# Torn with choice of computer protection products



## Sheepdisease (Oct 1, 2008)

Hello there,

at present I am faced with the overwhelming decision of which computer protection to use. Despite spending several hours reading reviews, I am still none-the-wiser about which products will best meet my needs.

I am running a home server operating on Windows 7 within a homegroup. I want to protect all three computers in the home, and am looking for something which will provide the best protection without being resource intensive.

In addition, I am now unsure whether I should be choosing a free product or something which requires a paid subscription. I didn't realise free products could offer such comprehensive protection, certainly not comparable to those which charge a premium.

I have previously used Bitdefender Total Protection, which I found to be quite good but occassionally using other software I discovered a few malicious pieces of software had slipped through the net. I have access to Mcafee Internet Security for free, as part of my ISP's package, and currently have ESET Smart Security 4 installed (with an expired subscription).

Please help me get to the bottom of this problem and make it easy for me to choose the most reliable/suitable software.

Thank you in advance!


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

I use free avast and malwarebytes and quite happy with them


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

For paid, ESET is one of the better ones. For free software I like Avira or Avast. Antivirus is just one part of the equation. 

If you really want to protect the systems use limited user accounts, keep everything installed on the machine updates. Use a browser that supports addons to block scripts, ads, and flash objects. Don't install software you don't need, try it keep it to a minimum. Consider browsing inside of a sandbox.


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## Sheepdisease (Oct 1, 2008)

Thank you for your feedback.

Ideally I would like to know which is the best free and subscription based products, and then out of the two, which one is the best and why.


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## Sheepdisease (Oct 1, 2008)

Could this possibly be a good indication? Results and comments - www.matousec.com


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

the best is the one that works the best on your specific computer. In other words what works best on my computer may not work best on yours based on online habits, programs installed, age of computer, etc...IMO, give different ones a try to see what you and your computer like. Just make sure you do not have two antiviruses installed on your computer at the same time. 

see http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f112/pc-safety-and-security-what-do-i-need-525915.html

personally I use microsoft security essentials with malwarebytes. In addition as a second opinion I use the online version of housecall and superantispyware.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

what he said ^

I use ESET smart security.


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## Excabus (Nov 3, 2010)

I used Clamwin and Malwarebytes at home. Malwarebytes is a great free one. Covers alot of general threats. We use Kaspersky at work. Haven't been disappointed with it yet and we have never really had issues with viruses either so either it works great, or we just haven't really had a threat yet. It is easy on the resources as well so thats a plus.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

many of the business suit anti virus apps are better than the home versions. Unfortunately you can't get them for your home.

We use mccafee at work but I would never use it at home.


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## [email protected] (Mar 15, 2011)

I am using Quick Heal from the past 7 Years....And I've never formatted my laptop for a virus....I Really like it....


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## clyde123 (Apr 10, 2008)

Eset is an excellent choice if you want to avoid a resource hungry program.
Also we always use Malwarebytes as a backup, it's great.


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