Hi Bob:

I also recently bought an XPS  8300 (nice system!) that came with McAfee pre-installed.

I have to tell you that I never activated McAfee, and uninstalled it ASAP. I did so based on my personal history of problems with McAfee (admittedly many years ago) but also because of the numerous problems reported in this forum over the years with this AV. McAfee has not fared well at the independent testing web-sites I trust, and I don't understand why Dell continues to bundle this troublesome AV with its PCs.

I can't comment on AVG,  which I left years ago. I've used the free Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE 2.0) on this system, with no regrets.

To be honest, if you are using Windows 7  behind a hardware firewall, and practising safe surfing,  I don't think it matters a whole lot which AV you use. But I still recommend MSE as the simplest solution.

Hi Bob,

I agree with Joe. I like Microsoft Security Essentials. AVG is not what it used to be years ago, so I no longer recommend it. Here is some information that ky331 posted here as well as at SpywareHammer: http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=9656.0

I hope this helps.

Bob,

I would suggest there's no point to installing SpyBot on your new machine.

The "official" program hasn't been updated in YEARS...

and there's no reason to be a "guinea pig" for the "beta" version that's currently being tested.

Bob,

It's true that Spybot's DATABASE is still updated weekly (on Wednesdays)... but the PROGRAM itself hasn't been updated in several years... meaning its underlying technology is "old hat".   It's analogous to trying to watch modern HD-TV signals on an old black-and-white CRT TV.   Sure, you may be able to see something... but it can't possibly compare to what you'd see on a color flatpanel LCD display.

At one point, I used all of Spybot's multiply-redundant features:   immunization, TeaTimer, and SDHelper IE add-on.   I don't recall which I gave up first, but in some order, I got rid of the SDHelper and TeaTimer.   I then "tweaked" which of the Immunization components I would use... and ultimately reduced things basically to using only SpyBot's HOSTS file.

Spybot has been working on a new version 2.0, seemingly forever.   It's currently in a second beta (testing) release, which is known to have many bugs in it.    

Anyway, while Spybot was taking time to reorganize... and living on its merits/legacy (rather than modern technology)... other programs made their way on to the scene.    Most notably MBAM, which is a "must have" anti-malware program.   for a second/alternative anti-malware scanner, my personal preference/recommendation is SAS (SUPERAnti-Spyware).   I am so confident in these two that I have no plans to even consider/test Spybot 2.0, when an "official" [non-beta] version is released.

Yes, SpywareBlaster is still a reasonable choice... though some say it's not as "important" on Vista and Win7 as it was on XP.   Regardless of "importance", it can't hurt anything to keep using it.