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[pscocoa]

Reading up a bit (and in the context of knowing enough to be dangerous) it seems that if you are running an up to date Windows 10 and have basic requirements (I use 365 and Office mainly) then there is no need to go for other security/antivirus products. Is that a fair assessment?

[deviator]

No.

Documents can be infected. If you use the internet at all on that computer, you need AV.

Personally, I use Avast or AVG as they are both free.

[Mister Rog]

I do think you need decent AV

I tried McAfee a few years ago and will never use it again. It was incredibly difficult to uninstall/remove, but this was some years ago, it may have changed.

I use Norton. You can usually find a good deal at about £25 or so for a year that covers 5 or sometimes more devices. I never do the online renewal as it is always cheaper to just buy it again. Rymans often have a cheap deal, and sometimes various computer magazines.

I tried free Avast a while back. Didn't like it, and again hard to get rid of.

[Lizzie Zoom]

I have used F-Secure for years and have never had a problem with them.

[pscocoa]

Thanks all - may try Malwarebytes this time then

[deviator]

McAfee is difficult to remove, but there is a tool to remove all McAfee from your PC. It's very clunky, the interface hasn't been updated in decades and it was shocking 20 years ago. I does a reasonable job at AV.

Norton - just don't. I don't know if they've improved it since the last time I looked at it, but the performance hit from running NAV I found unacceptable. The software behaves more like a virus than a piece of software, to the point were the virus maybe preferable.

MalwareBytes is for malware. It will find some viruses, as there is crossover, but it's not virus protection.

[Auto Addict]

McAfee is difficult to remove, but there is a tool to remove all McAfee from your PC. It's very clunky, the interface hasn't been updated in decades and it was shocking 20 years ago. I does a reasonable job at AV.

Norton - just don't. I don't know if they've improved it since the last time I looked at it, but the performance hit from running NAV I found unacceptable. The software behaves more like a virus than a piece of software, to the point were the virus maybe preferable.

MalwareBytes is for malware. It will find some viruses, as there is crossover, but it's not virus protection.

Been running Norton for about 20 years - never had a problem.

Don't touch McAfee with a barge pole.

[TheBoy]

If you are not visiting dodgy sites looking for "educational" adult material or hooky software, the built in MS product is the best by some margin.

The biggest tips for security are not to be a first class idiot and lower UAC presets (if you do, you deserve to be banned from the Internet), and not run with an admin type account - always sign on as a limited user. Always.  Trust me, your ego is significantly larger than your talent if you don't.


Other products don't really make sense on Windows, they slow it down, they consume vast resources, and they cause lots and lots of problems.  The paid for ones have advantages in the enterprise world due to centralised reporting and control.


For all the gays creative types out there, remember that macOS needs AV as well, and Macs are now the fastest growing area for nasties - mostly because of the stupidity of its users believing they are immune.

[pscocoa]

If you are not visiting dodgy sites looking for "educational" adult material or hooky software, the built in MS product is the best by some margin.

The biggest tips for security are not to be a first class idiot and lower UAC presets (if you do, you deserve to be banned from the Internet), and not run with an admin type account - always sign on as a limited user. Always.  Trust me, your ego is significantly larger than your talent if you don't.


Other products don't really make sense on Windows, they slow it down, they consume vast resources, and they cause lots and lots of problems.  The paid for ones have advantages in the enterprise world due to centralised reporting and control.


For all the gays creative types out there, remember that macOS needs AV as well, and Macs are now the fastest growing area for nasties - mostly because of the stupidity of its users believing they are immune.

Thanks that is what I was hoping to hear. I chose Malwarebytes as the pc guy I use suggested it - apparently it works happily alongside Windows protection without the slowdown. I have it on trial at the minute.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

What are UAC presets ? And how would I know if Im logged on as an administrator ?

[Bigron]

What are UAC presets ? And how would I know if Im logged on as an administrator ?

+1

[pscocoa]

UAC = Use Account Control - I do not mess with anything like this in windows 10

[raywilb]

macafee was the system that came with my present laptop. my subscription is due in april but already i am getting reminders. i dont know if this is a kind of scam or what but last week the machine wasnt responding to anything & out of the blue (just freezing all the time ) an email arrived from macafee offering me a service that would normally cost almost £50 for free if i rang a number & let them take control of the laptop. i ended up rebooting & for the last two days its been ok. plus macafee subscription charge has doubled this coming year.

[pscocoa]

The same thing happened to my sister in law last week - underhand practice at best

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

UAC = Use Account Control - I do not mess with anything like this in windows 10

Im none the wiser. If I had messed with it, I wouldn't know.