AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › Home Theater Computers › Antivirus
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Antivirus

post #1 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:04pm
Thread Starter 
Well...
McAfee has REALLY pi$$ed me off today. I have previously turned off "Auto renewal" bacause of the same issue...
I have periodically checked to make sure that the auto renewal was off..I have not checked in a while, But, they charged my account for 96 bux on something that I can get for 45. When called on it, they conveniently dropped the price to the 45...they conned my wife in to renewing by phone to the 45 dollar price.
What really gets me, is, they can charge me immediately, but the refund takes 5-10 days!!!! I know...I am not new to this but, every time something like this happens with a charge, it really frustrates me.
So, what does everyone here use? I realize it's pretty subjective, and, in the past I have been a pretty big fan of McAffee. I have not had a virus on the original machine since it was new in 06.
I need 3 user... I have had their full security suite, but lately it has been eating up CPU resources... (when I fire up my PC I am maxxed at 100% for the first 10 minutes...)
Fire away gents!
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:08pm
Microsoft security essentials.

Free.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:27pm
superantispyware and malwarebytes free additions do pick up things not found by MSE and by each other. I run them both along side MSE and manually run them every couple weeks with MSE doing the automatic daily scan and site monitoring.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Microsoft security essentials.

Free.

+1
IMHO this is the least invasive AV, and is also free
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:33pm
Because neither of those two I mentioned run in the background they are very light-weight also. No two programs use the same database or hueristics. That said MSE is the lightest running anti-virus program there is and it's free.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:36pm
Thread Starter 
I have MSE as a "fill in" but never viewed it as an "all in one" solution.
Does it catch and quarantine virus'? I have Malwarebytes...have had Spybot in the past...
I run AVG free on builds for friends and family that don't want to pay, (just so they have something).
My concern is the fact that I have my Turbotax and quite a bit of personal stuff on my PC...so far, I have had good luck
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevin g. View Post

I have MSE as a "fill in" but never viewed it as an "all in one" solution.
Does it catch and quarantine virus'? I have Malwarebytes...have had Spybot in the past...
I run AVG free on builds for friends and family that don't want to pay, (just so they have something).
My concern is the fact that I have my Turbotax and quite a bit of personal stuff on my PC...so far, I have had good luck

You should have just as good luck with Security Essentials. I've run Security Essentials for several years and have never had a problem.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Consumer Reports Website View Post

New PCs almost invariably come with a free trial version of a subscription security suite from a company such as Symantec or McAfee. But you can probably skip paying for those programs and still be safe online, our latest tests confirm.

Our evaluations, performed in conjunction with International Consumer Research & Testing, an association of independent, not-for-profit organizations, turned up free programs that should adequately protect all but the most at-risk Internet users from malware--viruses, spyware, and other online threats.

I have gone the free route for about 10 years and have never had a problem (that has been reported to me). It is posible to have scripts running that don't show up in any of the anti-virus programs.. Don't fool yourself on that.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 49
3/9/12 at 1:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Microsoft security essentials.

Free.

+1 more. I stopped buying anti-virus software after trying MSE, and I've tried quite a few over the years. I now use it on all my PCs. I've had issues with other AV programs being too invasive with WMC, resulting in a lot of blocked applications. MSE is totally non-invasive.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 49
3/9/12 at 2:05pm
I have had great luck with Norton Internet Security. Works great, doesn't bog down or interfere with anything, and is almost always the top rated for effectiveness.

I buy the 3-license packs whenever they are on sale, usually for $19-29. It doesn't even matter which year you buy (or how long you keep them) because you can always upgrade to the latest version online for free. I've installed 2-year-old ones and promptly updated to the latest and greatest. They add to the definitions every hour or less 24/7.

McAfee is horrible, in my experience.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 49
3/9/12 at 2:57pm
McAfee is horrible, in my experience

Agree 100%
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 49
3/9/12 at 3:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

I have had great luck with Norton Internet Security. Works great, doesn't bog down or interfere with anything, and is almost always the top rated for effectiveness.

I buy the 3-license packs whenever they are on sale, usually for $19-29. It doesn't even matter which year you buy (or how long you keep them) because you can always upgrade to the latest version online for free. I've installed 2-year-old ones and promptly updated to the latest and greatest. They add to the definitions every hour or less 24/7.

McAfee is horrible, in my experience.

-1 for Symantec. I've seen it be a frequent flyer for problems. Though -2 for McAfee.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 49
3/9/12 at 4:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Microsoft security essentials.

Free.

Another +1 here.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 49
3/9/12 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by terryj47 View Post

Another +1 here.

Same here it's all I need.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 49
3/9/12 at 7:49pm
Common Sense. Oh yeah, and MSE as a backup. Oh one more thing those 'Free System Scan' thingies usually don't end up being free....
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 49
3/9/12 at 8:23pm
There is a good list over at majorgeeks.com, along with other software programs to help protect your system. I would look over there and trust them, over places from random web searches, or download.com.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 49
3/10/12 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Microsoft security essentials.

Free.

This is the way to go. I've got the Enterprise version running on 6000 workstations. Its solid.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 49
3/10/12 at 9:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Microsoft security essentials.

Free.

yet another +1 for MSE or run nothing if it is a HTPC only, yes expecting critical posts in response... but personal experience says it is fine
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 49
3/10/12 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by winterescape View Post

yet another +1 for MSE or run nothing if it is a HTPC only, yes expecting critical posts in response... but personal experience says it is fine

If your PC connects to the internet for any reason whatsoever you should be using an anti-virus program. Personal experience tells me that you've just been lucky.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 49
3/10/12 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by winterescape View Post

yet another +1 for MSE or run nothing if it is a HTPC only, yes expecting critical posts in response... but personal experience says it is fine

I just realized I don't run AV either on my HTPC because any downloads I get for it are from my main desktop which runs MSE. The only apps on my HTPC are XBMC, EventGhost and TightVNC.
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 49
3/10/12 at 11:25am
Here is an interesting recent article.
Security Professionals Don't Use Antivirus

I would not use Windows XP without an antivirus.

But Windows 7 as long as you have a router with a good firewall is pretty darn safe.
That said, I still use security essentials just in case. But I have never had so much as a warning from it.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 49
3/10/12 at 11:45am
I did have a run-in with MSE. On my big machine DVD ISO files would take forever to load and play from the network drives so I did have to add them to the exclude list in MSE. Other than that MSE is pretty transparent.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 49
3/10/12 at 1:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by olyteddy View Post

Common Sense. Oh yeah, and MSE as a backup. Oh one more thing those 'Free System Scan' thingies usually don't end up being free....

+1. Especially on the "Control that urge to click every popup". Last but not least, but if you're visiting "porn" sites,,,,stop.

Anyway, I use MSE and Malwarebytes for anti-virus, Ccleaner to keep the registry and cache clean, and set IE to remove cookies on exit.
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 49
3/10/12 at 1:42pm
I've been using Grisoft's AVG Free Edition since '98, and it's been great. I've used it on multiple computers at a time and never had a problem. I agree that MSE would be fine too, but I'm just kind of used to using AVG.
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 49
3/10/12 at 1:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_video View Post

If your PC connects to the internet for any reason whatsoever you should be using an anti-virus program. Personal experience tells me that you've just been lucky.

Well, even though I've been running antivirus on my computers for years, I've never had one virus notification - because I don't open attachments from unknown sources, visit dubious websites, etc. I see no need to run A/V on my HTPCs, because I only use them to watch TV, play movies, etc - basically they stay inside MCE.

Now, I would never recommend against running it on "regular" computers, because you never know what jackass is going to post some malware on forums and other public sites.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 49
3/10/12 at 2:37pm
NOD32 seems to be one of the most popular for techies; with all features enabled. It's relatively light on resources. I enabled all it's features except for WWW protocol filtering since I let my hardware firewall handles that. Microsoft Security Essentials seems to be a the best free product.

I used to use SAV for years; but after getting a couple of nasty viruses under it's watch over the course of several years; I finally switched.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 49
3/10/12 at 3:39pm
I've always used MSE with no problems whatsoever.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 49
3/10/12 at 4:18pm
use mse on pc's but not on htpc as it doesnt go to the internet
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 49
3/10/12 at 4:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Microsoft security essentials.

Free.

I received an email from "Fed Ex" the other day with an Acrobat Reader attachment that ended in .exe.
Just for grins & giggles I saved the attachment in Yahoo Mail & Norton scanned it proclaiming it clean.
After it downloaded to my desktop Security Essentials immediately detected it was malware & removed it.

I'm sure Norton detects malware that Security Essentials misses, but my point is that none of these AV
programs paid or free catches everything so why pay for one.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boke01 View Post

I would not use Windows XP without an antivirus.

But Windows 7 as long as you have a router with a good firewall is pretty darn safe.
That said, I still use security essentials just in case. But I have never had so much as a warning from it.

I'm not trying to pick on you, just trying to debunk the myth that Vista/Win7 are much more secure than WinXP. Malware authors have found numerous ways to get around UAC. One of the most common is to install code in the AppData folder which isn't protected by UAC.
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 49
3/10/12 at 4:58pm
If you really want to be the "safest" use a VM in isolation mode or a sandbox program, such as Sandboxie.

....and Win7 is vulnerable too - there are even x64 rootkits now from what I've read. UAC can be bypassed as well.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Home Theater Computers

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › Home Theater Computers › Antivirus