I bought my first home PC in 1996. I then got a new one in 2000 and
another new PC in 2005. Now I'm using a new Dell I620, that came with
McAfee. Do I need to buy it from them. I notice there is free anti-virus
from Avast. I have never used anti-virus in the past. But, Windows 7 is
far more complex. I think my best way to protect myself is with a HHD
image as a backup. I did get a virus in the past. I had to reload everything, which took some time. But, with an image this would be
less of a problem, at least that's what I'm thinking. Am I missing
something....if so what?
I'm very careful about what I download and what software I install on
my home PC.
1937(BAD BOY)pontiac,all steel,chevy 350,dyno=405hp,650 holley double pumper,ps,pb tilt wheel,heat & air,
700 r4 tranny,headers,3" exhaust with flowmasters
just a good ole southern redneck country boy
X-2
Avast or AVG is all I have used for years and have never had a problem.
Bob & Betsy(FishNFanatic) - USN Aviation Ret'd '78 & LEO Ret'd '03 & "Oath Keeper Forever" '05 HR Endeavor 40PRQ, 400 Cummins-Pulling our '11 Silverado LT, Ex Cab 6.2L NHT 4x4, w/2010 Rzr or 01 V Star in back. Where the wheels are stopped today
I tell my customers to go with Avast, although I could make money by selling them the "regular" brands of anti-virus. Norton and Macafee have gotten so top heavy that all they want to do is take over your pc.
I would highly recommend using Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, light weight, and protects at least as well as Avast, AVG or the commercial products (Symantec, McAfee).
But I would not run without anti-virus.
Unfortunately, no matter how carefully you surf, simply visiting ordinary web site can get you virus, botted or trojaned, and odds are you will not even notice.
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LivinLite Camplite 16BHB
2011 Ford F150 EgoBoost
I have used the newer Norton suite. That works very well, not the old space hog it used to be. But costs money. I have also used AVG and MicroSoft free. And those both worked fine. I also like and have used for years Win Patrol. That stops the danger of a virus on your computer calling home without your permission. Any new programs calling out you have to approve.
If I was to use just one I would pick Win Patrol. The real danger for you is a bad guy sending information out. Unless you foolishly open stuff you should not, virus on your computer are rare.
DougCP wrote: I bought my first home PC in 1996. I then got a new one in 2000 and
another new PC in 2005. Now I'm using a new Dell I620, that came with
McAfee. Do I need to buy it from them. I notice there is free anti-virus
from Avast. I have never used anti-virus in the past. But, Windows 7 is
far more complex. I think my best way to protect myself is with a HHD
image as a backup. I did get a virus in the past. I had to reload everything, which took some time. But, with an image this would be
less of a problem, at least that's what I'm thinking. Am I missing
something....if so what?
I'm very careful about what I download and what software I install on
my home PC.
Then you would be one of those folks who keep the average number of malware running on the average PC at 32, last survey I saw. There was an article written about 2 years ago by an IT manager who did a little test: he wiped the hard drive on one of the company desktop computers, and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP. He then hooked it up to the internet, and left it sitting there. With NO action on his part, it acquired its first virus infection within 30 seconds, and reached the 32 mark within a couple minutes.
My friend, I hate to tell you this, but if you are running any form of Windows on your home PC, and you are not also keeping an effective and up-to-date anti-virus running as well, and you EVER hook up to the internet, you are being irresponsible.
Folks running Macs and Linux think they are immune, and they are wrong, as recent news stories have made clear. So don't get smug, 'k?
So, no, OP, you do not need to buy it from McAfee. There are free solutions that work fine, but by gum, you DO need to use SOMETHING lest you be part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.
I would also strongly recommend an anti-malware program, ie Malwarebytes (free). IIRC, the free version does not have live, ongoing, detection working, only the paid version.
With the free version of Malwarebytes you have to perform scans to detect and eliminate malware. Quick scans do not take very long, I run it weekly, or so.
I was long-time user of McAfee (free with AT&T internet svc), but changed to Avast hoping it would help on bootup. Got free 20-day use of Avast Pro. With Pro, I see no noticeable difference in bootup. But, so far, so good. Avast perform short and quick updates where McAfee updates would sloooooow everything down-PITA!
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