McAfee, Win Defender or A N Other?

Opinion here seems to suggest that McAffee is rubbish. It came with my new laptop when I bought it and I have recently renewed it.

What are the problems with it?

It's ability to find and remove viruses is poor compared to many alternatives - including free ones.
It's a huge resource hog and when it 'runs in the background' it frequently uses 99% of the CPU.
 
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Reckon we all being taken for a ride.

Been playing with the net for around a decade and a half - had the odd PUP (Possibly Unwanted Program) installed, piggy backed with some freeby which promised more than it delivered, effectively ushered in by ME !

If you go where your better sense suggests you shouldn't, then surfing from Sandboxie running within a virtual mc ought to be pretty safe - I don't know ;)

-0-
 
Used AVG free for years and never had any problems. Used to have Norton but it cost an arm and a leg to renew.

I used to have Norton too, a long time ago, but it takes over your computer and then when you try to remove it...

I use Avast free.

Also, I never trust these 'already installed' AV programmes, or those that want to install themselves when you download an unrelated programme (eg, Chrome) unless you uncheck a small, difficult to spot box. They invariably give you a few weeks' free use, then ask you to pay.

yes, I tried chrome a while back which created all sorts of problems.

Looks like my link created a problem with the width of the page also :oops:
 
MacAfee WAS very good when it was Dr. Solomon's. It has become more and more bloated, and even more resource-hungry over the past ten years or so.

Its use is mainly because people buying new PCs find MacAfee already installed with a 90-day trial (or something like that) and just pay up at the end of 90 days!

Like a previous poster, I use ESET's NOD32 antivirus. OK, for my four machines it costs me (IIRC) around £100 for three years, but I know it's a good 'un. I also use it at work, having dumped MacAfee some 7 years ago because it was slowing the machines (especially the older servers!!!!!!) too much.

Some people swear by Avast or AVG Free. Fair enough, I say, but you only get what you pay for. If a "nasty" gets past ESET, their support line (0845 local call rate number) will work with you to remove that nasty.

HTH
 
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If a "nasty" gets past ESET, their support line (0845 local call rate number) will work with you to remove that nasty.

This may be a bold thing to say, but I have never had a nasty with AVG.
Have I been lucky?

In any case, MacAfee has been uninstalled and AVG installed in its place.
 
MacAfee WAS very good when it was Dr. Solomon's. It has become more and more bloated, and even more resource-hungry over the past ten years or so.

John McAfee resigned from his own company in 1994 and within a couple of years the bloat started and quality dropped.
IBM bought McAfee in 2010 and recently said they were dropping the McAfee name from the AV product, and ex-owner John McAfee was reported to say "Great! Now I can stop apologising to people."
 
Used to have Norton AV on an old computer. Trying to uninstall it was a bloody nightmare. Took hours. Had to print off instructions from Norton's website and edit the registry (which is fraught with danger) Using Avast on my present silicon pile and seems to run ok. ;)
 
Used to have Norton AV on an old computer. Trying to uninstall it was a bloody nightmare. Took hours. Had to print off instructions from Norton's website and edit the registry (which is fraught with danger) Using Avast on my present silicon pile and seems to run ok. ;)

Exactly why, having had Norton once, I have never used it since and never will.

I, too, use Avast free and have had no problems. The only slightly annoying thing is that, whenever it needs updating, they offer you an 'upgrade' to the paid-for version, but then they've got to fund their organisation so I don't begrudge them.

On that point I can, at least, understand the motivation behind these ba$tards who try to hijack your computer and offer to remove the imposition if you pay them their blackmail money, but I cannot understand why some create malware that does nothing but create problems for people. I can only assume they are nutters that get some sort of kick out of doing it.
 
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