Windows 7: MS Essentials as sole AV?

Hi all,

Was using a copy of Norton 360 3.0 as sole AV on my system until last week. An infection crept through and caused a lot of chaos. Will not be using my copy of Norton again for various reasons.

Whilst fixing my system, I was advised to use MS Essentials which I am utilizing at present. I am reluctant to pay for an AV right now as I only bought Norton a couple of months ago. I was wondering if MS Essentials offers good all round protection in it's own right or whether it is recommended to use it in conjunction with another form of protection.



I have read a few of the threads/links regarding best (free and paid) AV but am not convinced MS Essentials has a good enough detection rate alone. If I have missed a thread addressing this question, sorry for the repetition. My OS is Windows 7.

I like my AV to do a solid job at detecting all forms of attacks, have a decent scan speed but run fairly inconspicuously in the background. I also like to be prompted to do regular updates or have automatic updates, rather than going to a website to search for them.

Thanks for reading

A layered set up is an ideal security solution....with imaging/backup +something like sandboxie/returnil thrown in.

it is safe....as safe as your surfing habbits ...imho...use it in conjunction with something like
mbam pro or prevx both are paid for though


honestly the new norton line does just that ...but mse is also an unobtrusive... silent..yet effective av with an automatic update schedule

I've read about Sandboxie and it sounds interesting. I just wondered if there were any potential issues that could arrive whilst working alongside my primary AV. i don't know much about it other than it isolates certain files in secure areas of the HD.

I'm sure that Norton is fine for most people. I personally had some unresolved issues with the Norton support team that put me off using their software.

MSE has surpassed Avast now as most effective lightweight AV for me. After putting Avast on over 100 machines without issue or infection, it began missing the new fake virus scan browser infections. Even it's boot scan couldn't find them, nor could Malwarebytes or Spybot which I also used for scan.

MSE found them and deleted, which coupled with its nearly-invisible profile makes it my new choice for every install.

There is no reason to run 2 AV's. Defender will be disabled at MSE install. I previously kept Malwarebytes and Spybot on the desktop for one-off scans, but MSE has now made them unnecessary and is my only recommendation as I've had issues with every other free application and the paid ones are bloatware.

No AV on this planet is full proof. I myself have been a Norton 360 user since v1, and have not had anything slip by(knocks on wood).

I also use MBAM as a secondary AV. I don't know if I could rely on just one security suite. Sometimes a second opinion just eases your fears.

Whatever AV you decide to role with as your primary protection, use a secondary scanner just to be on the safe side. That and a little common sense and your PC should be sufficiently secured.

Hi Greg,

Weirdly enough, it was one of those Fake AV's that attacked me last week so that is reassuring.

I think I'm going to stick with MSE, I just wondered whether I needed anti-malware protection too.

Thanks again

Maximum PC just reviewed some AV apps and MSE scored an 8 out of 10 and was there recommendation for solid protection if you didn't want to pay for an app. Their paid for suggestion was ESET.


As to whether you need multiple tools, I guess the determing factor is what types of sites and places that you visit most regularly on the web. MSE is the product that I use, I'm pretty darn safe, and I don't have habits that usually get me into trouble. If I were to do anything that might be somewhat unsafe, I simply fire up a Linux virtual machine and use that.

Why are you still using 360 v.3 when v.4 is available?

I get what everyone is saying about being careful about what websites I frequent. I'm not particularly careless or foolish in that sense! I was on a legit looking Photoshop tips website when I was attacked, so in my personal experience they can come from anywhere.

Maybe I'm just being over cautious. Once bitten, twice shy and all that!

Why are you using Norton!

Seriously though, MSE is good enough for detecting most things. The only other program I have running is WinPatrol which did actually stop a virus from adding itself to startup programs. So it was worth the 99c!