AKB3000002: Choose an antivirus product
By @CanadianTech
Published 5 Feb 2017 rev 1.0
The “Security” software installed on your computer may be causing problems that can not be diagnosed or fixed. Try removing it temporarily.
This is a controversial topic, but your choice of AV software may be something you want to take a 2nd look at. I suggest you visit this web site to get a sense of which AV software does the best job, depending on what kind of user you are: AV-Comparitives. This is a non-profit that has been around for a long time and I trust their results. Their latest report is here (PDF). The chart on page 8 is the most demonstrative of the differences.
When you interpret these results, keep in mind the difference between a product that detects 95% and another 99% of infections, is actually 5 times more likely to allow an infection.
I am speaking from a great deal of experience. I support 150 client computers. I have been doing this for 15 years. My clients NEVER have infections.
The only products I will use or recommend are ANTIVIRUS-ONLY products. Any product that is called complete protection, Internet security or deems itself to be a comprehensive security product is prohibited on my client computers.
I have good reason for this. Over the years and hundreds of PCs, I’ve learned a lesson well. That it is very difficult to diagnose and fix the problem(s) when components of an Internet Security product are actively working to prevent that diagnosis. The software sees the technician (me in this case) as a threat. I discovered that if I uninstalled that software, I am able to much more likely and quickly discover an fix the problem. Antivirus ONLY products do not behave like this.
The other components in these IS products (other than the AV itself) cause more problems than any benefit they bring and mostly work by shutting down the Windows component that does a very good job of that particular task anyway.
It is the Antivirus software that you need. It is actually all that you need with Windows 7.
Most of the big name suppliers much prefer to sell their all-in products because they can sell them for a higher price. Some do not offer an antivirus-only product. Some push their all in ones and still sell the AV only product, but you may have to look for them. There is at least one and it is either the best or close to it.
Beware of products that try to actively engage you in the security process by asking your permission to run a program named xd43_45d*.exe, or the like.
Do not use any product that claims to make your computer run better. Virtually all of them are either bogus, themselves an infection, or put your computer at risk. Remove everything that claims to be there to prevent infections or claims to make your computer run better, with the singular exception of just one antivirus product.
Note well. You should never have more than one protection product installed. Always ensure that you completely remove any and all protection software packages before installing a new one. That includes software that may have come pre-installed on your computer when new. Some products will conflict with one another, causing yet more problems.
You cannot fully remove most any AV software by simply using the standard Windows 7 uninstall tool. Most of the majors also publish a “removal tool” that gets the rest of it. If you do not completely remove it, it will cause very hard to understand and diagnose problems.
Note from Woody: I use, and recommend, Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7, and Windows Defender (which is basically the same thing) for 8.1 and Windows 10. I do that fully realizing that MSE doesn’t score highest in the vendor evaluations – but I feel it works well enough for almost everybody, it’s free and doesn’t nag, and it usually doesn’t get in the way of Windows. Usually. Remember that your worst security problem is your clicking finger!
Updated by Susan 12-17-2022: I too rely on the built in Microsoft Defender on my Home and consumer computers. At this time I do not purchase any additional antivirus protection but use the native Microsoft protection. At the office I bump up the protection because I have a subscription to Microsoft 365 Business premium. This includes Microsoft Defender for Business. The product keeps an eye on the email threats as well as the workstation threats. The reason why I still to this day stay with Defender is that I feel it balances protection with not interfering with or causing side effects with updating.
Note that there is a similar enhanced product called Microsoft Defender for individuals that is available as part of a home Microsoft 365 subscription.
