Windows Essentials Security???

OK, so for anti-virus... I got off the paid train a few years back and started using AVG Free and it seems to do a good job since I've not had any viruses.

But, I've noticed some folk be using Windows Essentials Security and claim it is doing a good job and i8s easy to use and may be a better option than AVG Free.

Any thoughts on the effectiveness of Windows Essentials Security?

Also, what are your thoughts on the program Malwarebytes?
Is it worth messing with? I've heard some good stuff about this prog...

I think most of us on here use MSE. I've used it since it was a beta and it has not let me down....no virus's since it's implementation.

Just so I'm clear, MSE stands for Microsoft Security Essentials?

With all these abbreviations floating around, I thought I'd ask just in case this stands for something else...

Yep...you are correct.

OK, thanks...

Any thoughts on the program Malwarebytes running in conjunction with Microsoft Security Essentials?

Rockrz said:

OK, so for anti-virus... I got off the paid train a few years back and started using AVG Free and it seems to do a good job since I've not had any viruses.

But, I've noticed some folk be using Windows Essentials Security and claim it is doing a good job and i8s easy to use and may be a better option than AVG Free.

Any thoughts on the effectiveness of Windows Essentials Security?

Also, what are your thoughts on the program Malwarebytes?
Is it worth messing with? I've heard some good stuff about this prog...

You are going to get a wide variety of opinions, and here's mine. MSE is a good basic program, that is one of the best in terms of set it & forget it. It doesn't have any nag screen pop-ups or advertisements and of course it's made by Microsoft. However, it lacks in protection when compared to the other popular free AVs like avast!, AVG, Avira, Comodo, Panda Cloud ect. In the most respected 3rd party test organizations' testing, MSE struggles when tested. If I were you, I would stay with AVG, especially since it has served you well and you are now familiar with it.

If you are looking for more protection, especially when on the web, then you need to start looking into virtualization and/or anti-executable programs such as Sandboxie or NoVirusThanks EXE Radar Pro & Blue Ridge AppGuard. No AV on the planet, paid or free, will stop 100% of malware, but by adding one of those programs, you will now come close. Sandboxie and Radar Pro offer both free and paid (life time license) versions, while AppGuard offers only a paid version (life time license). YouTube is a great place to find tutorials on those programs, and they are not that hard to learn if you are willing to put in a few hours of your time. I don't use an AV at all on my personal machine, and haven't for quite some time.

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Good overview, thanx!

Is Malwarebytes not worth messing with?

Rockrz said:

Good overview, thanx!

Is Malwarebytes not worth messing with?

Actually, Malwarebytes (aka MBAM) free is definitely worth messing with. It will play well with most AVs, including MSE, and other anti-malware programs. Super AntiSpyware (SAS) free is another good one to have. Just don't run scans simultaneously. I run MSE with MBAM and SAS without any problems at all.

Malwarebytes (MBAM) is a very, very good program. Every user should have the free version installed, and use it often. The free version is simply an on-demand scanner, that is considered one of the best by industry experts. The paid (life time license) pro version, adds real time protection, and is also considered very good. It runs along side of most AVs with no issues. The pro version is a RAM hungry program, so if you only have 2gb of RAM, then that might be of consideration. I personally bought the pro version to support the developers, but I only use it as an on-demand scanner.

HitMan Pro is also a great free on-demand scanner too. This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding security, and more isn't always better............Better is better.