Virus Protection Expiration coincidence???

[Lewis Ehrhardt]

Well, my virus protection is just about up. I bought it for a two-year stint. Never, NEVER had a report of a near miss, whoops, that one almost got you, or anything like that. Well, what do you know, it's just about to expire and bam--Got one the other day, "We saved you, you almost got hit!" Also, I've had three major name virus protection programs, and every one of them caused problems with my computer when they expired. Coincidence? Don't think so. I wonder how much of this stuff is actually a racket. My name is Lewis and I approve of this message.

[Joel Goodman]

Got really upset when I let Norton expire -- they kept bugging me with pop up reminders and it wasn't obvious how to get it off my computer. Eventually got a Mac. Anyway Norton didn't win a fan -- such a stupid way to treat a customer -- not rushing to ever buy their products in the future. How about a pop up -- "If you don't want to renew click on this and it will remove our program -- thanks for using us for the last year or two"!

[Jason Roehl]

There are several free AV programs that are very good. Norton/Symantec AV for home use are considered viruses themselves by many in the IT world. It's also recommended to have a multi-layered defense: router (with firmware firewall), software firewall, AV software, spyware software.

[Lee Schierer]

I've used F-prot for more than 10 years. It has never allowed a virus, yes it has detected a few, to inhabit my computer. It has no noticeable effect on operations, it updates itself and runs automatically if you schedule it. Only when it is running a complete scan of the computer is there any noticeable speed difference. It isn't free, but at $25 per year it isn't bad either. You only get an email about a month before your expiration date to remind you to renew, if you ignore that one, you don't get any more notices. Removal of the program is easy too if you decide you don't want it.

I had Norton on computers at work and it was a constant hassle and removal was nigh on impossible.

My kids recommend Avast, which is free.

[Ed Looney]

Switch to Mac and don't look back.

Ed

[paul cottingham]

Try Linux, you'll like it. And far, far fewer issues with virii and spyware. I hate Symantec for the reasons brought up in this thread.

[Myk Rian]

Forget the Macs and Linux if you like Windows.
AVG has been a great FREE virus program for me, many years now.
free.avg.com
Install the BASIC protection and be happy.

[Bill Cunningham]

I use the Security Essentials free from microsoft.. It's stopped a number of potential threats, and does the same job as any of the other free ones. The way I look at it, is Microsoft has the most to lose from not being able to protect the users of their operating system from a virus attack and make pretty darn sure what their putting out will do the job..

[Jim Becker]

If you are on Windows 7, just use the Microsoft Essentials...it works and it works well and without affecting system performance. (As noted by Windows Secrets testing) It also never expires, from a "subscription" standpoint. If you are on Windows XP, absolutely use a 3rd party product...the Microsoft setup on XP isn't what it is on Win7.

[Greg Portland]

If you are on Windows 7, just use the Microsoft Essentials...it works and it works well and without affecting system performance. (As noted by Windows Secrets testing) It also never expires, from a "subscription" standpoint. If you are on Windows XP, absolutely use a 3rd party product...the Microsoft setup on XP isn't what it is on Win7.
+1, MSE is great for Vista and Win7. There are some reasons to go with McAfee / Intel combinations in a corporate environment (ePO Deep Commands, etc.) but it's not a reason to get it for home use.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I use the Security Essentials free from microsoft.. It's stopped a number of potential threats, and does the same job as any of the other free ones. The way I look at it, is Microsoft has the most to lose from not being able to protect the users of their operating system from a virus attack and make pretty darn sure what their putting out will do the job..

Another way to look at it is that if Microsoft cared, it would be part of the Windows package, with automatic updates and no expiration date.

[paul cottingham]

If Microsoft cared, they would close all the holes in their OS and redesign their horrible security model.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

+1, MSE is great for Vista and Win7. There are some reasons to go with McAfee / Intel combinations in a corporate environment (ePO Deep Commands, etc.) but it's not a reason to get it for home use.

+2

Then again AVG is also a good free product.

[Bill Cunningham]

Another way to look at it is that if Microsoft cared, it would be part of the Windows package, with automatic updates and no expiration date.

It's not part of the windows 'install' package, but you can download it and install with a click or two. It does have automatic updates, and no expiration. I run it on XP, and have no problems at all. I also have it on two win7 machines, and it runs exactly the same as it does on XP.. The only machine it slows down is a Oooold xp machine which is pretty well useless and ready for the scrap heap anyway... It works great, it's free, it won't slow down your machine and it updates itself every day..What more do you need?

[Ed Looney]

The reason I switched to Mac is because I got a bad virus days after installing and updating virus protection software. When I complained to the company they said that I got a brand new virus that they hadn't developed detection or the ability to stop yet. I spent over $50 dollars for new virus protection that didn't work. So I got rid of my PC's.
Now everything in my home is Mac except my wife's cell phone and when the contract permits she will have an iphone too. Mac is wonderful. If I enter an appointment in the calendar on my phone the event shows up on my laptop and desktop too. If I add a bookmark to the browser that sight is bookmarked on all my Apple products. If I create a document I can access it on any of my computers as well as my iphone. When I start up a Mac I don't have to wait to use it because yet another perpetual critical update is being installed. I leave my Mac desktop running and have yet to have it lock up with the blue screen of death like my old PC desktop that locked up regularly.
If you all like your PC's that is fine I am just telling of my experience with Windows products and why I have sought better (in my view) computing products.

PS I haven't paid for virus protection in well over a year and have yet to get any form of a virus.

Ed

[Jim Becker]

Ed, I'm a Mac user and I wouldn't think of not having virus protection running at this point...Mac is not immune and more and more nasties are targeting MacOS every day. Don't be complacent. The free version of Sophos has caught a few things; mostly stuff in email pointed at Windows (and I do run Win7 on this machine, too, in Parallels) but also at least one Mac varient. "Getting" a virus shouldn't be the trigger to starting to use protection, IMHO. And taking care doesn't have to cost money, either.

[Phil Thien]

Ed, I'm a Mac user and I wouldn't think of not having virus protection running at this point...Mac is not immune and more and more nasties are targeting MacOS every day. Don't be complacent. The free version of Sophos has caught a few things; mostly stuff in email pointed at Windows (and I do run Win7 on this machine, too, in Parallels) but also at least one Mac varient. "Getting" a virus shouldn't be the trigger to starting to use protection, IMHO. And taking care doesn't have to cost money, either.

Sage advice.

I have also had people ask me why Microsoft doesn't automatically include AV software in Windows. I imagine their concern is antitrust lawsuits. Microsoft is kinda darned if they do, darned if they don't.

I use Sophos on my Macs. It is pretty nice software.