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malware protection

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tfrizz123:
once upon a time I was on top of things but now I am playing the catch up game.   With all the free and paid for anti-malware/complete protection programs...it is difficult to choose.  Any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Shane:
I honestly only use MS Security essentials. I have no need for all the extra bloat the other AVs offer. I havented been infected in years lol

But I am a different kind of user. Just keep in mind that NO av can give you 100% protection. They only protect against what they know and have more false positives then I have ever seen. When the virus makers make a new virus they test it against all the AVs first to make sure it isnt detected and then release it. The AVs so called detect new unknown threats is a joke and is what gives so so many false positives.

So it is the user in the middle that pays. Thats why I refuse to pay for an AV and all I need is a straight file av, nothing else. MS does the job. But again, I am a different type of user lol

Here use these reports to help you decide :-)
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Shane

jraju:
Hi, Shane thanks about using MS security essentials.
              Can i stop using avast av and download MS security essentials, as i am firmly of your same view. But though virus makers are first testing their virus against these av, AVast catch some of the viruses while browsing, some while scanning, sometimes blocking harmful websites, urls etc.
                       Will i be sure of the same things when i use ms security essentials? If so , can i uninstall avast and switch to MS security essentials which I suppose is a free microsoft software. Pl advise.
                          I visited the link , in the previous years, the recommendation pointed to AVast.
                             Can i download the MS security and can i uninstall avast, as too many av conflict with each other

Boggin:
Microsoft don't even recommend MSE, but you can run both AVAST Free and MSE as AVAST Free doesn't have its own firewall - which is the cause of a conflict when attempting to run two or more active AV programs.

Shane:
Most people dont even need firewall software. They dont realize their router is a hardware based firewall. So unless you are wide open to the net or you have programs you need to block then firewall software is normally not needed.

I have had so many customers who dont read a thing, would have whatever firewall software they have pop something up on if they want to allow access, turns out it was windows itself, they blocked it and then call me because the internet doesnt work lol

MS may not recommend their own but that is only because of the royal fit all the antivirus companies threw when they found out MS was going to make their own. This is why their AV doesnt have much more than a standard file and registry scanner. They keep it basic and what people actually need. All the other stuff is most of the time just fluff. But when a user who dont know better looks at MS and then something like Avast and sees how much "more" avast has to offer they will go with avast. That keeps the av companies happy. So MS says, hey dont worry, we just need to have some form of protection on these systems to stop the spreading of viruses from users who dont know any better. (e.g windows defender), but we will make sure to tell people to get a bigger av.

No AV is perfect, and I mean none of them. SO if you have one you like then stick with it. Just because I have my own views on it doesn't mean it is the right view for others. I am a power user, I know more than a normal user would on what is dangerous, the way you can get infected and so on. I only require a simple file anti virus. I dont need the fluff.

But then there are users who dont read a thing, click on every fake ad or pop up that says they have an update and get themselves infected. They need all the auto protection they can get lol

Look at it this way, when you buy a computer they try to sell you added warranty and repair services. For some people who dont know how to fix a computer at all then that service is helpful for them. For advanced users like some of us, we dont need that extra warranty and service since we know how to do it ourselves.

I have cleaned viruses off of every type of computer running every different type of AV. I guess for some they like to "feel" they are protected, because lets face it, the internet is a wonderful yet dangerous place to be. :-)

Shane

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