Which AntiVirus? Well, almost as complicated, as asking which car is the best on the road in my town. Ask ten people, and you will be left with no less than twelve answers. Smile.
I have been running Microsoft Essential Security here, for just about a year. Main reason is, that it takes little resources, as compared to the alternatives. Before that, I was running Avast, tried AVG and McAFee, and in the old days of computing, I did hang on to Norton. I dropped Norton, while it was still accessible, due to it letting through severe viruses, that caused me a good portion of non-recoverable data-loss. I found some of the others, being either not accessible, or rather hard to deal with. I dropped Avast, since I got tired of having to renew a free-of-charge subscription, simply to let the company have my email address ever so often. Still, I can tell you, that with ALL of the software I have tried, they all have let something through. Unless you are running your Anti-Virus in combination with other security stuff, like a basic Firewall, and some extra AntiMalware program, you are not really covered. It's like putting on warm clothing, but dropping taking vitamins; then hoping you will not catch the flue of the season. Two days ago, my computer told me there was a trouble on the system. This even if I am running two software firewalls, two AntiMalware softwares, and Microsoft Essentials. I then decided to try out the online scanner of Eset, and it sure did find 16 different threats on my computer. I let it remove it, and ended up having to reinstall some of my daily used software. My point here is, you will never find one solution that is fully covering you. Mind you, every single minute, 24/7/365 - litterally thousands of new threats appear on the net. Even cookies - that originally was told to be unable to pose any threat on your system - now aday might open up your system for harmful attacks. Running a good combination of security software, along with some common sense in what you are doing, and which sites to visit, what software to install, and general computer behavior codex; well that is the best advice. Oh, and be sure to make frequent backups of your important data and software. As for accessibility, Yes, Microsoft Essential is accessible - right out of the box. No real need to use your mouse, and no additional apps to be downloaded and installed. But it has its clear drawback, that if you let your computer stay turned on for several days, it will report your computer as 'potentially at risk'. This simply because, you have not run a scan within this and that many days. If you restart your computer, hey there, all the sudden - your computer is no longer at risk, and is being fully protected; is what the software insists on telling you. To me, this does put on a red light blinking in my mind, raising the big question - how reliable is a software, that does not report your system as protected, just because you did perform no manual scan in a couple of days. And, just because you restart yor system, it all the sudden thinks that everything is ok, even though you have not performed any more scans. If you can live with that drawback, and you are ok with running more than one security software, it is definitely worth a try. If you - on the other hand - want an all-in-one software, where you are lead to believe that you are fully protected (from the manufacturers adevertisement), go ahead and renew any software that you have, and are comfortable with. Allright, here comes the ever upcoming question: Is it worth to pay for something, that can be had for free? Is the paid-for services all that much more secure, than is the free ones? Well, is a Mercedes all that much more of a car, than is the case with a VolksWagon? Maybe the paid-for services will have a handful more glossy features, they might have some more viruses that they look out for, and they might be more rapidly updated. My experience after a good many years, is that they often tend to be quite heavy on system resources. And, even when I have been running paid-for services - like in the case with Norton - well, that is when I have had the most severe attacks. OK, my experience. Likely, many others will arrest me here. In the very end, I do hold that for the average user, who is using his computer skillfully, the free-of-charge services might be worth a go. If you want to spend your money, I'd suggest you spend them on cheap and solid AntiMalware software, since these will take care of threats that many times could be more real threats, than what your AntiVirus will do. A computer virus, will gennerally be able to affect your computer, and truly can lead to severe data-loss. But some of the malware, is constructed - not to harm your computer - but to harm your own personal safety. Basically, by overseeing your activity on the computer and the net, and definitely there, to steal your private information; intended to cause you personal and ecconomic losses. Somehow, the Malware business - including Spyware, Adware and Trojans - are posing a far higher risk and threatening data scurity to a far higher extend, than viruses; these days. ----- Original Message ----- From: Peggy Kern To: GW Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 3:36 PM Subject: Which antivirus program to go with this year? Hi, all. I’ve been using ESET Smart Security for several years, and really like it. But it seems I remember reading somewhere that the new version is less accessible. My subscription expires in a week, so I’m trying to decide whether to renew it, or whether to go with the Microsoft Security program, which I hear is also accessible with Window-Eyes. Any comments or experiences you’d like to share to help me make my decision? Thanks. Peggy If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
