AntiVirus Software

[dyne]

I installed antivirus software from several sources which claimed to be FREE but they actually ALL charged a yearly fee.
I found MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS which is antivirus software which IS actually FREE. It must be renewed or
re-registered each year but there is NO fee. I installed it and like it.

[Lion]

Business Use

Much free software is free for personal use only. Many charge for business use. Read the license carefully.

I consider paying for good antivirus software a sound business expense, usual and necessary for my home office. The cost is rather small compared to my total business expenses.

[AZ-Tax]

Sometimes you get what you paid for

Just the other day I went to a reputable website that I have been going to for years and wa la, a screen came up and started scanning my computer. I thought I had MS Essentials installed but never the less I ended going to Staples and paying $159 for this guy to go through my laptop and delete any viruses, mulware, spyware etc. and then loaded Norton. Tech guy told me no guarantee even Norton would have prevented the "2010 Virus" from infecting my computer.

[Jiggers]

Malwarebytes

Try www.malwarebytes.com for a free anti-virus software.

You have to manually do updates with the free one, but get automatic updates when you pay the subscription,

My tech guy said this was the best for keeping viruses off the computer.

I also use Norton and it didn't keep the one that shows up saying you have a virus and you must pay $XXX to get it off the computer.

Hopefully with both running I have some protection.

[MAMalody]

Be careful with two anit-viruses. I once had two and they each thought the other was a virus. Took me 8 hourse to get everything back to normal....whatever that was.

[AZ-Tax]

Be careful with two anit-viruses?

That Staples Tech guy mentioned something similair that 2 may be worst then 1 so I disabled MS Essentials while I have Norton at least for 1st year.

[Mike Mac]

Norton

Jiggers,

I use Norton as well but got that same darn virus that you are talking about. I tried everything to get rid of it but finally had to call Norton support. They cleared it off my computer by taking control of my computer remotely BUT I had to pay extra for the service. No amount of my pleading regarding the fact that I was already paying to keep that stuff off my computer due to the fact I bought their software helped.

[Jiggers]

Virus

Jiggers,

I use Norton as well but got that same darn virus that you are talking about. I tried everything to get rid of it but finally had to call Norton support. They cleared it off my computer by taking control of my computer remotely BUT I had to pay extra for the service. No amount of my pleading regarding the fact that I was already paying to keep that stuff off my computer due to the fact I bought their software helped.

My tech guy talked me through the problem, and I had to restore my computer to a previous day, before the virus attach.

Started it back up and it worked. He said it really isn't a virus per se, just a problem that wants money.

I use that Malwarebytes.com every day and, along with Norton, haven't had any more problems. Knock on wood!

I had the same argument about Norton, and my tech guy said they don't get everything caught.

Jeesh!

[taxxcpa]

Avast

There is a free anti-virus program called Avast. I installed it, but since I never open an attachment received by e-mai unless it is tax information from a client or other expected information, I'm not too likely to get a virus.

[dtlee]

Free isn't always good and, as mentioned above, is often only free for non-commercial use.

However, I agree with Dyne. The technical newsletters I rely on have sung the praises of Microsoft Security Essentials for months as being as good as (and often superior to) the fee-based products and significantly better than other free products. Their license agreement does allow home and home-based business use, which probably covers at least some of us. Specifically, it says, "You may install and use any number of copies of the software on your devices in your household for use by people who reside there or for use in your home-based small business."

Quite a few of the free antivirus programs have lost favor of late, but Malwarebytes is still very well-regarded for on-demand scanning. There is a fee for installing it with its real-time anti-virus scanning mode.

UPDATE:

They have revised their EULA (this month, I think) for Microsoft Security Essentials:

" Home Use. ... As a home user, you may not use the software in any commercial, non-profit, or revenue generating business activities."

" Small Business. If you operate a small business, then you may install and use the software on up to ten (10) devices in your business."

" Restrictions.The software may not be used on a device running an enterprise version of a Microsoft Windows operating system.The software may not be used on devices owned by government or academic institutions."

Don't take my word, though, read it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/eula.aspx

This means that for a lot of us, there is no reason why we should not be using this for our machines.

THANK YOU DYNE FOR MAKING ME LOOK THIS UP!

[geekgirldany]

I use the paid version of Avast and Malwarebytes. I was using AVG and got a really bad virus. I had to wipe my hard drive clean. Thankfully it was the home computer. Since then I have both on my computers and "knock on wood" no viruses or malware.

[dyne]

Insert "MicroSoft Security Essentials Outperforms Paid Antivirus in AV Test" in
Google and you will find that tests revealed that MicroSoft Security Essentials
outperformed ALL other PAID antivirus software. It is FREE for personal use or
BUSINESS use.

[Lion]

Ms?

Is this bundled with Windows on new computers? Win7 only or older versions, such as XP?

[dyne]

MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS Antivirus Software is compatable with Windows 7,
Windows Vista and Windows XP. I installed it on my Windows 7 64 bit computer and
it works very well. It was NOT bundled with my new computer, at least I could not find it there.
You have to find it on the internet and download it.It is much easier to download than the
other antivirus software. An improvement in the form of an update will be available in about a week.

[dtlee]

I included a link to it when I posted the link to their EULA. There is a download link on that page as well.