Posted on 12/28/2009 3:21:12 PM PST by sushiman
Recently purchased a new HP Touchsmart computer with Windows 7 which came with 2 months free Norton Anti-Virus protection . I understand that MS offers free protection via Security Essentials and was wondering how well it worked compared to other AV services which cost $ . I use my PC for basic stuff at home and pretty much visit the same forums/news sites / etc everyday , and never open an email from someone I do not know so am relatively low risk for a virus , etc...Will SE suffice ? Pros and cons ? Any info appreciated .
I use Avast! free home edition. It updates daily. I am happy with it.
I formerly used AVG free home edition, but it started to have conflicts with some of my other software.
Comodo free. Unless things have changed,dump Norton.
I use MSE on my XP machine - auto update and no problems here.
Not true. Legit sites can be infected.
Ditch Norton. It keeps trying to sell you online backup space.
Get Kaspersky. Works better than Norton or McAfee.
I use Avast on one machine and AVG on another. I think you are right about AVG. I like PC Tools for a pay version. You can get a 3 user license for about $30. Norton is a nightmare and is almost impossible to uninstall. Norton is like a virus.
Works great...no problems. I have used them all and this is right up there with all of them...but it is free!
I consider Avira BETTER than Norton. I love it!
BTW...this is the first AV that I have used that I don’t even notice is there until it detects something. Very lightweight and efficient.
I used Avast for years but MS Security Essentials works better and best of all is free.
Getting rid of the Norton crap can be a pain. I was able to uninstall it from my new Toshiba laptop, but have been unable to do so from my daughter’s Toshiba notebook. It keeps giving a message that another app is still loading.
My brother-in-law computer geek told me about Advest - a free program that you can find on the web site www.savemybutt.com. I have been using it for over a year with good results. Only problem is that you need to get norton off your pc first.
I dumped Norton when I had Win95.
It conflicted with everything. I recall having to have a special configuration just to accommodate Norton.
Next, I went to McAfee, which eventually became a nightmare system — bloated and intrusive.
Next, Trend Micro, which also became bloatware.
Next, AVG.
Now, Avast!.
Never use Norton. It drags every system down. MSE is light weight and effective. To top it off, it is free.
I have never used any of the security programs with come with a machine. I install ZoneAlarm for the firewall, Avast for the anti-virus and anti-spyware, anti-rootkit and Malwarebytes Anti-malware ~ all of which are FREE and have never had one problem.
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