[Adamantane]

What do people prefer as their anti-virus software for PC? I've tried a number of them over the years, Norton-now-Symantec, McAfee, Windows Security Essentials, and know of others such as Bit Defender.

I was surprised a couple years ago when my father's PC somehow picked up some virus, possibly through Facebook, that neither Symantec not McAfee seemed to be able to remove. While I was skeptical of Microsoft's *free* Security Essentials, the price was right and I had no other alternatives at hand, so I loaded it and in about three very very long passes -- and it took all three -- the virus was eradicated, interestingly apparently detected the last two times at nearly the end of the scan.

[Tom King]

Stopzilla working 100% for several years now, after getting viruses twice with Macafee, and having to pay them 90 bucks to clean the computer.

[jen-s]

I have free McAfee from work. They are kind enough to offer full (lifetime) protection for home machines of employees.

[Louise]

I have two different systems. On my desktop, I have Kaspersky and, on my laptop, I have ESET Smart Security. They're different because the guy who helped me set up my laptop and the wireless network that I installed at the same time recommended ESET but I still had time to go on the desktop's system and then just never bothered to change it over. Both work well. I haven't gotten any viruses on either machine, and I also don't get spam. I'm not computer smart enough to know why they work, but I'm just happy enough that they do.

[ParadoxFarm]

GFI Software Vipre Business. We like them because they cover all of computers (5) for one price. And it can all be controlled from our server without having to individually go to each computer to update, for example. We've had no problems with it.

[emeraldcity]

i have panda, it's free online. seems to work.

[CVPeg]

I have Avast. Basic is free. Recommended to me by several computer professionals on separate occasions.

[ybiaw]

I have Kaspersky and Malwarebytes on my work computer. And Norton and Malwarebytes on my personal laptop.

[LexInVA]

On my Windows machines, I use MSE. It's free and works fine. The one and only real problem with Windows is IE, which is pretty insecure even on it's highest configurable security settings. You basically have to make the browser all but useless to keep it relatively secure.

[mswillie]

AVG free. So far, so good.

[nickers@dawn]

I also have AVG, and it is doing it's job so far.

[Chall]

Corporate symantec. IMO there is no one product that will catch everything and depending on which virus is currently propagating one av will beat out a other. So I picking by ease of administartion and how finely I can customize it.

[LexInVA]

The one thing I've noticed is that a lot of A/V programs aren't as user-configurable as they used to be. I remember how great McAfee was in the early 2k years and I had great control over the settings and what it did when viruses and other threats were found. Now everything is dumbed-down and idiot-proof. I don't think that even the pro/corporate software is as advanced as it I remember it being when I started in IT.

[rideagoldenpony]

We use Trend Micro around here, on home and office (about 10) computers. Never had a virus or any problems with the program.

[Larksmom]

I have had Norton's and Macafee in the past with no complaints, but when I would take computer in to shop, repair guys would recoil in horror. I now use free AVG.
Actually, a couple of weeks ago, I did get both puters hacked. When I took them in, he put a cleaner on with Malware bytes. He said to run it once a week. While I was at the bank that day to close my accounts and open new ones, I saw on TV the DOJ's computers were hacked. You must be vigilant, and keep scanning. UGH

[Sonesta]

Norton and McAfee used to be great. Now, they are complete "bloatware." They bog your system down and make it so slow that it is ridiculous. No computer professional would ever recommend it.

Most computer pros recommend home and small business users to use AVG or Avast. Both have free versions that are great.

[enjoytheride]

I use Symantec but I also run Spybot and Malwarebytes to pick up non virus junk you can acquire. Every so often I'll run CCcleaner to clear my computer out and an online virus search to catch anything else. I also keep any files and pictures I can't stand to lose on a flash drive just in case.

There are other programs you can use if you still think you have a problem but many of them have a habit of deleting things that could also be necessary for your computer.

[Curb Appeal]

AVG, free version. Has worked well for me for several years.

[HighFlyinBey++]

Stopzilla working 100% for several years now, after getting viruses twice with Macafee, and having to pay them 90 bucks to clean the computer.

I have free McAfee from work. They are kind enough to offer full (lifetime) protection for home machines of employees.

Another vote for Stopzilla. I had both McAfee (thanks to work) and Stopzilla for a while. McAfee never caught a thing, while Stopzilla was busy protecting me.

I also run Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware.

[Tee]

I've used AVG Free for years and never had any problems.