22 responses to “Microsoft Security Essentials is doing well”

1. 

   Chris November 6th, 2009 at 11:43

   The October edition of PC World magazine has a comparison of the free anti virus software programs available. They give Avaira Anti Virus a 92 score and Avast a 91. Microsoft gets an 86. Avast is also coming out with ver 5, and I am testing it on a Windows 7 laptop. It seems to work great, and it has a new interface. It might be worth checking out the article.

2. 

   sanda November 7th, 2009 at 02:50

   Some of us don’t have have tech way to pay online…and still use paper. Alors.

3. 

   woody November 7th, 2009 at 07:06

   Chris -

   I got very tired of Avast’s scary nag screens. MSE works fine, does everything you need it to do, it’s free, and it doesn’t nag. Winning combination, IMHO.

4. 

   Richard November 7th, 2009 at 09:52

   I was going to download MSE and the video said to uninstall all antivirus and all antispyware programs before installing MSE. I know any antivirus would have to go but I thought antispyware programs worked well together. What is your advice?

5. 

   woody November 8th, 2009 at 02:57

   Richard -

   My experience has been that MSE works well with antispyware scanners – that is, if your antispyware program performs a scan of your computer when you ask it to, it’ll work fine with MSE.

   What you don’t want is to run MSE with an antivirus or antispyware program that’s running all the time. They’ll conflict. If you have real-time scanning for spyware, uninstall the antispyware program before you install MSE.

6. 

   rc primak November 8th, 2009 at 05:10

   By the way, any PC World score of 80 or better is pretty much iron-clad, so don’t get mixed up in a game of splitting hairs. Among free AV programs, AVG, Avast, MSE and Avira are all just fine for most home users. And so is Malwarebytes Antimalware, as well as the Zone Alarm or Comodo Firewalls. The Comodo Internet Security suite is sub-par if you ask me, but I only use their firewall, and only because I still use Windows XP. (My only active AV program is Avast, and it never nags me about anything. I use their free edition with automatic updates and Avast News switched off in the Options.) The Vista and Windows 7 firewalls are perfectly adequate, especially if your wireless router has its security features fully enabled.

   That’s what most of the experts and on-line magazines seem to think in any event.

   Also because I use Windows XP, I use a couple of extra spyware scanners (nothing active here) and a couple of anti-rootkit programs. Windows XP needs all the security help it can get.

   No system drag noted, even on an older laptop with only a single-core processor.

7. 

   woody November 9th, 2009 at 07:42

   Bob -

   My only real complaint with the other free AV programs is that they use scare tactics to try to get you to pay for them. Microsoft Security Essentials is free, and there’s no “Gold” version that MS will try to ram down your throat.

   At least, not yet.

8. 

   Chris November 9th, 2009 at 11:43

   How often does MSE update, and does it use Windows update? If so, do you have to have the automatic updates enabled for it to work? I am just a little leery of why MS would put out a good program for free…

9. 

   sanda November 9th, 2009 at 22:16

   If that (comment above by Woody) is only reason to leave AVGfree, I’m hesitant. If it’s as good as MSE basically, I’d like to stay with what I have. Have similar hardware to rc primak. My question is: isn’t MSE from the same folks who put out those “patches” that are so troublesome?

10. 

    woody November 10th, 2009 at 06:31

    Yep, they’re both from MS. But patches and AV are two different animals entirely.

11. 

    woody November 10th, 2009 at 06:32

    Chris -

    It looks like MSE updates every few hours. Yes, it does use the Windows Update mechanism, but it updates whether you’ve turned on automatic updates or not.

    You have good reason to be leery. But so far it’s working great for me.

12. 

    Bob PRimak November 12th, 2009 at 14:21

    Woody,

    I have had Avast for two years now, never paid for it, and never saw a nag or a “scare screen”. What are you talking about? I have used the Comodo Firewall for over w year, and never been nagged or seen a “scare screen”. Again, what are you talking about? Same with Malwarebytes Free over a six-month period of constant use. No nags, no “scare screens”. All I have to watch out for is to uncheck all the Toolbars which come with the installers if you aren’t careful.

    Now, AVG, AVira, and Zone Alarm may be using “scare screens” and upgrade nags. But I dropped both products after they were judged less than adequate by several independent testers and reviewers.

    Yes, I get ads and newsletters imploring me to upgrade, and Zone Alarm still sends me spam after three years of not using their products. Norton is still sending me Expiration Notices two years after I stopped using their security products and utilities.

    So where did you download your free Avast or Comodo, that it behaved so much differently from mine? I live in the USA.

13. 

    Bob Primak November 12th, 2009 at 14:30

    And Sanda —

    So far, there have been few if any reports of widespread problems with MSE or its updating mechanism. Which is more than I can say for AVG Free.

    Avast, Malwarebytes and Comodo have been trouble-free for me, except that there was a brief problem when I added PC Tools Threatfire to the mix. With Threatfire gone, all is well with my little laptop. (And Woody, Threatfire also never used any nags or “scare screens” to prompt an upgrade, although there are reminders at their web site that there is an upgrade available.)

    I am planning on upgrading to a new Windows 7 laptop when the initial fuss dies down. Then I would like to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and use MSE — just to encourage what for Microsoft seems to be a turning point in their attitude towards Home User security issues.

    Why encourage the Third-Party Security Racket when you can let Microsoft do what they should have been doing all along — offering their own solution to their security issues. But don’t dump those free secondary scanners just yet! They still have their place, in my opinion.

14. 

    Bob Primak November 12th, 2009 at 14:34

    Footnote to previous post: I have never used Avira. It was AVG Free and Paid, as well as Zone Alarm Free and Paid, which I have dropped, along with Norton 360 Version 2. (Norton 360 would not allow Firefox 2 to update its Extensions — a definite Deal-Breaker for me.)

15. 

    woody November 12th, 2009 at 20:17

    I’ve seen the Avast scare screen and it’s… scary.

    Don’t know about Comodo.

    All of my downloads are from the US, same as you. I use 100% US versions of all software, although I’ve lived in Phuket, Thailand for almost ten years now.

16. 

    sanda November 17th, 2009 at 05:16

    I’m tech-slow. Since so far, AVGfree is doing OK, I’d like to stay with it, plus the other things Woody, you have suggested such as Firefox. Is there any danger? If the only complaint is the scare warnings, well – I’ve been through it before. The thought of having to learn another thing in that area….only if really necessary, p l e a s e…

17. 

    woody November 18th, 2009 at 07:49

    Sanda -

    No danger, as long as you don’t open your wallet and pay for “protection” you don’t need.

18. 

    harry eckert January 9th, 2010 at 07:38

    You’ve got a great discussion group. I take from what I read that you can use MSE as a stand-alone with no need for any other protection such as AVG.

19. 

    woody January 9th, 2010 at 07:48

    Harry -

    Absolutely. MSE is its own antivirus and antispyware program. And it’s a very good one.

    Oh. Did I mention? It’s also free….

20. 

    harry eckert January 10th, 2010 at 08:07

    Thanks Woody !!

21. 

    Ed June 4th, 2010 at 23:04

    Hi Woody,
    I like to use the wi-fi (of my isp) or the library free hotspot to log on to my brokerage accounts. What kind of software /hardware I should use to prevent my user id and password being intercepted? Will MCE do the job?
    Thanks for your help.
    Ed

22. 

    woody June 6th, 2010 at 22:44

    @Ed -

    Any brokerage house worth its salt will have you log in under a secured connection (”https”). So your big worry isn’t from sniffing – from people eavesdropping on your conversation.

    The big problem with public PCs is keyloggers – rogue programs that record what you type, and then send the info to Kazbukistan.

    If you’re using your own PC, and somebody else’s WiFi, with traffic over a secured connection, that greatly reduces the chances of having problems.