that, I like using these 3 general "clean up" tools as well: Advanced System Care, Glary Utilities, and CCleaner.  Also, if you are using Windows XP, then I'd suggest taking a look at RescrubXP which can be downlaoded from MajorGeeks.com though it's no longer supported.  I've seen it fix some pretty major issues before, including killing off malware just b/c of the way it works.

Well, there are some other things, like making sure your browser is secure and up to date.  For instance, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are generally more secure than MS Internet Explorer or Apple Safari.  The latest version of the Opera browser sounds good as well, but I've not taken any time to check into it really.

There are others things you can do as well, such as using an extra pop-up/ad blocker in Firefox or whichever one you choose.  I like Adblock Plus for Firefox, it seems to work really well without you really knowing it's working, if you know what I mean.

Well, that's more than enough to digest for now, I'd imagine.  Let us know if you have any more questions along the lines of this list, or anything else in general.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

CArceneau,

You've asked 3 different questions in the same forum, and haven't replied to any of them.  We need feedback.  If you log back in anytime in the future, you need to post back to the threads you started with your questions, letting us know whether or not your questions have been answered.

http://www.tek-tips.com/userinfo.cfm?member=CArceneau

For now, with the questions you've posted, with no response since, I'm starting to get a little suspicious, myself, and probably should have been from the start, but maybe I'm wrong in my suspicions.  

Post back, let us know, so at least we know these are legitimate questions.  Frankly the types of questions you're asking now have me a little uneasy.. should have thought about it from the start..

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

I did not post the questions, but I appreciate the answers.