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Microsoft Security Essentials used to be recommended by some PC gurus I work with, certainly over Norton and McAfee. They now tend to suggest Avast. Apart from MS SE which I used for a while on one PC I have not actually used them myself; I use a paid for licence of Panda on the 5 family/business pcs and laptops.

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Been through them all over the years. Went from (free) Bitdefender (used for 3 years perhaps) to Microsoft Defender. That combined with regularly running (free) Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has done it's job for the last 14 months or so on 3 computers, no problems..

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Used to use Norton when I had a Windows machine. Do not use any 3rd party antivirus software on my iMac or Macbook Pro.

 

Allan

 

Edited to add "any 3rd party antivirus software"

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Very much like Swedish Martin above. I have even subscribed to Kaspersky for at while. Out of it and for good.

 

I am now using Defender and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, as well, and it seems to be a good solution. (The latter sometimes finds suspicious files not found by Defender).

 

 

Edited: PS - Grammatically more correct that should have been "I even subscribed to Kaspersky for a while" - I guess...?  :) ​

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I am now using Defender and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, as well, and it seems to be a good solution. (The latter sometimes finds suspicious files not found by Defender).

 

Yes me too. Tried AVS but found it slowed the machine down too much. I  made a one off payment to Malwarebytes many moons ago and continue to get updates, excellent value. It occasionally pops up warding off evil spirits. There is a free version but I don't know what the limitations are.

 

In the bad old days, when I had to work full time for a living, the technical people, responsible for hundreds of machines, always relied upon Malwarebytes as the ultimate solution for disinfecting troubled computers.. Nothing is 100%, but I am led to believe that this is about as good as it gets.

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I am now using Defender and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, as well, and it seems to be a good solution. (The latter sometimes finds suspicious files not found by Defender).

 

Yes me too. Tried AVS but found it slowed the machine down too much. I  made a one off payment to Malwarebytes many moons ago and continue to get updates, excellent value. It occasionally pops up warding off evil spirits. There is a free version but I don't know what the limitations are.

 

In the bad old days, when I had to work full time for a living, the technical people, responsible for hundreds of machines, always relied upon Malwarebytes as the ultimate solution for disinfecting troubled computers.. Nothing is 100%, but I am led to believe that this is about as good as it gets.

 

 

 

I had the full version for a trial period. I haven't yet upgraded to a paid version. What is missing seems to be the "real time" protection. I am able to scan and update database as before. I may make the payment in the future to get the real time protection, but I am also afraid of the disadvantage of having more than one antivirus programme running, but, in fact, I don't reckon the Malwarebytes is a conflicting antivirus programme....

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Been through them all over the years. Went from (free) Bitdefender (used for 3 years perhaps) to Microsoft Defender. That combined with regularly running (free) Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has done it's job for the last 14 months or so on 3 computers, no problems..

 

 

+1                   (Defender and Malwarebytes for quite some time now - no problems to date)

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Kumar,

I've used Avast for a few years now and have been quite pleased with it. However, it's not free. Last time I renewed my subscription it was $44.99 for two years. You do get reports and can scan your system to check blocks, attempted infringements, etc. I picked up Avast  after a virus got through to my system about five years ago and I did lose an amount of work. No problem since.

 

Jim. :)  

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There seems to be three levels of Avast, one free, two paid for: Avast Home Page

 

I have no special view on Avast. Personally I think it was worth paying a little extra to get full coverage from a full featured av software. And still take maximum precautions about which links I click on, pages I visit.

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I stand corrected, Martin. Yes, there is a free version. I opted for the 'second' choice, which is Internet Security - advanced. There were a few more options here which I considered were useful to have. The free version, as per your link, is Free Antivirus - essential.

 

Jim. :)

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Free AVS works fine for me with Windows 7. AVS doesn't seem to slow things down. However, it did on my Windows XP machine.

 

P.S. Doesn't Windows 10 have its own, built-in antivirus software?

Windows has included Windows Defender for some time and Microsoft Provided Security Essentials as a free download. WIndows 10 reminder (I have not updated yet)) makes a point of its security credentials including anti-virus a (I think) and phishing protection.

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Sophos, for Mac. It has picked up one or two nasties over the past year. The only issue that I have found is that it sometimes prevents WeTransfer and DropBox from uploading pictures - I just switch it off whenever I need to use these services.

 

Alex

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Sophos, for Mac. It has picked up one or two nasties over the past year. The only issue that I have found is that it sometimes prevents WeTransfer and DropBox from uploading pictures - I just switch it off whenever I need to use these services.

 

Alex

 

 

Alex is that free or pay for. Just interested.

 

Allan

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The linked article  has an up-to-date all-you-need-to-know about Mac malware. Viruses are not a problem still but malware could be. It seems to say that as long as you are keeping up with OS updates and you're not file sharing on the internet, then you are probably ok. Phishing may be the biggest risk for Mac users. 

 

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/how-remove-mac-malware-for-free-viruses-keranger-3594625/

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Sophos, for Mac. It has picked up one or two nasties over the past year. The only issue that I have found is that it sometimes prevents WeTransfer and DropBox from uploading pictures - I just switch it off whenever I need to use these services.

 

Alex

 

 

Alex is that free or pay for. Just interested.

 

Allan

 

Hi Allan - basic Sophos is free, though there may be a more sophisticated paid version

 

Alex

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Free AVS works fine for me with Windows 7. AVS doesn't seem to slow things down. However, it did on my Windows XP machine.

 

P.S. Doesn't Windows 10 have its own, built-in antivirus software?

Windows has included Windows Defender for some time and Microsoft Provided Security Essentials as a free download. WIndows 10 reminder (I have not updated yet)) makes a point of its security credentials including anti-virus a (I think) and phishing protection.

 

 

Thanks, I haven't upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 either and probably won't until I buy a new computer. But good to know.

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Free AVS works fine for me with Windows 7. AVS doesn't seem to slow things down. However, it did on my Windows XP machine.

 

P.S. Doesn't Windows 10 have its own, built-in antivirus software?

Windows has included Windows Defender for some time and Microsoft Provided Security Essentials as a free download. WIndows 10 reminder (I have not updated yet)) makes a point of its security credentials including anti-virus a (I think) and phishing protection.

 

 

Thanks, I haven't upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 either and probably won't until I buy a new computer. But good to know.

 

 

 

I seem to remember that windows 7 had defender or something similar.

 

Allan

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I use Microsoft Security Essentials. I used to work in a school and I asked the very knowledgeable computer geeks there and that's what they recommended. It's what the school uses and they obviously have to be careful. It's worked fine for me - and it's free!

 

 

Edit - just had a word from my school geek consultant. He uses Windows defender (Windows 10) but has heard Avira is the best around.

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Comodo Internet Security is a free Internet security suite which includes antivirus.  It is effective and I am not sure why it does not get more publicity - it does not bombard you with ads or flashing banners, it just gets on with it.

 

That said, having just rebuilt my computer, I have not reinstalled it.  I am using Microsoft Security Essentials, coupled with Windows firewall - might as well use those that come with the OS.  I used to read avidly all the comparisons as to detection rates etc., but these change even more often than the manager of Chelsea, so I do not particularly worry about which any particular article rates as "better" for the time being.

 

I also run a standalone scan of Malwarebytes - free if you do not want real-time protection: I do not, because running more than one antivirus or anti-malware can cause conflicts, as well as using up resources and slowing the system down.

 

Graham

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  • 3 weeks later...

I use Sophos on the Mac as well. It's free. It frequently finds Windows malware in email attachments, but so far has never found a Mac specific threat, which hopefully means I've never gotten one.

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