MS Security Essentials 2, or a free AV software ?

[tweakboy]

Im worried about possible slow downs. I hate real time protection to scan each file that gets launched. On SSD Im shure this is irrelevant but for me I dont like it. MS Security Essentials has a small foot print and it doesnt slow down the computer or slow down the internet. I dont need all these guards and what not.

Soo my dad comes up to me shows me PC magazine article how MSE 2 is rated 75 and PC Tools Spyware Guard is 92 ... ahead of it also was avg and some others.

Who trusts Microsoft like me ? and use the green icon on taskbar ms essentials . and a firewall app.

and win patrol ,, that is what I use ,,,, no slow down on system at all. I dont believe pc magazine they could be payed off or what ?

 

[Slugbait]

Spyware Guard is malware.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor is not an anti-virus program...does he mean the bundled setup known as Spyware Doctor plus AV? Last month avcomparatives gave it an award of TESTED with False Positives=Many and Scanning Speed=Slow and came oh-so-damn close to taking Last Place in Missed Samples (K7 got the honors). If you want something free that's better than MSE, I'd suggest Avira. If you want something that costs money, PC Tools would essentially be stealing money from you.

PCMag has been PC Tools' bitch for years. I let my subscription run out back in '97.

 

[thescreensavers]

MSE is not the best, but its a set it and forget it type thing.

 

[gmaster456]

I use MSE2. Its fantastic, I like it because I can just install it and never have to see it again. I don't need all the additional features of other offerings. I know how to behave on the internet.

 

[IamDavid]

I use MSE2. Its fantastic, I like it because I can just install it and never have to see it again. I don't need all the additional features of other offerings. I know how to behave on the internet.

+1

 

[jhansman]

Based on a recommendation found here, I disabled (but left installed) MSE2 and am giving Comodo Firewall a try. The free version offers three levels of protection and seems to keep a pretty small memory footprint (fluctuates between 1-2 MB). So far, it's stayed out of my way and offers a pretty good amount of info. Reviews on it are good, but I can't vouch for those sources.

 

[corkyg]

MSE2 is excellent, especially when combined with Malwarebytes.

 

[sswingle]

I've had MSE catch stuff on flash drives that were given to me from users of AVG, and AVG never caught it.

 

[spherrod]

MSE2 is excellent, especially when combined with Malwarebytes.

Yeah, that combination works well for me

 

[HeXen]

Performance tests show that ESET had the smallest difference in startups, running apps and games in comarison to no AV. MSE didnt do shabby though and its free. Though for doing things where i need security, i just use a Linux LIve usb

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

What's cool about MSE is that you can set how much CPU % you want it to use when scanning.

 

[Emulex]

MSE + spybot and/or malwarebytes - superb combination.

also secunia OSI or PSI to keep your apps up to date.

and backup daily!

 

[tweakboy]

Spyware Guard is malware.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor is not an anti-virus program...does he mean the bundled setup known as Spyware Doctor plus AV? Last month avcomparatives gave it an award of TESTED with False Positives=Many and Scanning Speed=Slow and came oh-so-damn close to taking Last Place in Missed Samples (K7 got the honors). If you want something free that's better than MSE, I'd suggest Avira. If you want something that costs money, PC Tools would essentially be stealing money from you.

PCMag has been PC Tools' bitch for years. I let my subscription run out back in '97.

Yes it has anti virus engine. Its Spyware Guard with Anti Virus

 

[tweakboy]

MSE2 is excellent, especially when combined with Malwarebytes.

yes I do that. and spyware blaster etc. immunize spybot immunize also use ad block add ons for each browser they have one.

for IE you put IE9 and use ad block for add on, same with fox, ad block plus add on and chrome extension ad block extension.

thx gg and gl

 

[Slugbait]

Yes it has anti virus engine. Its Spyware Guard with Anti Virus

Uh-huh. Yeah, like I said, Spyware Guard is malware. Removal instructions: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-spyware-guard-2008

There is a legit antispyware program called SpywareGuard (one word), but it's made by Javacool, not PC Tools. It's pretty old, hasn't even been tested for compatibility with Vista yet.

 

[Emulex]

stick to mse2 - btw i strongly suggest you tweak the task scheduler properties - the UI for scheduling is not very good (confusing) but if you open up task scheduler and find the windows malware schedule and properties it you can do some pretty slick stuff. same goes for backup. there isn't a simple wake-up to scan. but in task scheduler its pretty much worded just like that.

scan full daily takes about 15 minutes with wake-up from hibernation with ssd.

 

[Slugbait]

scan full daily takes about 15 minutes with wake-up from hibernation with ssd.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...hibernation? Nonono, that's for laptops. You disable hibernation for desktop boxes and take back the hard drive space=RAM it would otherwise reserve for itself, and use S3 instead.

 

[HeXen]

less he wants to save more electricity usage.

 

[shimpster]

the ultimate protection;

mse http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx

mbam http://www.malwarebytes.org/

spywareblaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

spybot search n destroy {old version} http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

firewall zonealarm free--i uninstalled commodo firewall as it was a resource hog when running qtorrent

 

[lowrider69]

For free protection I prefer Avast, MSE isn't what it was a year ago. Also for some reason MSE is not tested over at AV-Comparatives anymore.

 

[General Kenobi]

My recommendation for free security software would be the following (articles on them can be found in Wikipedia.)

Antivirus: Avast! Antivirus
Firewall: Comodo Firewall
On-Demand Scanner 1: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
On-Demand Scanner 2: SUPERAntiSpyware

These four play well together, and there aren't any conflicts. Plus, only the antivirus and firewall are running actively with this setup.

 

[shimpster]

http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

 

[pcslookout]

Limited user account, non on demand virus scanner, and malawarebytes.

 

[Emulex]

mse is on every pc that runs windows because it is part of the feedback system of malicious software removal tool which comes out 1-2 times a month through windows update. I'm surprised nobody has sued them for having such a good product which could eliminate the competition. the two problems are: perception -Microsoft should not have to protect it's own weaknesses - and enterprise management isn't as good as symantec SEPM or SMB 12

 

[lowrider69]

Just saw this posted at Av-Comparatives under detection tests. MSE is included again.



On-Demand Comparative August 2011

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2011.pdf

MSE's detection rate is in the toilet. 92.3%. Plus it's a very slow scanner.