Thinking about a paid sub to........help?

mrkeithmark said:

Thinking about paying for a subscription to an antivirus program but dont know wich one to get. Opinions? Advice? I had a trial version of McCaffee but now it just pops up and tells me my trial ran out. Is there any way to install a better one (If there is a better one) and will it remove the annoying mccafee crap from my comp?

Ive been running defender but I feel like I should be better protected. Please help. Im pretty green.

Thanks!

First, remove McAfee. For that you'll need a tool.
McAfee Removal Tool - McAfee Uninstaller

Next... most people use Windows Defender and Malwarebytes. This seems to cover all bases.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/premium/


Also, here is the Ten Forums thread for Malwarebytes...
Latest Version of Malwarebytes

mrkeithmark said:

Ive been running defender but I feel like I should be better protected.

Keith,

Nothing protects better than Microsoft Defender.

Those other antimalware utilities are only justified if they have additional facilities that benefit you.

- I believe one offers a VPN. I never use one but if you do then that's an included benefit.
- I believe one offers a very capable malicious website checker [I think it checks against an online list the firm keeps]. Fine if you use strange websites.

If you are just interested in malware protection, they are no better than Microsoft Defender. Some of them might be worse.

- I only read up on the latest tests once a year.
- www.av-test.org/en/ is one test site [there are others].

Malware can try to hide from an antimalware utility. I scan with Malwarebytes every so often in the hope that malware that hid from Defender would be found by Malwarebytes.

- The belief that malware can hide from one but not two utilities is commonplace.
- I heard it years ago and just accepted it without ever seeing any evidence.
- I did once have Malwarebytes find a problem that had not been found by MS Security Essentials [it was a long time ago]. The particular malware type found was one that automatically downloaded other malware rather than do any damage itself. But there were no other malware infections. So perhaps Malwarebytes was crying wolf. I don't know.

So, like me, you might want to have the free version of Malwarebytes just to scan with in the hope that it finds something that has snuck by Defender [which would probably have already found anything that might have snuck by Malwarebytes].
And rub your lucky charm daily.

Denis

+1 on using Defender & MalwareBytes. I’d also recommend running AdwCleaner on demand every so often.

Try3 said:

Keith,

Nothing protects better than Microsoft Defender.
Denis

Right now I'm running Norton Lifelock, after Comcast discontinued free Norton Internet Security. I have a six month trial going at like $15. Then the price jumps to $104/year

One benefit to Norton Lifelock is that it protects Microsoft Outlook. Does Defender also offer that protection?

x509 said:

One benefit to Norton Lifelock is that it protects Microsoft Outlook. Does Defender also offer that protection?

Yes. Defender checks everything being downloaded to the computer including what email clients download.

This is stated in Windows Security Microsoft Defender Antivirus [incl email] - MS


Denis

I just use Defender plus offline scans by AdwCleaner (all free) on all PCs