Anti-virus: Resident Or Not?

I specifically switched to all Apple products several years ago for the sole purpose of avoiding viruses. Knock on wood (and likely because I've become much more savvy with suspicious websites and emails), my computer has remained free of trojan horses and malware.

On a PC, I used Avast and paid the very low premium to get the most updated sweeps. It did seem to do a pretty good job, but every once in a while my computer would start running slow, we'd do a sweep, and find out there was something on it. IN that case, every time I simply restored factory settings to clear it out. Honestly, I'm not sure there is a program on the planet that catches everything, but if you have a PC, it is probably better to have something than nothing.

 

Windows SE and Defender are more than enough for people that aren't doing stupid things with their computers. Also, it's a myth that OSX devices are safer than Windows OS devices. It really all depends on what a person does with their machine. If you're not opening spam emails or visiting sketchy websites or downloading questionable freeware, then you're not going to run into problems, whether you have antivirus protection or not.

 

I use to have Windows and used it faithfully on every computer I have ever had. Then I started having problems with Windows 7 slowing down all the time; so I switched to something else.

Back when I did have Windows it got viruses and rogues anti viruses a lot, I had Windows Security Essentials but it wasn't doing much and was always giving me false positives. I had downloaded MalwareBytes and it was just awesome, whenever I ran it, it would get just about everything that was wrong on the system. Whenever I would get a rogue anti virus I would start the computer in safe mode, run Malwarebytes, restart the computer, no more rogue. It was the best thing I had ever used.

Fortunately my new system doesn't get viruses so I have no need for any AV software.

 

If you're really careful with what you're doing online and offline you probably won't need any other antivirus, MSE and WD would be okay. But I always tend to install a dedicated Anti Virus software just in case, you'll never know what your co-worker's flash drive is carrying inside it's belly.

 

I think that it's a must to have an anti-virus in your pc, because I remember that I was on a webpage and AVG warned me of something malicious trying to get in my pc, so I closed the page asap. The anti-virus of Windows never got to detect anything here in the pc, while others were able to detect the viruses that got past Windows. So I don't really trust Windows Defender.

 

I have been running AVG for years and have only had a virus get through once and that was when my brother downloaded something when he borrowed my laptop - and it only got through because he disabled AVG so he could play some games.

To be honest you could have multiple programs running on certain people's computers and they will still get a virus because they are plain stupid and open and download everything without thinking.

 

I haven't installed any anti-virus software on my computer. The moment I bought it, after I'd installed all the essential software I'd be using I installed Deep Freeze and never again will I have to concern myself with viruses, trojans and other malware. After a browsing session all I need to do is restart my computer and it will be as clean as it was when it was new. I'd recommend using such "restore" software. It would save you a lot of stress scanning for viruses, worrying about keyloggers, etc.

 

Any anti-virus program that came with a new CPU tower or laptop are the lowest and ineffectual softwares, I simply delete them all once I've installed a new or better anti-virus program. In my opinion, stock virus programs usually become faulty once the trial period is over and it becomes detrimental to the performance of a CPU and its processes. I personally use the anti-virus called Malwarebytes and it has helped me maintain my computer from virus and spam attacks, and it works just as good or even better than more expensive anti-virus programs out there.

 

It can be annoying at times, yes.

For example if you were composing something on WORD and for some reason the computer goes off, you lose everything. But that happens only to someone who is using the program for the first time. Someone like me, I prepare for the worst.

What I hate though is having to reinstall media players each time I restart the computer.

 

I use KIS2014 paid version. It is better to have a resident antivirus program rather than nothing. Of course, there are problems with them deleting normal software because of false positives, but I feel it is better to feel safer than sorry. I do not know how restoring to factory image works on a Mac, and though it is a foolproof option, it is not for me as I do a lot of customisation for all my software and redoing them is a lot of pain.

 

I'm experiencing small issues after using only MSE. Come to think about it, I probably need another anti virus. I've been running malware bytes as well and it seems that they hardly find anything on my computer. Probably those pesky trojans and spyware can get past the MSE basic software security.

 

Microsoft Security Essentials is decently good, and can cover many of the most common viruses; however, there are other alternatives that are in my opinion flat out better. Even baidu antivirus seems to be better. For myself, I use AVAST! Free antivirus. They are really nice and unobtrusive if you keep it on silent mode. Most of the time though, I didn't even have antivirus. Antivirus can be unneeded by just practicing safe habits on the internet. By not downloading random programs and sticking to safe sites, you won't even need antivirus, you can keep yourself safe. But if you like to have that extra layer of protection, it is not that bad of an idea.

 

It's my OS that has issues, Peninha, not the software. If it was possible, I could disable Deep Freeze, install the programs I wish to keep then enable it. My OS is like "frozen" in one state [and it's not by Deep Freeze]. So like it or not, I'm stuck with old software that is obsolete. Only the browsers are OK. It forces me therefore to install any other software I'll be using each time I restart the computer.

I'd never heard of Restore Reboot and my curiosity piqued, I decided to look around, read some reviews and learned that it was as good as Deep Freeze. Unlike Deep Freeze though they have a free version of the software [which is great!]. Thanks for the recommendation. When I buy a new machine in a few months time, I'll prefer using this software . . .

 

On my PC which has Windows 8.1 I never really installed any other Anti-Virus program since I never use it for anything other than doing offline work and gaming so I don't really worry that much about viruses. But on my laptop which I use to surf the internet and download a bunch of stuff, I have 2 anti-virus programs running.

 

I think MSE is a pretty good anti-virus program. I use to have it on my Windows 7 PC and it did a pretty good job actually. But now I have a better one and I don't like how MSE sometimes just allows suspicious files to come in through the system without any warning, like that one where I got loads of adware stuck on my PC for a week, had to do a massive cleanup.