Anyone Use Microsoft Security Essentials?

claytonheath · 18-05-2011, 16:55

My paid for anti-virus sofware runs out shortly and I have been quoted a high price to renew it. I have been looking at the free programs available and came across Microsoft Security Essentials. Can anyone recommend this or can you 'pro's' out there recommend something else? I have used combinations of programs in the past such as spybot and adaware but are there any new ones that work?

cashman · 18-05-2011, 23:04

i know sod all about computers mate, but have used AVG Free fer 6 years n am very happy wi it.

steeljack · 19-05-2011, 04:32

second Cashy on this I use AVG , seems to work fine , also have CCcleaner and Malwarebytes installed for the occasional/monthly clean-up .
Sure one of the Techies will set you straight on how many you need , supposedly you should have only one (something about 'cross interference" ) but I've found each one when run in successive scans picks up different stuff.
Only problem I've found with AVG is that it allways seems to kick-in (update) when I'm in the middle of something and slow things down for a few minutes.
Should add ,I've never noticed any difference in perfomance or problems since I dropped the 'paid' for Norton/Systemic protection and went free .

flashy · 19-05-2011, 06:27

My laptop came with Microsoft S.E, it is very irritating, it constantly asks you to verify every site you go on, it does its job but it wasn't for me, i have AVAST (the free version) on at the moment and that seems to work well

accyman · 19-05-2011, 08:33

microsoft security essentials is very good and works vey well infact iv abandoned the free antivirus i was using and switched to it on all my computers running xp pro and windows 7 ultimate but i do still use malawarebytes for malaware

it dosnt eat system resources which avg is a nightmare for and you can set how much of your processor you want it to use when scanning so that you can carry on using your pc without too much slow down.

only pop up i get is when it updates but it depends on how you configure it which is simple to do as well and not complicated like others are.

i certainly wouldnt pay for antivirus and if your paid for antivirus was norton this is 500x better .

just remember to completely uninstall your old antivirus and reboot before installing a new one

claytonheath · 19-05-2011, 17:02

Thanks you all for your replies. I have a just over a week before it runs out so I am going to try your recommendations on my spare laptop and see which works the best for me. Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.