Microsoft Security Essentials doing it for me

mse on three machines for me too - seems great so far (just over a year of use).

AVG, Avast.

MSE

MSE is the correct answer, as it is every time this question gets asked which by my reckoning is about once a fortnight. (-:

(Or Windows Defender if you're running Windows 8.)

Thanks all, I had trouble installing mse as it said it was already on my system and I had to uninstall that first, couldn't find it anywhere though! But I have downloaded malware removal bytes which seeems good so far.

Slight hijack - Windows Defender is installed on my Windows 8 package, but the computer came with a free Norton trial which expires soon.

When I try and open Windows Defender, it tells me that it has been turned off by Norton and I can't find a way round that message to get through and restart Defender to take Norton off

Any tips for this IT numpty - ideally in large font and small words..... 😳

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool
[url= https://support.norton.com/sp/en/uk/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us ]NRT[/url]
Restart and make sure that Defender is running.

Cheers, will give it a go later

+1 on the Microsoft Security Essentials and Defender.

Just got rid of McAfee and its faster already 😀

Norton is the anti christ- i got rid of that a couple of years ago, it positively crucifies your pc. Avoid it like the plague 😉

+1 on the Norton & McAfee being spawns of satan.... insidious resource grabbing kludge

+1 MSE....

But I have downloaded malware removal bytes which seeems good so far.

Malwarebytes is superb, but it's not an AV solution.

What version of Windows are you running?

Madame's work machine runs painfully slowly with a lousy combination, XP and Norton. Fortunately running malwarebytes in safe mode gets rid of the things that get through the sieve and stop it working. On her latest laptop they took W7 off and replaced it with XP, madness.

My home machine which is in theory less powerful runs W8 and AVG at the speed of light.

Cougar, I have Windows 7.

Madame asked her employers to sort out her computer, i.e. put W7 or W8 on it and get rid of Norton. It came back with W7 and MSE. The change is impressive. It'll reduce the amount of coffee I drink as she'll no longer put the kettle on while it boots and make the coffee while it loads an application.

Edit to hijack: can anyone suggest a free e-mail programme that will handle bigger attachments than Thunderbird.

I wasn't aware Thunderbird had any problems with attachments, are you sure it's not a provider issue?

I use Live Mail, or whatever it's called this week. Part of Essentials.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/essentials

Thanks for answering, Cougar, I'll try Essentials on Madame's machine. It's my son who's moaning about Thunderbird, I've had no problems and suspect my son messed up somehow.