Do you use : No Antivirus , FREE Antivirus , or PAID Antivirus and why?

[Dark Lord of Tech]

MSE constantly fails certification , won't touch it.

 

[zeyuanfu]

How? I didn't know there was certification for antiviruses...

 

[David54915]

Do you use : No Antivirus , FREE Antivirus , or PAID Antivirus and why.

Please leave comments on why you do or don't use an Antivirus.

Thanks for your time,
Blackbird.

 

[David54915]

I've been using Avast for years , and it's found trojans and such, I also use malwearbytes and it works very well for me. and it's free

 

[Huang Ray]

That is cheap for 9 dollars for two years xD

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Malwarebytes is always the best to pair with any Internet Security Suite.

 

[War_Mechine]

no i use the windows one cuz the antivirus crashes your system and slows it down so it's better not to use it.

 

[Huang Ray]

Will I be fine with just only Malwarebytes free verson?

or I should upgrade or download other anti-virus?

 

[War_Mechine]

Will I be fine with just only Malwarebytes free verson?

or I should upgrade or download other anti-virus?

in my openion if you have windows 7 or 8 then don't use any antivirus it already has it build in you don't need it well i never needed it but if using XP then you will need the upgrade or download another one.

 

[Skylyne]

I personally use Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender as:
1, It's free (I don't feel like paying 50$ for something that slows down my PC)
2, It uses only a bit of RAM and CPU usage compared to other AVs (cough cough Bitdefender)
3, Come on, they were developed by Microsoft, who also developed Windows. They can only be great

I test AV software on older hardware, and Bitdefender does NOT use a lot of resources. Even with 24/7 file sharing, and streaming 1080p videos on a slow connection, with a low-end GPU, I've not notice it get in the way of anything performance-wise. I also don't game, so that could be one thing that people might notice a problem with; however, I've not had any AV wares cause a significant problem with gaming performance in the past (and I've used some heavy software too).

As far as Windows Defender... Microsoft does very little to protect your computer, so it's a trade off. I would rather run with zero-protection than with WD in the background. I just don't trust Microsoft, as their reputation is ruined; and they do not seem to value security in any way. In fact, there was a European Parliament hearing where Christian Engström (member of Paliament for Sweden until July, 2014) and Nils Torvalds (father of Linus Torvalds, and a member of Parliament for Finland) were asking questions to a representative of Microsoft. When asked if the NSA had talked to Microsoft about installing a back door into Windows, the rep attempted to make it a point to dispel any 'myths' that might have been out there about Microsoft having back doors in their software. The way the ordeal occurred, it seemed like the rep's job was to end all speculation by insisting Microsoft was not doing deals with the NSA, or that there were any "back doors." While I already am sceptical of them, the way it was handled seemed like a guilty child trying to hide something. Obviously, this isn't "proof" of anything; however, it is showing that the company has been under heavy scrutiny by many; and they haven't earned too much trust. When a company has many speculated bugs by software engineers (based on previously found bugs), operates with closed-source software, and has a poor reputation with the programming/hacking industry in general... it's probably not very wise to trust your computer security with Microsoft.

Also, we have posted the same link, numerous times in this thread, to an independent research group: AV-Comparatives. If you looked at some of their charts, they compare WSE to current AV wares on the market. According to their testing, MSE catches about 85% of infections in real-world testing. MSE also scores a 7.3/20 on performance impact (higher scores mean more resource demanding), whereas Bitdefender and Kaspersky both scored a tiny 1.2/20, and Avast even came in at 6.2/20. Still think MSE takes up more resources than Bitdefender? This is from independent testing done by a non-profit group, and the results are documented. Do you have any conflicting evidence? If so, please share it.

Huang Ray- I've said it countless times... if you're only using AV software as protection, and you take no other security measures, there is nothing that will be "enough" for your protection. It is "enough" for a substantial AV software? Yes, and I've provided a very long post explaining why on the previous page.

 

[Alpha3031]

Bitdefender actually kinda slowed my laptop down by 5-10%...
I was using a 2007-2010 laptop with only 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, though

Time to get Ubuntu/LXDE with ClamTK!

 

[spock152]

Do you use :

I used to use ASC free version worked pretty good and did some other things , but i picked up a virus and could not get rid of it , so i had to do a clean install of my OS , the i went to Zone Alarm paid version , same thing happened , got rid of it , now i have AVAST free version , works great but really slows down the loading of web pages . other than that i could not ask for a better A V program . Hopefully they will do some thing in the future to fix the issues , but it works great , just slows web page loading . mainly on Internet explorer .

 

[bernie-n]

Do you use : No Antivirus , FREE Antivirus , or PAID Antivirus and why.

Please leave comments on why you do or don't use an Antivirus.

Thanks for your time,
Blackbird.

I don't use any protection because I don't know what is malware and what is'nt. I was told if you want to protect your computer you have to pay for it and so called free protection is malware, by PC World. I'm unemployed and can't afford to pay. Apart from Microsoft Security Essentials which I keep meaning to download, I don't trust any program. bernien

 

[tuffdeal]

Malware bytes for me, seems very light on the system. My friend uses it at work in conjunction with norton, he says it stops things norton doesn't even see! Yes he works in IT for a very large company.

 

[tuffdeal]

I totally agree. We have a two person business that requires protection. Over the years we've literally tried all of the cheap and or free antivirus solutions and we got what we paid for. Pathetic.A few years ago I got wise and began with Malwarebytes and last year after many years with ESET we moved back to Nortons which has a current footprint that is tiny compared to past years and which does not slow our systems. If you use a cheap or free antivirus program you are kidding yourself. Your better off using only the Malwareb ytes free program which is good but not best. What's worse is that if you use the clouds extensively as we do and regularly backup your system you are an idiot without strong antiviral & antimalware protection because you're just stockpiling problems.

 

[ROCKSTARhjk]

I think microsoft security essentials is great, u must make a few adjustments to it if u want it to run smoothly, and to be honest with u guys, i had some spare pc parts out of which i can setup a pc and i have been doing this for a while that i search for virus on the internet and download it to see if mse will detect it and as soon as the virus or trojan or some malware is downloaded, it automatically detects and deletes it and notifies me , so i would say use mse 10/10 , it is less hasel and less drama pure entertainment and sorry if my english is a bit bad , not a native ENGLISH SPEAKER

 

[allyg]

I use zone alarm security, and malwarebytes for protection. I highly recommend malwarebytes as it blocks and detects malware that the antiviruses don't, so it must be used in combination with antivirus.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I agree Malwarebytes is a must to pair with AV.

 

[simonchipmunk]

I use a paid antivirus program on 5 of my computers, and a free program from Microsoft on the 6th one.
when I am asked to installa computer for friends,etc. I use Microsoft's free program, and advise the user to upgrade toa paid one if they plan to goon the Internet.

 

[spooky2th]

I personally use Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender as:
1, It's free (I don't feel like paying 50$ for something that slows down my PC)
2, It uses only a bit of RAM and CPU usage compared to other AVs (cough cough Bitdefender)
3, Come on, they were developed by Microsoft, who also developed Windows. They can only be great

I wish that were true but microsoft security essentials is about the worst protection out there. At least according to comparative studies, some of which have been posted here already.

May I please have a link?

Here's one of the several links already posted in this thread.

http/www.av-test.org/en/news/news-single-view/25-internet-security-suites-are-put-to-the-test-using-windows-81/

Click on the yellow list on the left. If you read the thread, there are links too. Microsoft security is part of windows and hackers and malware creators make their apps especially for windows.