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Microsoft Security Essentials

mbig said:
Security Essentials is good, probably adequate... Mebbe not.
I just feel naked without the full Kaspersky Internet Security.
Occasionally I'll run another program to check it, but not as much as I used to.
Don't like Avast or AVG.

There used to be a great Free program Hitman Pro.
Based in the Netherlands, it ran (and kinda poached) a combo of the best pay programs in existence.
You could just watch them all, by name, run consecutively.

Now I see there is a short-hand Highly rated Cloud version of it
HitmanPro 3 (32-bit) - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com
and it's a Free trial but Pay Program.
I Haven't tried it. Read the reviews, maybe it's what you're looking for.

Searching CNET's Download.com is very useful in finding utility programs, free or pay.
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Just be careful with that last. CNET's download.com has become rife with script kiddies placing trojans. Kaspersky is a good hand holding piece of software if you don't know how to use best practices.
 
Bob N said:
Questions: Does any one use this free antivirus software from Microsoft, and if so do you like it? If you do not like it, do you have any suggestions to other free antivirus software that you do like?

Thinking about using Microsoft Security Essentials for 2014. Thanks! :thumbs:
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I've tried all the free ones, and find MSE to be less intrusive and as effective, as the others. For a little extra protection, I run a few free (portable) scanners monthly (spybot, sophos, emisisoft, kaspersky). No single program has updates for every infection.

And for CryptoLocker, there are specialty preventions online for free, it's a particularly bad malware.
 
So what's the bottom line here? None of the anti-virus packages are perfect, and I've probably used them all at some time and gotten viruses. Any enterprise system uses more than just software anyway, it a combination of software, hardware and access control.
 
APACHERAT said:
According to Leo Laporte , Microsoft Security Essentials is the best free antivirus program out there. < The Tech Guy | with Leo Laporte >

Been using it for a few years and it caught every virus, etc. (5) and quartineed it immediatly. From what I've been told, don't run any other anti virus malware program with it.

I'm going to be buying a new laptop next week and I ain't going to use the antivirus program that usually comes with the computer, first thing I'm going to do is download Security Essentials.

Thinking about picking up a Chromebook since they are so cheap. Anyone know anything about Chromebook OS ?
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I found that anything Microsoft wants to take over my computer, probably because I don't read all the small print. But still, if I want to install a security program, that doesn't mean giving up FF or Chrome.
 
I use OpenDNS. Can be optionally set up on the router to avoid installing any software on the PC.

Fortunately, Win 7 on up has a decent System Restore facility that works pretty reliably, although it has failed to allow the user to easily save the restore file to a location outside of the PC.
 
Lovebug said:
I found that anything Microsoft wants to take over my computer, probably because I don't read all the small print. But still, if I want to install a security program, that doesn't mean giving up FF or Chrome.
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MSE works just fine if you aren't using IE. There is no "taking over" involved. You shouldn't be using multiple AV programs anyway, they have a way of reporting each other and causing huge problems, no matter the author.
 
solletica said:
I use OpenDNS. Can be optionally set up on the router to avoid installing any software on the PC.

Fortunately, Win 7 on up has a decent System Restore facility that works pretty reliably, although it has failed to allow the user to easily save the restore file to a location outside of the PC.
Click to expand...

That's because system restore is only good when it keeps track real time of the current system OS state AND the hardware it's installed upon. It's very specific to just your machine and right now.
 
APACHERAT said:
According to Leo Laporte , Microsoft Security Essentials is the best free antivirus program out there. < The Tech Guy | with Leo Laporte >

Been using it for a few years and it caught every virus, etc. (5) and quartineed it immediatly. From what I've been told, don't run any other anti virus malware program with it.

I'm going to be buying a new laptop next week and I ain't going to use the antivirus program that usually comes with the computer, first thing I'm going to do is download Security Essentials.

Thinking about picking up a Chromebook since they are so cheap. Anyone know anything about Chromebook OS ?
Click to expand...

I just got one, and the only things against it is not having skype capabilities, and my wacom tablet doesn't work with it... so for graphics I have to use my pc. Other than that, I love the thing. The keyboard is fantastic, and as I do a ton of writing, I don't mind the fact all my docs are secured by google.

Pete is wrong; you can work offline, and when are most people not online?

What I don't miss is having to deal with updates, and there is no virus protection BS to deal with.

Another thing I love... it boots up in seconds.

I've got the HP Chromebook 14. And the price... laughable.

At some point I can see these things killing PC's.
 
One thing that takes a bit of getting used to with the chromebook is not having to hit ctrl + s as all the writing in Word or Google docs is automatically saved as you go.
 
Bob N said:
Questions: Does any one use this free antivirus software from Microsoft, and if so do you like it? If you do not like it, do you have any suggestions to other free antivirus software that you do like?

Thinking about using Microsoft Security Essentials for 2014. Thanks! :thumbs:
Click to expand...

I use it and so far for the last few years it has worked fine. I have one caveat and its this only use it on personal or business computers that don't have very sensitive information. Otherwise I would suggest you get a professional anti virus program that has a very good reputation. I personally have had Norton and I think the Microsoft free product works better than Norton's paid product, not to mention Norton's reputation with me at least sucks.
 
zimmer said:
I just got one, and the only things against it is not having skype capabilities, and my wacom tablet doesn't work with it... so for graphics I have to use my pc. Other than that, I love the thing. The keyboard is fantastic, and as I do a ton of writing, I don't mind the fact all my docs are secured by google.

Pete is wrong; you can work offline, and when are most people not online?

What I don't miss is having to deal with updates, and there is no virus protection BS to deal with.

Another thing I love... it boots up in seconds.

I've got the HP Chromebook 14. And the price... laughable.

At some point I can see these things killing PC's.
Click to expand...

You need to be online to use Chromebook effectively and far from all people are online 24/7, especially in the 3rd world. Plus internet does go down.

Also it has skype... www.outlook.com has Skype built in now :)
 
PeteEU said:
Did not say you could not...
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So what's your point? Can't use my tablet to do graphics. Can't use skype. Other than that it's great.

Did you even read the article... hell read the headline lol!
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I read the article AND the comments, and would love for Skype to work, but it doesn't on chromebooks.

From the comments:

aviator189 said,

you can't install plug-ins on chromebooks?

plugin is in .msi package. I am pretty sure chromebook is not capable of running .exe or .msi. they might have mac .dmg format. not the chromebook though. the only plugins you can install in chromebook are chrome's plugin, some crappy games and thats it.

dingl_ avatar dingl_, 04 March 2014 - 17:04
You'll get the IM part of Skype on a Chromebook, but you won't be able to call.
 
Chromebook Update:

Still loving the HP Chromebook 14. I can do all my writing, document creation etc., and I've barely scratched the surface of apps in the app store. Boot up time is a handful of seconds... just great stuff.

For a couple or few hundred bucks it's a great deal.

The keyboard is wonderful.
 
clownboy said:
Yeah, those aren't viruses but trojans, nothing is going to defend you from what amounts to be stupid users. When one of those things pops up (infected site) go immediately to task manager and kill the IE process. Anything else and the trojan is likely to place. If you don't do that, and instead click anything else, you still have a chance. MSE will catch the infection afterwards and is fairly good at cleaning trojans.

MSE, the free version, isn't really supposed to be used for server products, there's a pay version available for server products. However it does work and does a good job of it as long as you keep the definitions updated. The real problem for servers comes when you have some low knowledge admin who browses from the server (bad, bad practice) and doesn't know how to lock down a server.

For regular computer users who are windows OS, MSE is the best available. The rest suck goats either in detection or resource usage, or both.
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Actually, I run AVG for virus protection, and for trojans I use Spybot Search and Destroy, which is just about 100% effective against trojans, as well as malware and spyware.

You can get Spybot Search and Destroy here. Only get it at this link. There are a couple of other products that disguise themselves as SBS&D, but are malware themselves. BTW, the free version is not crippled in anyway. The pay version has some extra bells and whistles, but you don't need them.

Finally, I have Win Patrol, which prevents programs from starting without your permission. It will ask you the first time you run a program, then remembers your answer. This is great for dealing with drive by downloads and nuisance software which sometimes come bundled with packages (like Spigot, and other crapware which installs helpers in your browser, hijacks your home page and search preferences, and does other annoying stuff). You can get that here. The free version is all you need.
 
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danarhea said:
Actually, I run AVG for virus protection, and for trojans I use Spybot Search and Destroy, which is just about 100% effective against trojans, as well as malware and spyware.

You can get Spybot Search and Destroy here. Only get it at this link. There are a couple of other products that disguise themselves as SBS&D, but are malware themselves. BTW, the free version is not crippled in anyway. The pay version has some extra bells and whistles, but you don't need them.

Finally, I have Win Patrol, which prevents programs from starting without your permission. It will ask you the first time you run a program, then remembers your answer. This is great for dealing with drive by downloads and nuisance software which sometimes come bundled with packages (like Spigot, and other crapware which installs helpers in your browser, hijacks your home page and search preferences, and does other annoying stuff). You can get that here. The free version is all you need.
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Does the Spybot come in to conflict with antivirus software that I currently have? You have some good ideas here. ;)
 
Bob N said:
Does the Spybot come in to conflict with antivirus software that I currently have? You have some good ideas here. ;)
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Both Spybot and Win Patrol can run with whatever antivirus you are using. There are no conflicts.
 
clownboy said:
Just be careful with that last. CNET's download.com has become rife with script kiddies placing trojans. Kaspersky is a good hand holding piece of software if you don't know how to use best practices.
Click to expand...

I have to hold my hand up to downloading something from download.com that I thought would be trusted and checked by the site which turned out to cause no end of problems. I needed something to download youtube videos so I could put them on the college "Blackboard" for students to watch selected educational videos as part of their lessons.

Basically I ended up having to wipe one of my tablet-pc's clean.
 
Bob N said:
Does the Spybot come in to conflict with antivirus software that I currently have? You have some good ideas here. ;)
Click to expand...

No, because Spybot is not an antivirus program. It is specifically made to detect and remove malware.

Myself, I use AVG and Spybot on my desktop, and on my laptop I use MSE and Spybot.

Of course, I am also a highly experienced user, know what to click and what not to click, and do not go to sites that are potentially dangerous. I have gone for over 2 years without reloading my computer, and it is still going fine.

My wife on the other hand, never met a pop-up she didn't like. Any warning comes up ("Your computer is in danger") she clicks on, so I am constantly having to clean up her system. The last clean-up has so trashed her computer that I am actually burning a new Win7 install disk so I can try and do a complete restore.

And the best protection is simply to not click on just anything, run cleans regularly, and constantly update. The problem with the latest "cleanup" I did is that some of the stuff I removed seem to have trashed her registry. Not much you can do at that point but try again. But I have had this battle with her for 10 years now, and she never learns. She just blames me or the computer for her own bad habits.
 
I use Microsoft.
 
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