Antivirus subscription

Hi Solomon, and welcome to the forum.

There is no "best" security vendor. McAfee is a reputable vendor. Symantec also offers a good product. There are also many free security programs that I can recommend (see the link in my sig).

If you are happy with McAfee, I see no problem with sticking with it. Changing your AV is not a trivial process.
See this: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/virus-spyware/f/3522/t/19345810.aspx

All that said, I will give you my personal opinion. I have used many paid and free AVs, but have finally settled with Micorsoft's Security Essentials (MSE). It is free, is smple, and has tested well at independent sites. You can download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

You can add another vote for Microsoft Security Essentials from me. :emotion-1:

I will also mention these pages for:

FREE SECURITY SOFTWARE  

FREE SECURITY SOFTWARE

Dear JOE53, thank you very much for your reply. I shall consider your opinion which will play a BIG role in me deciding for an AV.

Since you mentioned that you have used many paid and free AVs but have now settled with MSE, I need your advice on this.

MSE is available for free to download as you mentioned and there are many paid AVs out there who are cut-throat competing with each other. In this scenario, if a better AV exists ( eg. MSE) for free, what makes the paid AVs still charge their customers? There must be still few advantages these paid AVs might be holding against MSE.

If there were no advantages that these paid AVs might be having against MSE which some claim to be better than many paid AVs, then what stops MS from making a lot of money? MS is a business empire isn't it?

I must frankly admit that i haven't come across an expert until JOE53 came up, from whom i feel confident of getting an informative answer.

Thank you Joe

Solomon

I'll take the liberty of starting the discussion on Free vs. Paid...

1) Many of the free anti-virus programs (such as Avast!) stipulate that they are free for HOME use, in a non-commercial setting. That means that corporate/business users cannot legally download/install/run the free version of avast.   It also means that if a home user  is self-employed, running their own business, they likewise cannot legally use avast in that capacity.

2) The main advantage of paid programs is that they usually come with some level of (professional) tech support.   Free versions either have no support whatsoever, or else, a "user-to-user" forum (such as this one at Dell).   Being user-to-user, there's no way to guarantee you'll get a prompt response, or for that matter, ANY response.   Moreover, there's no guarantee that the response you get is correct (officially sanctioned, or corporate monitored) --- it can simply be the opinion of an individual, who may or may not know what (s)he's talking about.    Businesses can't afford to take such chances, which is why businesses will insist on paying for a professional version of their programs.

3) Paid versions offer enhanced features ("bells and whistles").  for example, a free version may automatically update itself only once a day... whereas the paid version will check for updates several times a day.   Paid versions may offer things like "spam protection".  If you want these extras, then you need to go for the paid version.   [but if you can live without them, the free version often suffices.]

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As far as quality, there are quality programs both among the free and the paid.   Avira's antivir, which offers a free version [as well as a paid version], typically ranks high (even compared to paid programs) when it comes to detection rates of viruses/malware.   On the other hand, it reportedly generates more "false positives" than several of the other anti-virus programs [which is one of the reasons why it's not a clear-cut choice].    This was just an example... EACH program (antivir, avast, MSE, &etc) has its pros and cons.

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One other point you need to consider:    McAfee's Security Center presumably offered you a complete "suite" of protection --- anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, and perhaps other "bells & whistles".   Should you decide, as Joe/BB recommended, to replace it with MSE, please stress that MSE offers you anti-virus (and anti-malware) protection... but it does NOT include the firewall.   for that, you have to be sure to enable Windows Firewall (or if you feel the need, obtain a "third-party" firewall).

I haven't used a single paid security product for years, thanks to the knowledgeable people on these forums. I am very well pleased with protection I get. For AV I have Avast 5 on both my machines. I tried MSE and liked it but there was an issue where it wouldn't update for several days, and more recently the icons disappeared from the tray and desktop even though the program was installed...not sure what caused it . I'm pretty sure all that has been corrected. Apparently others here did not have this happen.

Anyway, I like Avast's new interface and ease of use. It also auto updates as soon as you connect to the Net and periodically (every 4 hours I think) throughout the day.  If you check the paid versus free features on most of these products you will find that, as ky331 states, it  mostly amounts to bells and whistles.

You are most welcome, Solomon.

I use a paid AV for my XP workhorse desktop because I'm self employed and use it for work, and wanted the very best protection and technical support, and because MSE was not available at the time I purchased it. I have continued using it because it worked very well, but will likely change to MSE when it comes time to renew the subscription.

With a more recent netbook purchase, I chose MSE and the Windows firewall, because unlike the free versions of Avast and AntiVir, MSE can be used for professional work. I love its simplicity, its small footprint, and of course, you can't beat the price! It eliminates the need to run another anti-malware in real-time (since Windows Defender is included in MSE). It has been trouble-free for me with Windows 7.

As to why MS offers it for free, I've no idea. I'm just glad they do.

I want to preface this post by telling you that I am NOT one of the experts on this forum! You have already heard from some of the best around. I am an average user (some might say below average :emotion-7:) My system and McAfee did not get along to say the least, so I got rid of a 15 month subscription and followed the advice I got here. Zero problems since. I use a combimation of protection programs but for AV I use the free Avast! 5. It pretty much takes care of itself and my system.

I use the built in Windows firewall, Web of Trust, SuperAntiSpyware Pro, WinPatrol, Secunia PSI, Malwarebytes and Spyware Blaster. Looking at the list it seems complicated but in reality after things are installed and set up there is very little that I need to do to keep things going.

That said; I believe the first/best protection is using ones head while on the 'Net! I'm sure you know that but maybe a new user will read this thread at some point. W.O.T. has stopped me from making a mistakes several times!

You need to do whatever makes you the most comforable but I was told , in this great forum, that most users should never have to pay for protection and I take that to the bank.

Good luck and please let us know what you decide to do.

Jeff :emotion-22: