[Terri26]

There is an offer at the moment for an interent security package. I have mcafee at the momet but vaguely remember getting an email a few weeks ago that it runs out soon. Thought I had paid for longer but perhaps not. Dont really want to spend another 50euro and am not savvy enough for the free ones. could someone please tell me if this is any good and easy to use. sorry if this is in the wrong forum.
http://www.groupon.ie/deals/national..._0_0_45&a=1676.
T

[Headshot]

Not sure why anyone pays for Internet security tbh. Terri it's very easy to get the free stuff going, easy as the paid ones

[Terri26]

I guess it's because I trust paying for soemthing more. when I had a free one I had to do scans etc myself rather than it automatically happening.

[danger_mouse_tm]

Who said mcaffee or Norton was good? 25 years of pulling computers apart tells me that the most expensive one are the ones where more money is spent on advertising and fancy packaging that doing anything really useful. Here's my take on it. I find that the two mentioned above are packed with so many features it just gets in your way when doing something online. Everytime you try to install a program or go to a website its poping up and giving you some osft of useless information. It's like having a back seat driver.

Really the the quality of an anti virus is down to it's heuristics. i.e. the database it reads off to tell it if a certain program or a file is infected. The way these databases are updated depends on how many people have been caught out by a virus and who reports it. Then it can be written into the database.
They say that there are advantages of having a paid solution. e.g. email scanning, built in firewall, identity protection. But here's the thing. If you are using a router, guess what. You have a firewall. and a really good one. Want to be more secure? Unless you are using it for serious gaming or media streaming turn off upnp (universal plug and play). Now you are secure from people taking control of your PC. Another great tip? Backup backup backup. Once you have had a virus, no matter what anyone tells you the best thing to do is wipe your system and start over. There's no telling what's been left behind or what doors have been left open after the local tech guy has done is malwarebytes scan and told you everything is fine and dandy.

Save yourself fifty bucks and download Microsoft Security Essentials for free. I find it great. Not just because I haven't had a virus, but because I plug in hard drives pulled from customers machines into my own computer all the time to extract data from them and within seconds it will tell me that there's an infected file on it.

[gouche]

If anything the free ones are better - run faster and come with less bloat.

Go here to get Microsoft Security Essentials. You might trust that brand a bit more.
Plus it's very easy to set up and schedule automatic scans.

[uncle_sam_ie]

MSE is what I use. Last week I hit a link on YouTube which turned out to be a trojan (Key- logger). MSE went nuts, warning me straight away what I had done and cleaning it out of my system. I would highly recommend MSE over the paid stuff.

[Nothingbetter2d]

download microsoft security essentials........ its free, light on resources and does just as good a job as any paid version

[Mickmac91]

You could just use AVG (look them up, when your doing it, search for free edition as otherwise on the main site you'll have a hard time finding it, they'll only offer you a trial).

Ive been using it for the past I don't know how many years (4-5 I'd guess) and it has yet to let me down.

It's completely free, there's no trial period or subscription (as long as you select the right download (avg.com or that cnet site are good places to download it from) and it'll last for as long as you want, until you decide to upgrade it to a new version (published yearly) or change the anti virus completely.

It also updates itself so ya, good good!

[deconduo]

MSE + common sense is all you need.

[Overheal]

Originally Posted by Headshot

Not sure why anyone pays for Internet security tbh. Terri it's very easy to get the free stuff going, easy as the paid ones

The free stuff drives me crazy and doesn't offer the same level of protection: additional firewalls, browser plugins, etc.

Oh and I haven't "paid" for paid security in years: the right time of year you can buy it for free. Norton Internet Security? I paid $40, free shipping, and got a $40 rebate. Free. Then Webroot gave me their Complete through a work promotion.

On the bloat, the paid versions are responding with Cloud Based (ie. Off Computer) based detection. For instance, here's webroot:



I'd like to hear what kind of footprint the free AVs have right now, out of academic interest.

[Terri26]

Thanks for all the advice! Really appreciate it! x

[Adyx]

Originally Posted by Overheal

The free stuff drives me crazy and doesn't offer the same level of protection: additional firewalls, browser plugins, etc.

Oh and I haven't "paid" for paid security in years: the right time of year you can buy it for free. Norton Internet Security? I paid $40, free shipping, and got a $40 rebate. Free. Then Webroot gave me their Complete through a work promotion.

On the bloat, the paid versions are responding with Cloud Based (ie. Off Computer) based detection. For instance, here's webroot:



I'd like to hear what kind of footprint the free AVs have right now, out of academic interest.

I've never used a paid for AV. I've also never had a virus. When it comes to choosing between a paid for and free AV, I trust my own common sense over either and go with the cheaper option.

[yoyo]

I don't understand why people bother with "Internet Security" packs in this day and age. windows vista/7 ships with parental controls, a sufficient firewall and you can now download Microsoft Security Essentials free from Microsoft.
Most people don't even use client side email programs nowadays, many sticking to cloud services like gmail which automatically remove suspicious attachments.
MSE doesn't rate as high as some others in tests, where its failing is heuristics. Other av's do seem to have better heuristic analysis, but that also leads to more false possitives (Its not pleasant having to fix machines that had Norton, Mc Affee etc. that decided to delete/corrupt a critical system file due to a false possitive, rare but it happens).
You can get along grand with the free stuff and common sense, but if you feel better paying for a "all in one" package then by all means go for it. But the reality is many anti viruses including the top ones wont detect 0 day malware until its too late and already installed!

Nick

[Nothingbetter2d]

Originally Posted by yoyo

I don't understand why people bother with "Internet Security" packs in this day and age. windows vista/7 ships with parental controls, a sufficient firewall and you can now download Microsoft Security Essentials free from Microsoft.
Most people don't even use client side email programs nowadays, many sticking to cloud services like gmail which automatically remove suspicious attachments.
MSE doesn't rate as high as some others in tests, where its failing is heuristics. Other av's do seem to have better heuristic analysis, but that also leads to more false possitives (Its not pleasant having to fix machines that had Norton, Mc Affee etc. that decided to delete/corrupt a critical system file due to a false possitive, rare but it happens).
You can get along grand with the free stuff and common sense, but if you feel better paying for a "all in one" package then by all means go for it. But the reality is many anti viruses including the top ones wont detect 0 day malware until its too late and already installed!

Nick

i prefer avast myself... but avg is good too

[fionny]

Stay clear of McAfee and Norton... if you insist on paying for one then I would suggest you go with Eset's NOD32