TJP

Thanks SweX. I was curious if the memory leak issue was caused by Win 8.1 or by installing version 8 'over' version 7 (instead of uninstalling version 7, reboot the PC and install version 8). Perhaps some settings carried across from version 7 are causing trouble...

Are you using version 8 and if so, have you observed the same RAM usage? I'm curious to see if others on the forum are experiencing the same issue. Further, I am slightly reluctant to change from version 7 simply because it is performing at a flawless level; if it helps ESET to solve the issue, I'll reinstall version 8. Anyone know why the international, UK and AU download sites still have version 7 as the most current version of ESS?

I agree that 230 MB of RAM usage is hardly earth shattering Version 7 consistently hovers around the 95 MB mark no matter what I'm doing or how long the PC is running, where as version 8 starts off at 100 MB, quickly climbs to 150-160 MB and then goes even higher despite nothing being open or running apart from the MS services that are a part of a vanilla Win 8.1 x64 install, I think it's fair to suggest something isn't quite right with version 8 at this point in time. I will endevor to upload a memory dump when I reinstall version 8, presuming the issue isn't sorted between now and then

I can confirm this issue too. I've seen ekern.exe using as much as 230MB of RAM with version 8 after 4 hours with nothing running other than the default Win 8.1 processes and Firefox open. I reverted back to version 7 (ironic that V7 is the only version of ESS available in my region) and the RAM usage for ekern.exe fluctuates between 90-98MB with Firefox running (3 open tabs) and Steam downloading.

Interesting - 5 samples - ... quite less, aren't they? So if we count: One time visiting a website One time downloading a software On time installing a software Running one program And copying one time (some) data Or how do they mean these 5 "samples"? I installed the very latest version (2015) of the Russian internet security on my father's PC (i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, Win 8.1 x64) two weeks ago and I can tell you that it froze the PC on the following dot points: 2 - froze Firefox and the entire OS when downloading an ini file for ccleaner; 3 - froze the installation of Libre Office to scan the files (I presume); 4 - froze Firefox when adding it to the 'trusted programs' list. The same program takes an age to load when Win 8.1 first boots and you can't access the UI while the green loading bar moves. On my PC with similar specs it takes ESS less than a third of the time of the Russian AV to load at start-up. If this constitutes a perfect score in performance, there is an Opera House in Sydney I'd like sell to you.

Thanks SweX and rugk! The reason why I call into question these results are they simply do not gel with my own long term experience; anyone skim reading these tests (and who outside an enthusiast is going to read every word of each test result?) would believe ESS is a terrible resource hog which it simply isn't. Other vendors score a perfect 6.0 which doesn't come close to what I've seen in my own real world usage. I don't name Kaspersky outright because I want to avoid comments that could be viewed as libelous and/or slanderous. I used their products for 5 years (and Nod32 prior to that) and had mostly trouble free years until early this year. I'm still very happy they forced me to change as I couldn't be happier with ESS.

Full scoreboard of results: hxxp://www.av-test.org/en/?avtest[type]=3&avtest[platforms]=5-4-1&avtest[series]=10-7:1396310400.2,5-4-1:1406851200.2 I find most AV tests interesting to view however I don't place a lot of stock in the results. This is because of different testing methodologies that are used as well as tests being paid for by a sole AV vendor (which may or may not skew test results). That said, I do find the latest AV-Test for July and August very curious. AV-Test latest report reveals ESS earnt 5.5/6.0 for both detection (99% for July & 100% for August) and useability and just 3.5/6.0 for performance, dropping the overall result of ESS down the list. I'm sorry to rebuke their findings as I'm no expert it AV testing but I'm at a loss to explain the ESS performance rating. I know what I'm about to post is purely anecdotal - I've found ESS is the lightest of any AV I've had on my PC which is why I bought a licence at the beginning of 2014 after many years using a well known Russian AV solution. The aformentioned Russian AV scores a perfect 6.0/6.0 with zero performance loss according to AV-Test and yet it's installed on my father's PC and kills system performance stone dead and is well known on various security forums for being a drag on system resources. Can anyone explain why ESS continues to score so poorly in the performance in this test? Cheers.

Congrats to Peter and the fine people at Eset for the award!

Well said; try these AV's for yourself. AV testing is great for marketing departments and fanboy wars on security forums.

RAM usage used to be a big deal back in the day on forums such as Wilders (I'm talking Nod32 version 2.7). The ESS beta and ESS version 7 use around 100MB of RAM which is nothing in a modern system that will likely have 4GB of RAM or more (mine has 8GB). I find web browers (Firefox, Chrome, Opera etc) use far more RAM than ESS. The other aspect to remember is ESS uses next to none CPU when scans aren't being run & it's something I really appreciate. Quite a few other AV vendors could learn from Eset's approach.

It is strange that the VSD number on the virusradar website differs from what I see on the phone 4890. Any reason for this?

I'll happily take product B in the example above. It is an often overlooked aspect to AV tests.

I'm very happy to read Eset are focused on better/new protection features with ESS v8 and not adding superfluous bells and whistles. Installed the beta over the top of version 7 without an issue; Windows 8.1 decided to activate Windows Defender for a tiny period which may just be a Windows 'thing' as no AV is installed whilst ESS v7 is removed and v8 is installed.

I have the same update issue when I first sign in; I'd estimate the error occurs 50% of the time with Windows 8.1 Pro (x64) and ESS 7.0.317.4 To be honest, I just presumed it was a Windows 8.1 issue as ESS updates fine at start-up with Windows 7 installed.

Hmm, interesting. I use FileHippo (FH) along with Major Geeks and I've never needed or felt the urge to use the FH's 'download manager' or 'update checker'. Seems to me like a great way to sully their reputation for a few extra dollars.

As reassuring as the screenshot is, every anti-virus will miss a virus at some point in time.

I'm a Majorgeeks and Filehippo user & I'm yet to have a single issue on either website. My ISP offers a DL mirror on the MajorGeeks website

I've always DL'd CCleaner from Major Geeks and have never seen a single file packed with anything, let alone 5 number signs

I download CCleaner from Major Geeks who usually have the builds up pretty quickly and will always point their vistors to the slim or mobile version which contains nothing but the CCleaner.exe files (one 32 and one 64 bit). Add to this CCEnhancer and you have a fantastic application that'll clean up just about every known temp file on your PC.

I'd love to see what settings were used for the test as KIS 2014 was terrible on my system - in fact I was so frustrated with Kaspersky I returned to Eset after 5+ years of straight KIS use. Eset is so light on system resources, I barely notice it I the only thing I use of Kaspersky's is Eugene's travel blog As for the various tests and test results; they are great for marketing/fanboy wars but I see little practical value in them. After being a member of Wilder's since Nod32 version 2.5, I've watched the 'must have product' often become tomorrows also-ran because of a few test scores. I rely on my online habits, boring as they are, to keep me safe. ESS catches what I miss or cannot see (e.g. a dodgy e-mail attachment).

Having moved from another vendor back to Eset after 5 years, I agree with Jack 100% too. I cannot believe the difference in system speed as it's increased markedly and overall lightness of ESS. Kudos and thanks to the team at Eset

I see a new version - 7.0.302.26 - popping up on websites such as Filehippo and Major Geeks. I thought it was strange my version number hadn't changed to .26 and reading the Eset FB page, I found this answer:

Let the 20MB download occur by pressing on the product update button and everything is running as smooth as silk.

Thank you for supplying me with some details SweX. I'm presuming it is ThreatSense/LiveGrid or is this something else?

Hello SweX, Where can I read about the 'cloud' updates? It's the first I've heard of ESS having such a feature. Cheers.