MSE or Paid AV?

[mjf]

If you turn on Silent Mode when you are performing imaging, a background scan will not start. You could even set Norton up to detect when the imaging programme (except Windows own, it would seem) is running and it would automatically turn on Quiet Mode.

Thanks I see these settings now!
I use Windows imaging and file/folder backup. Are you referring to these when you say "except Windows own"?

 

[sreedhav]

I've used MSE since it was first released. But like others said, I think taking into account what you do mostly on your pc should weigh into the decision.
I don't download a lot of things other than images, and I mostly browse/surf/read stuff.
I haven't had anything happen at all.

But, like I always have to say....your browsing habits are the first defense of safety, and not a single AV is perfect.

Dear MWRed,
hi there!If you see my system specs., one software which i have installed is missing and that is Sandboxie ( I have not yet included it there)! Sandboxie has both a free and bought versions, but for our purposes, the free version would suffice! This software would fit your needs to the T! Link : Sandboxie - Download Sandboxie

Regards,
Sreedhav

 

[sreedhav]

Dear windows911,
You are tempted to take up the offer, since it's a freebie! Would you have bought it on your own to replace MSE? In your original post, you mentioned that "mse is working like a dream" and you had no probs. with it!

Till date i have used,1)Kaspersky internet security suite,

2) Symantec AV,

3) Avast internet sec.suite,

4) Panda Global protection 2011 running on my laptop and
5)Avira Premium +OA firewall on my desktop and last but not the least MSE!! This is just to state my experience with AVs. It was a pleasent experience with MSE and i shifted at that point of time because i bought a Avast Int. sec.suite backed up by a "backup cd" a week before and i can honestly tell you if i had used the windows freebie AV, i would not have bought Avast.
Regards,
Sreedhav

 

[whs]

Hi,

I have experience with both MSE and NIS2011. NIS is very good, but I found it to be a resource hog, especially at boot-up - I changed to MSE and halved my boot-up time.

In addition to MSE, I also use the paid version of Malwarebyes. Both are resident and "play nicely" with each other.

I suggest trying Norton seeing as it won't cost you, and see how you go wiith that. If you find it to be too resource hungry for your needs, you can always switch back to MSE.

Regards,
Golden

Golden, are you sure there was not another cause, I have 3 systems with NIS2011 and 3 systems with MSE (mixed desktop and laptotps). I never noticed any difference in boot time. They all boot from SSDs (different models/makes though). My best system boots in 12 seconds. But that has an i7 and the fastest SSD. The others have more modest CPUs and a couple of SSDs are 1. Gen. They are a bit slower - but nothing really noticeable considering their capabilities.

 

[Golden]

Golden, are you sure there was not another cause, I have 3 systems with NIS2011 and 3 systems with MSE (mixed desktop and laptotps). I never noticed any difference in boot time. They all boot from SSDs (different models/makes though). My best system boots in 12 seconds. But that has an i7 and the fastest SSD. The others have more modest CPUs and a couple of SSDs are 1. Gen. They are a bit slower - but nothing really noticeable considering their capabilities.

Hi Wolfgang,

I wish it was something else - I really liked using NIS, it certainly had come a long way since the "bad" old days.

I never had the issue with long boot times, until one day I noticed my boot time doubled - the only thing that had changed was the automatic NIS updates. I used Windows Performance Analyser to "capture" my booting records, and Cluberti was kind enough to analyse the data for me. We nailed it down to NIS. Once uninstalled, the boot time halved.

Here is the thread covering the topic:

http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...5-help-diagnose-startup-time.html#post1265202

Regards,
Golden

 

[malexous]

I use Windows imaging and file/folder backup. Are you referring to these when you say "except Windows own"?

I am. I tried to set it up yesterday but the files that Windows Backup uses do not show up in Norton.

 

[pparks1]

Golden, are you sure there was not another cause, I have 3 systems with NIS2011 and 3 systems with MSE (mixed desktop and laptotps). I never noticed any difference in boot time.

Your systems are probably masking it well. I just went back and looked at a Maximum PC article from 1 year ago (it was NIS 2010) at the time, but they list the amount of time in seconds added to boot from various AV's.
Security Shootout: 10 Top Antivirus Apps Put to the Test

There were the additions they found back then on their test system from 1 year ago.

Norton +18
EST  +12
Avira +6
MSE + 9
McAfee +13
Trend Micro +32
Bit Defender +18
Panda +24
Comodo +15
Avast +19

 

[malexous]

Antivirus Performance Test 2: Boot Time
http://www.passmark.com/tpsreport11

 

[whs]

Hmm, those NIS2011 boot times are longer than my total boot time. One day I will reinstall Soluto and see what it says about NIS. Unfortunately I did not keep a snip when I was experimenting with it.

 

[mjf]

The figure linked to by malexous in post #28 are for Norton Antivirus.
Norton 360 is much longer.
It's not clear what the NIS figure is.

Personally 10 seconds here or there doesn't bother me.

 

[malexous]

From the second link:

Norton Antivirus 2011 - 26.63 seconds
Norton Internet Security 2011 - 26.92 seconds
Norton 360 Version 5.0 - 29.50 seconds.

 

[whs]

The figure linked to by malexous in post #28 are for Norton Antivirus.
Norton 360 is much longer.
It's not clear what the NIS figure is.

Personally 10 seconds here or there doesn't bother me.

That may explain my confusion. I never used Norton 360 - only NIS.

Just saw those figures. They were on the next thread page. Those look like it is nearly the same. Question is what boot disk they used for the nums.

Norton Antivirus 2011 - 26.63 seconds
Norton Internet Security 2011 - 26.92 seconds
Norton 360 Version 5.0 - 29.50 seconds.

 

[malexous]

Check page fifty-seven for hardware used and page fifty-eight for procedure used in the PassMark test and this page for Raymond.CC's.

 

[whs]

Check page fifty-seven for hardware used and page fifty-eight for procedure used in the PassMark test and this page for Raymond.CC's.

Yeah, they used a 7200RPM HDD - no wonder it is slow.

 

[gazz9496]

as someone that constantly removes viruses from peoples machines i come across 3 main anti virus apps macafee avg free/paid and norton, i honestly couldn't recommend any of those at the moment.

the other issue alot of people with norton end up with is being completly blocked from the internet untill the package is completly removed from the system, i complete pain in the ass for users and oddly norton is now what i check for first when i see those.

personally i use eset nod 32 on 2 machines and i find it non intrusive yet quick to catch stuff doesn't slow my machine on startup i did notice it after i changed the event launcher stupidly and had 12 scans running...see sig lol.

but then eset works for me, and thats ok but i'll put my eyes out with hot pokers before i could recommend norton at the moment, biggest pile of over inflated pointlessly shiney dog poo ever to grace a computer.

but then i have to constantly remove the stupid thing so people can get back online to do stuff like work so ye i hate it, the norton removal tool is currently my most used app.

 

[malexous]

Everything causes problems for someone. Norton is not alone in breaking internet connections.

I know two others that remove viruses as a main job or a side job and if the customer wants a paid solution, they install a Norton product. Since installing Norton, no customer has come back with further problems.

 

[jimbo45]

MSE is good but it is not advanced as other AVs, it won't protect you against most online attacks and won't be a good choice if you download a lot...
Use Norton 360 since you got it for free

The new versions of Norton are light on system resources

Hi there
PLEASE QUOTE CHAPTER AND VERSE for the totally LUDICROUS and UTTERLY absurd statement here.

If you really believe that MSE won't protect you against most online attacks I suggest you go back to reading Computer Basics.

I don't like to be nasty but its these "Pontificating" statements posted without ANY supporting evidence that give this whole area of comparing AV software a really bad name.

I can honestly say in over 40 YEARS of consistently downloading stuff I've NEVER EVER had a virus -- and I've only started using AV software in the last 2 years.

USERS are usually the problem not the AV software --however thats a totalluy different issue.

MSE might not be as good as some - who can really tell -- but it WILL leave people decently protected. No AV software can ever be 100% watertight -- but there is no way that MSE will miss MOST online threats either.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[seth500]

MSE is good but it is not advanced as other AVs, it won't protect you against most online attacks and won't be a good choice if you download a lot...
Use Norton 360 since you got it for free

The new versions of Norton are light on system resources

Hi there
PLEASE QUOTE CHAPTER AND VERSE for the totally LUDICROUS and UTTERLY absurd statement here.

If you really believe that MSE won't protect you against most online attacks I suggest you go back to reading Computer Basics.

I don't like to be nasty but its these "Pontificating" statements posted without ANY supporting evidence that give this whole area of comparing AV software a really bad name.

I can honestly say in over 40 YEARS of consistently downloading stuff I've NEVER EVER had a virus -- and I've only started using AV software in the last 2 years.

USERS are usually the problem not the AV software --however thats a totalluy different issue.

MSE might not be as good as some - who can really tell -- but it WILL leave people decently protected. No AV software can ever be 100% watertight -- but there is no way that MSE will miss MOST online threats either.

Cheers
jimbo

I agree with jim on this statement, you have to be wise about where you get your downloads from and what activities you are performing with the computer. Go to adult websites and your bound to get some crap and also torrent sites and illegal downloading, the reason for so many viruses in the last little while have actually been put out by the product companies who offer the software for those who want to do it the illegal way and download torrents then thats where they put their product, it may seem that I'm going off on a limb here but it's true, backdoor trojans are the most popular viruses out there and what better way to find out if the product is genuine or not. As far as AV software-thats you choice and preference I feel that my Outpost Security Suite and Sandboxie do a superb job even though they are not free but I have never been a strong believer in "free" you get what you pay for you just have to find what's best for you....

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Of course use whatever you feel is good -- my take on Sandboxie is that you can achieve the same protection FREE by using a Virtual Machine to test / download software on and then migrate it to your REAL machine --however again a different issue.

The point I was trying to make here is not that MSE is the best security package out there but I was refuting the OP's suggestion that it would not detect most of the current online threats --which obviously is clearly and utterly ABSURD.

Whatever package you use these days whether paid for or Free will certainly detect at least 90% of current threats out there.

If you believe that it's worth paying for what you feel is extra protection --that's fine but again I'm saying for most normal users who aren't continually downloading illegal music or browing warez sites MSE is perfectly adequate.

Cheers

jimbo

 

[Stratos]

MSE is good but it is not advanced as other AVs, it won't protect you against most online attacks and won't be a good choice if you download a lot...
Use Norton 360 since you got it for free

The new versions of Norton are light on system resources

Hi there
PLEASE QUOTE CHAPTER AND VERSE for the totally LUDICROUS and UTTERLY absurd statement here.

If you really believe that MSE won't protect you against most online attacks I suggest you go back to reading Computer Basics.

I don't like to be nasty but its these "Pontificating" statements posted without ANY supporting evidence that give this whole area of comparing AV software a really bad name.

I can honestly say in over 40 YEARS of consistently downloading stuff I've NEVER EVER had a virus -- and I've only started using AV software in the last 2 years.

USERS are usually the problem not the AV software --however thats a totalluy different issue.

MSE might not be as good as some - who can really tell -- but it WILL leave people decently protected. No AV software can ever be 100% watertight -- but there is no way that MSE will miss MOST online threats either.

Cheers
jimbo

Agreed. Many people merely repeat what others post on the internet, read a few reviews online and think they really understand what's going on.

The biggest threats come from when you access unknown sources, like a hard drive that doesn't belong to you, a website filled with malicious code, P2P software where some may share out rogue apps posing as legit files. As far as legit sites go, a lot of the first line defense is actually on their web server. For example our company's web server is backed by an enterprise level Sophos Server which monitors all incoming and outgoing connections. It's not very likely that anyone will download any viruses as a result.

However there's no requirement to have any web server backed by any form of antivirus software so that's the reason why you use AV on your personal machine in the first place. The second being is to help mitigate the spread of viruses.

Like Jimbo I haven't seen a virus in years and I deal with hundreds and thousands of computers. The last time I saw one was back in 2005 when I picked up an old hard drive, wondered what was on it, discovered it had a few variants of the ILOVEYOU on an IMESH download folder. However nearly all of the threats come in the form of malware. For that unless you're lazier than I am, you can easily protect yourself using a few free applications.

Where the AV products are not equal are in 2 areas, their anti-malware engine (usually bundled along with the AV software) and the software's heuristic capabilities, which means the ability for it to identify a suspicious file without triggering false positives that isn't in its native definition files.

Going back to the original topic, as far as AV is concerned, Norton is NOT better than MSE. Where MSE is weak is with its MsMpEng.exe when it tries to scan in the background. Microsoft needs to tweak it some to make it more efficient but overall it still does a great job for what it is.