Is the free Windows anti virus sufficient or should one pay subs to a real anti virus suite?

[jack71 81]

We purchased a couple of stand alone windows PCs to do certain things for our business. I see it has the free anti virus as part of the package. 

 

Would you suggest that we buy anti virus? If so which one do you recommend?

thanks

[upu2 658]

10 minutes ago, jack71 said:

We purchased a couple of stand alone windows PCs to do certain things for our business. I see it has the free anti virus as part of the package. 

 

Would you suggest that we buy anti virus? If so which one do you recommend?

thanks

Buy the Antivirus. The free ones do not detect anything like as many virses as the paid versions.

[soi3eddie 1,984]

Definitely buy a proper Internet Security package. Most of the big names are pretty good. Check out reviews on various computer magazines to see comparisons of features and reliability at detecting viruses and security issues. It may be the case that the trial package already installed is one of the good ones. At the end of the free trial they will try to get you to subscribe directly with them. I normally use a favourite package and can usually buy protection for 1-10 PCs for 1-3 years. I usually buy 5 PCs for 3 years off Amazon at about $50 or so in total. They will often send the activation code by email.

 

[OneMoreFarang 27,642]

Microsoft Antivirus, and firewall, and and and is very good. There is absolutely no reason to buy something else. That was shown again and again in professional computer magazines.

 

And IMHO one of the best features of the MS solution is that it just works. No annoying messages, no annoying questions. Nothing. It just works.

 

And for the record: I would personally pay for other solutions if they would be better. I don't have to do that.

 

[kekalot 607]

9 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Microsoft Antivirus, and firewall, and and and is very good. There is absolutely no reason to buy something else. That was shown again and again in professional computer magazines.

 

And IMHO one of the best features of the MS solution is that it just works. No annoying messages, no annoying questions. Nothing. It just works.

 

And for the record: I would personally pay for other solutions if they would be better. I don't have to do that.

 

 

25 years in IT, agree with the above sentiment. Windows Security is better than the paid ones.

waste of money, regardless of price.. wouldn't even use them if they were free and is always the first thing I uninstall if it comes on a device

 

[upu2 658]

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

Definitely buy a proper Internet Security package. Most of the big names are pretty good. Check out reviews on various computer magazines to see comparisons of features and reliability at detecting viruses and security issues. It may be the case that the trial package already installed is one of the good ones. At the end of the free trial they will try to get you to subscribe directly with them. I normally use a favourite package and can usually buy protection for 1-10 PCs for 1-3 years. I usually buy 5 PCs for 3 years off Amazon at about $50 or so in total. They will often send the activation code by email.

 

I reckon the best ones are Bit Defender (which I currently use), ESET and Kasperski. There are others of curse that are very good these are the three I tend to go for.

[bendejo 7,809]

Just did a clean reinstall of 20H2 and stuck with Defender AV.  Ran it for a few weeks, the scans were pretty clean.  Then ran Avira and Malwarebytes, both immediately detected rogue instances of svchost.exe.  So much for Defender as an AV, but the firewall in good for blocking what I tell it to.

 

 

[KeeTua 335]

I agree with those that suggest its not necessary to used paid anti-virus/malware programs. Since this will be a shared PC for business I recommend having the user account(s) be standard user. This goes a long way to protect a PC. Create one account that will be an administrator account to use only when you need to install software or perform other tasks that require an administrative account.

 

Standard user account:
Standard accounts can use most software and change system settings that don't affect other users or the security of this PC.

 

Administrator account:
Administrators have complete control over the PC. They can change settings and access all of the files and programs stored on the PC.

[BigStar 1,869]

8 hours ago, bendejo said:

Just did a clean reinstall of 20H2 and stuck with Defender AV.  Ran it for a few weeks, the scans were pretty clean.  Then ran Avira and Malwarebytes, both immediately detected rogue instances of svchost.exe.  So much for Defender as an AV, but the firewall in good for blocking what I tell it to.

It's a good idea to run a scan with free Malwarebytes, say once a week or after some event, in addition to relying on Defender.

[thaibeachlovers 33,508]

13 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Microsoft Antivirus, and firewall, and and and is very good. There is absolutely no reason to buy something else. That was shown again and again in professional computer magazines.

 

And IMHO one of the best features of the MS solution is that it just works. No annoying messages, no annoying questions. Nothing. It just works.

 

And for the record: I would personally pay for other solutions if they would be better. I don't have to do that.

 

I used to have a certain antivirus but had to get rid of it as making my computer too slow. After it was deleted the improvement in speed was spectacular.

As to the requirement for one at all- I'd say it depended on the sites one looks at.

[OneMoreFarang 27,642]

5 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I used to have a certain antivirus but had to get rid of it as making my computer too slow. After it was deleted the improvement in speed was spectacular.

I am not sure if it is technically still possible: The worst case is if people install several active AV programs at the same time. That is a certain way to make everything super slow. But I guess Windows 10 will make sure that doesn't happen anymore - at least under normal circumstances. 

[thaibeachlovers 33,508]

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

I am not sure if it is technically still possible: The worst case is if people install several active AV programs at the same time. That is a certain way to make everything super slow. But I guess Windows 10 will make sure that doesn't happen anymore - at least under normal circumstances. 

It was only one, and once that one was deleted everything came right.

[KannikaP 1,198]

8 hours ago, bendejo said:

Just did a clean reinstall of 20H2 and stuck with Defender AV.  Ran it for a few weeks, the scans were pretty clean.  Then ran Avira and Malwarebytes, both immediately detected rogue instances of svchost.exe.  So much for Defender as an AV, but the firewall in good for blocking what I tell it to.

 

 

The free versions will always find something they say Defender has missed so that you will go out and BUY. Had Defender since w10 came out, scheduled to run every boot up, but it runs in the background, does not intrude or slow the PCs down. Defender is good.

[KannikaP 1,198]

14 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It was only one, and once that one was deleted everything came right.

Any 'external' AV program will over-ride Defender, but it will still run in the background and let you know if something is amiss.

[2530Ubon 1,873]

Has anyone purchased McAfee on Lazada? Dirt cheap - unbelievably so. 100 - 300 baht for multi year packages. My original subscription is expiring soon, are these keys legit or would I just be throwing a hundred baht or two away?