Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
MSE: If they cant fix their system in the first place why would you trust them to stop a virus ? Its a waste of time using an MS tool to remove virus/malware when its their problem (for the best part) that it gets there in the first place.
If you don't trust "their system," you probably shouldn't be using that OS in the first place!
Another vote for MSE. Since they built the OS, my view is that Microsoft has the most "skin in the game" to get malware fixed correctly and promptly. Added plusses are that it's free and it doesn't seem to exact a significant performance hit.
Neither.
Norton is more problems than its worth, is too intrusive and doesnt do a good job removing anything and bogs your system down.
MSE: If they cant fix their system in the first place why would you trust them to stop a virus ? Its a waste of time using an MS tool to remove virus/malware when its their problem (for the best part) that it gets there in the first place.
I would look at 3rd party Virus scan and Mal/spyware programs.
Both of your statements are untrue and based on no evidence.
Biggest con of MSE: Malignant behaviour detection has proven to be pretty inadequate in several tests. Detection of already catalogued spyware and virii is however good.
A "good" antimalware should supposedly react on, for instance, a CD with an autorun batch file which grabs your documents folder and FTP's it to an obscure location. Turns out MSE is pretty bad at such detection.
Biggest con of Norton: Makes computers incredibly sluggish! I do some contract work as an IT technician and the first thing I do upon complaints about a slow windows machine is deleting any and all norton products installed. In three out of four cases this solves the problem altogether.
So go with MSE, it's not a bad choice. The fact it's made by the same company that created the OS is probably good for the sake of reliability as well.
My previous free antivirus of choice was AVG but that software suite has of lately not only become extreme nagware trying to make you a paying customer, but I have also seen an upgrade to the 2012 version suddenly leave several XP machines unbootable except in safe mode (in which it can, fortunately, be deleted and replaced with MSE).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.