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Antivirus Programs on Windows systems


Newt

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I've been happy for a few years now running either Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on Vista & Win7 or Windows Defender (the updated version - not the joke that runs on XP) with Win8. No problems with nasties, lightweight so not a resource hog, and a no-brainer to operate.

 

In October of this year, Microsoft announced that they advise running another AV program in addition to the free product they offer although the details only mentioned MSE but did indicate it may not enough and that they are offering it as baseline protection while working harder to provide info to other AV companies so they can better protect Windows PCs.

 

OK but that leaves me with some confusion. Running two active AV programs at the same time has not been recommended for as long as I can remember - performance issues. Are they now advising that we do use two at once?

 

I'll probably continue with just the Microsoft program since I'm a geeky type who has my network & PCs pretty well hardened but I won't continue to recommend it to others. That said, I'm retired and no longer keeping up with all the latest information so I'd appreciate comments from those of you who are.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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Windows 8 and 7 both automatically disable AV scanning with defender once the system detects another antivirus software install. XP you just uninstall defender.

Don't touch: Mcaffee, Norton or Panda. And certainly don't recommend people pay for one!

Avast is top dog of the freebies right now: but the new 2014 version can be a bit clunky during install.

AVG has become bloated but still works very well indeed.

There are other freebies but these two are my stalwarts and never do me much wrong!

Couple them with malwarbytes, ccleaner and roguefix and your about as good as you can get!

 

However Defender is MS antivirus. It's the new integration of MSE and Defender that essentially forms an AV system for Windows 8.

There's no need to not use it in windows 8 or 8.1- there are new features in 8.1.

It's only 7 downwards that you can't rely on MSE anymore.

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Thanks. Good information.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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