Microsoft security essentials provides baseline protection

noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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i knew there was a reason i would not trust it. See here. that includes what they stick in Windows 8 as well. i think this is awful, because people will think they are fully protected and they are not, so in my opinion this is more dangerous than MS not supplying a security system.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,396
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    Oh Christ I use MSE and trusted Microsoft.

    :/
  • emptyboxemptybox Posts: 13,917
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    You can't really run more than one anti-virus though, so if you install another one it will disable MSE, so I'm not sure what's meant by "Baseline"?

    MSE isn't the best, but it's probably better than something like McAfee, and if you use it in conjunction with an on-demand scanner like Malwarebytes, it should provide enough protection for a wary browser.

    Probably not suitable for a click happy newbie though.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    why is it better than something like McAfee? i think companies like McAfee have over the years proved how good they are at doing what they do.
  • LION8TIGERLION8TIGER Posts: 8,484
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    noise747 wrote: »
    why is it better than something like McAfee? i think companies like McAfee have over the years proved how good they are at doing what they do.

    I think what they are good at doing is getting their product on new machines bought from the likes of PC World.
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    Baseline does not mean bad but they are provide breathing space to allow other AV companies to provide even better products.

    The main goal behind MSE was to get something on all those machines running without any AV at all.
  • TelevisionUserTelevisionUser Posts: 41,404
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    emptybox wrote: »
    You can't really run more than one anti-virus though, so if you install another one it will disable MSE, so I'm not sure what's meant by "Baseline"?

    MSE isn't the best, but it's probably better than something like McAfee, and if you use it in conjunction with an on-demand scanner like Malwarebytes, it should provide enough protection for a wary browser.

    Probably not suitable for a click happy newbie though.

    Personally, I don't think any one antivirus solution, whether free or paid-for, should be used alone. They should be complemented by other packages such as Malware Bytes and Superantispyware to identify and get rid of all nasties.
    Oh Christ I use MSE and trusted Microsoft. :/

    Fear not, my good sire, you can do what's directly above and, if you so wish, you can always install the free version of Avira in place of MSE here: http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus (but prepare to be nagged...)
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    emptybox wrote: »
    You can't really run more than one anti-virus though, so if you install another one it will disable MSE, so I'm not sure what's meant by "Baseline"?

    Baseline just means average
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    Oh Christ I use MSE and trusted Microsoft.

    :/

    Carry on doing so - no one is saying it is bad - just average
  • MeercamMeercam Posts: 1,020
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    Personally, I don't think any one antivirus solution, whether free or paid-for, should be used alone. They should be complemented by other packages such as Malware Bytes and Superantispyware to identify and get rid of all nasties.



    Fear not, my good sire, you can do what's directly above and, if you so wish, you can always install the free version of Avira in place of MSE here: http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus (but prepare to be nagged...)

    Superantispyware is practically dead now and little more than a cookie remover.
    Malwarebytes and your Av can easily cover for SAS and I'm going to uninstall mine.
    It's pretty much been dismissed as irrelevant on security forums.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    MSSE is good enough for me, don't get issues or a virus but then I don't look at dodgy sites.

    That said, some of the ludicrous threads on DS give me a headache.
  • Jimmy_McNultyJimmy_McNulty Posts: 11,378
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    MSE and MalwareBytes compliment each other perfectly.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    LION8TIGER wrote: »
    I think what they are good at doing is getting their product on new machines bought from the likes of PC World.

    But Norton used to do that as well, in fact I expect they still do. That was also another problem as most of these only lasted for some many days and then people would be unprotected.

    I think that Ms sticking their security system in Windows makes people feel safe and yet it turns out that they may not be as safe.

    I agree when people say that it is best to use two security software, one that will be in use in real time and one that you can use once a week.

    On windows 8 it is Comodo and Malware bytes for me, but saying that I am having second thoughts with Malware bytes.

    Use clamAv on lonux, not that it is really needed, but just do a scan once a week.
  • wavy-davywavy-davy Posts: 7,122
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    Panda free is better and runs lighter.
  • Mike_1101Mike_1101 Posts: 8,012
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    I do use MSE along with Malwarebytes and Superantispyware and it's a long time since any of them found anything to remove. Obviously I make sure my machine gets the W7 updates every month.

    If MSE is that bad, why would MS offer several updates every day (seems to vary between 3 and 8)? I suspect they are updating it for anything really nasty but not enough to undermine the security software companies.

    I also use the MVPS hosts file which keeps a lot of stupid annoying advertising and other garbage off my machine. Of course with the revelations about the NSA and its links to american software companies I do wonder what is going on, but let's not go there.......
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    wavy-davy wrote: »
    Panda free is better and runs lighter.

    better by what metric?

    and how do you know it runs lighter?
  • Knarf44Knarf44 Posts: 4,634
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    This debate keeps returning over and over again and inevitably a range of opinions are expressed on what software is "the best" based on users personal experience. That's fine, stick with what you know or trust but for a completely unbiased opinion, based on much more thorough testing than your average home user is likely to ever use, simply go to either one or both of these sites:

    http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/

    www.av-comparatives.org/dynamic-tests/

    Spend some time reading the test reports and you'll quickly see which software gives the best protection results and user experience. The tests are repeated regularly and the results updated so keep checking back. Personally, I wouldn't trust MSE as my main AV software as it consistently finishes as one of the lowest rated programs but that's just my opinion. I spend many hours surfing each week and look at a wide variety of sites, some of which could be interpreted as dodgy. For those though I switch to a sandboxed environment, actually Comodo's virtual browser, which in effect isolates any infection or nasties within the browser and therefore protects the system from damage.
  • fletchemfletchem Posts: 2,212
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    Meercam wrote: »
    Superantispyware is practically dead now and little more than a cookie remover.

    What do you base this statement on? The features list contains a lot more than cookie removal
  • thenetworkbabethenetworkbabe Posts: 45,572
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    fletchem wrote: »
    What do you base this statement on? The features list contains a lot more than cookie removal

    Indeed superanti seems to have a pretty massive update list over a day. When I last was hit by a virus attack it just walked through the free AV on that computer, which was about as much use as putting a sign up saying come here attackers. No AV could then remove everything, but superanti took out several bits of the package that malwarebytes and three other spyware checkers missed.
  • TadpoleTadpole Posts: 1,646
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    Spybot S&D 1.6 used to be able to do automatically scheduled definition updates and system scans for free, for personal use only. Not the most friendly package to navigate but was quite effective at spyware/adware/trojan detection. With version 2 they have made that functionality chargeable. But I think 1.6 is still available. Don't know how well it works with windows 7.
  • TelevisionUserTelevisionUser Posts: 41,404
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    AV-Test have released their average protection scores for the whole of 2013 - see http://www.av-test.org/en/test-procedures/award/2013/

    Whereas Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) used to offer reasonable protection up there with the likes of Avast, it's now declined to become bottom of the pile and that's presumably because of neglect on Microsoft's part now that XP, Vista and Windows 7 have all been superseded.

    I couldn't in all honesty recommend MSE to anyone now and if anyone out there is still using MSE on a PC or laptop particularly with a Windows XP operating system then I'd also suggest changing to better antivirus software and there are plenty of free alternatives out there now, e.g. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Best-Five-Freeware-Replacements-for-Microsoft-Security-Essentials-on-Windows-XP-416445.shtml

    On the positive side, it is good to see that AVG & Bullguard have improved now.
  • Mr DosMr Dos Posts: 3,637
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    The biggest problem with virus is the person sat in front of the computer. When I used to repair pcs, there were hardly ever any hardware faults, mainly software problems and usually virus or toolbar cr*p. A quick look in the program list of an infected pc would show all the usual suspects - Vuze, Limewire, uTorrent etc. A bit more digging would reveal keygens, crack folders, bent copies of Photoshop, even badly hacked pirated Windows. The source of all the trouble. Invariably the infected pc's owner was aged 18-35, and thought free music, movies, software etc was a right. Unfortunately it was me who had to clear up after them.

    Conversely, other folk that I had built or given a pc to, who just watched YouTube, iPlayer, went on Facebook, Amazon, banking etc would never bother me from one year to the next - because they didn't do all the other stuff listed above.

    And don't get me started on pr0n . . .

    BTW for antivirus I use AVG free plus Malwarebytes on demand.
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    AV tests and comparisons are not very good..
  • zx50zx50 Posts: 91,227
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    noise747 wrote: »
    why is it better than something like McAfee? i think companies like McAfee have over the years proved how good they are at doing what they do.

    I got rid of McAfee because it saw nearly every torrent site as a risk. It's like it had something against torrent sites.
  • soulboy77soulboy77 Posts: 24,396
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    According to AV-Comparatives MSE is one of the worst now of the 20+ they regularly test. It should be simply viewed as the default AV software on a new machine (better than nothing) and be replaced asap with something much stronger of your choice.
  • zx50zx50 Posts: 91,227
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    Mr Dos wrote: »
    The biggest problem with virus is the person sat in front of the computer. When I used to repair pcs, there were hardly ever any hardware faults, mainly software problems and usually virus or toolbar cr*p. A quick look in the program list of an infected pc would show all the usual suspects - Vuze, Limewire, uTorrent etc. A bit more digging would reveal keygens, crack folders, bent copies of Photoshop, even badly hacked pirated Windows. The source of all the trouble. Invariably the infected pc's owner was aged 18-35, and thought free music, movies, software etc was a right. Unfortunately it was me who had to clear up after them.

    Conversely, other folk that I had built or given a pc to, who just watched YouTube, iPlayer, went on Facebook, Amazon, banking etc would never bother me from one year to the next - because they didn't do all the other stuff listed above.

    And don't get me started on pr0n . . .

    BTW for antivirus I use AVG free plus Malwarebytes on demand.

    I can only assume that he never scanned his download files with his antivirus and malware protection being updated. Unless, of course, he didn't have any in the first place. I agree that the 'down and out' porn sites out there have viruses on them.
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