My anti virus software is due to expire , I have no problems paying for a suitable replacement.

I need it to cover at least 2 pc’s , what do you use and how much?

Open to recommendations.

MSE.

Avast free and trouble free.

1. Microsoft Security Essential (Free)
2. Malwarebyte Anti-malware (one off payment life time licence)
From here.
3. NoScript Firefox extension for your Firefox browser.

Mse alone for me ( that’s Microsoft security essentials – free too!)

And never mcafee after they trashed our whole network with a bad definitions file 👿

Norton and Symantec both seem to really slow down your machine, so I use and am happy with Microsoft Security Essentials esp. as it’s free.

I do, however, find it weird that due to all the security holes in Microsoft operating systems etc that I then trust them to provide a security application, but hey ho, seems to work.

The answer to this question is still Microsoft Security Essentials.

I do, however, find it weird that due to all the security holes in Microsoft operating systems etc that I then trust them to provide a security application

MSE is the bastard lovechild of Reliable Antivirus and the well-regarded Giant AntiSpyware, so it’s got a reasonable (non-Microsoft) pedigree.

+1 Avast. Never any problems.

MSE for me too.

I have had Norton 360 on 3 computers for the past year and no issues at all. Can’t tell any slowdown on any of the 3 computers. One extra feature is that it provides a back-up service. Once you have it set to auto update, etc., it just runs without issue and isn’t intrusive. So far it has caught everything the bad guys have thrown at it.
Also use Malwarebytes and Spysweeper along with it.

Avast for me.

nod if you want to pay

Shake you head if you don’t.

Avg.

Kaspersky covers x3 pcs and cheap

Either:

Avira Free
AVG
AVAST

in that order 🙂

Then Comodo Firewall

Comodo Firewall

If they get through a router NAT you firewall is going do bog all.

Avast interface is superior to Avira, would swap those two 😉

chewkw – Member

1. Microsoft Security Essential (Free)
2. Malwarebyte Anti-malware (one off payment life time licence)
From here.
3. NoScript Firefox extension for your Firefox browser

cheers , have taken this advice as it seems to cover all angles 8)

Drac – For out going applications not incomming!!

AVG works fine, as long as you switch off the full disk scan.

For out going applications not incomming!!

The horse has bolted, quick, get all the doors closed!!

AVG works fine, as long as you switch off the full disk scan.

AVG works fine, as long as you uninstall it and install MSE.

(-:

Duh – firewalls are not just for hacking – what about firewalls for malware outbound access – that’s where I am comming from – and you cannot tell me that all AV’s protect you agains 100% of malicious software?

I’ve found AVG* works well…

… providing you don’t mind being told you’ve got an infection after it has landed. 👿

I quite like to be told that something is a bad file before it’s had time to do damage

* applies to AVG free

AVG works fine, as long as you uninstall it and install MSE.

Very true.

MSE is best for not bugging you all the time with annoying questions and popups, IME.

Duh – firewalls are not just for hacking – what about firewalls for malware outbound access – that’s where I am comming from – and you cannot tell me that all AV’s protect you agains 100% of malicious software?

No one claimed they did, hence the advice on Malware bytes and other none AV software even though the OP only asked about AV.

Well then what’s your point drac? Malware is quite capable to get through my NAT if I visit an infected page etc. so I was suggesting a Firewall in addition to AV – even though he didn’t ask for it!

Point is the same as up there, if it gets through your NAT then it’s through your firewall already.

avast here

AVG works fine, as long as you uninstall it and install MSE.

😀

Might have to give MSE a go, you certainly seem to like it! Still, not had a virus yet with AVG, and I don’t notice it running, if it ain’t broke…

Drac you can have a hardware firewall and a software firewall?

Software firewalls help provide protection against trojan programs or e-mail worms – the best thing is to have both surely? Unless you close all your ports then your hardware firewall is open to attack – via common ports i.e. SMTP, POP, 80, 8080 etc – I am still not talking about direct hacking attempts which are much rarer on ones home comp than downloaded trojans ?

Maybe you should read some articles on software vs hardware firewalls? We are of course talking about home networrks here not corporate LAN systems?

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/webmaster/article.php/3103431/Firewall-Debate-Hardware-vs-Software.htm

what about firewalls for malware outbound access – that’s where I am comming from – and you cannot tell me that all AV’s protect you agains 100% of malicious software?

My point was, by that point you’ve already got an infection, better to concentrate on stopping that in the first place.

Typically, personal firewalls allow unrestricted outbound access by default anyway (as it’s assumed that your originating traffic is ‘safe’). So they’re arguably of little value there unless you manually set them up properly, which is a whole other topic of discussion.

Might have to give MSE a go, you certainly seem to like it! Still, not had a virus yet with AVG, and I don’t notice it running, if it ain’t broke…

To be fair, AVG isn’t bad exactly. It’s a reasonable product, but it’s been getting progressively worse since about version 7. I used to swear by it, but not any more.

I know what they do Foxy.

Imagine you have 2 rooms separated by a one door, you want something from the other room so you open the door to get it. An cat bolts through the door into the other room as the door is open.

So you you make a passage, let’s call it a firewall, so you can have 2 doors but you can’t get in the other room unless you have both doors open so the cat still gets in, making it utterly pointless have 2 doors.

There you go that’s why.

Oooh we’re doing links now.

http://ask-leo.com/so_do_i_need_the_windows_firewall_or_not.html

Typically, personal firewalls allow unrestricted outbound access by default anyway

Depends – if you install the software firewall on a “clean pc” it will as you say analyse what is already allowed through via windows firewall – if you set it up correctly is will then ask you when new programs want system/network access – If you decide to have it in a lower control mode then thats up to you?

Hey cummon – We are both right – you should have a software and hardware firewall surely – FWIW?

Maybe you should read some articles on software vs hardware firewalls?

I’d respectfully suggest that an article about software firewalls and broadband that was written in 2003 might not be at the bleeding edge these days.

I can see where you’re coming from in that there’s “no harm” in additional protection. One firewall good, two better, right? However, what you’ve got to weigh up is whether the risk mitigation outweighs the admin and performance overheads.

For a software firewall to be effective, it has to do one of two things. It either has to be configured securely, a difficult task for networking experts let alone end users, or it has to prompt “do you want to allow this program to access the Internet” continually, which gets right on your cods in short order (as half the time it will be something like asdf32.dll making the request, and you start clicking ‘yes’ automatically out of frustration). Once you get into this mindset, you’ve just rendered the entire thing useless and all it’s giving you is an overconfident false sense of security.

So yes, I can see your argument. However, your time would be better spent following safe computing practices and making sure your computer is up to date (Windows Update, Java and Adobe particularly).

For example, the article linked says, “Consider this scenario: What would happen if you received an e-mail message or visited a website that contained a concealed program?”

Well, if you received such an email then you wouldn’t open it, and if you did then you certainly wouldn’t run the attachment, because you know better than to do that. If you visit a poisoned website, the security updates and patches would neuter the threat (unless you’re very unlucky with a zero-day exploit).

So, yeah. Are you doing any harm by running a software firewall? No. Is it essential to install one? I’d say not. Bear in mind that every version of Windows in the last ten years has had a firewall built in anyway, I’m struggling to see a compelling reason to install a third party product. Typically they tend to be chatty (because you can “see it working” then) and cause more problems than they solve (especially if you work from home and have to use a corporate VPN client).

EDIT – I forgot the salient point of the entire argument here, which is that you are already behind a hardware firewall.