McAfee Antivirus

singhini
singhini Posts: 553 Forumite
First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper Combo Breaker
in Techie Stuff
when I bought my laptop a few years back it came with 3 years of McAfee Antivirus already installed.


ive just started getting messages saying the licence is going to expire in November.


Before I just renew I thought I would ask if anyone can recommend any better antivirus software (sometimes I find the laptop runs slow and I suspect its McAfee slowing it but in McAfee's defence ive not had a virus issue over the 3 years of my laptop ownership).


Peoples thoughts are much appreciated.
«1

Comments

  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 2,420 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    A/V is only as good as the last update, I use the built in A/V that comes with Windows (Defender), supplemented with Malwarebytes anti-malware (paid for version that runs in the background). Neither caught the "call home" malware in Ccleaner, so I guess it's all a bit of a gamble. I ditched Ccleaner in favour of Bleachbit.

    There is a school of thought that the built in A/V in Windows should be better than 3rd party ones as it's integrated into Windows. Your mileage may vary on that one though...
  • giraffe69
    giraffe69 Posts: 3,557 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Mcafee doesn't have a good reputation and there is no need to pay so ditch it (there is a Mcafee tool to make sure it all gets removed) and use Windows defender or one of the other independent free ones like bitdefender.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    +1 here for Bitdefender (free version)

    The reality is though that no AV product can guarantee to keep your PC virus-free. Bitdefender tends to score well in the AV comparison charts.
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Bank with Barclays Online then Kaspersky Internet Security is free .
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,821 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    JJ_Egan wrote: »
    Bank with Barclays Online then Kaspersky Internet Security is free .
    Out of the fire and into the frying pan, perhaps? :D

    (depends on how people regard Barclays, of course...)
  • gardner1
    gardner1 Posts: 3,154 Forumite
    Nothing wrong with Kaspersky
  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 2,420 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    edited 6 October 2017 at 4:20PM
    John_Gray wrote: »
    Out of the fire and into the frying pan, perhaps? :D

    (depends on how people regard Barclays, of course...)
    Or Kaspersky! See todays Register (sorry the link doesn't seem to work):
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/
  • mattytun
    mattytun Posts: 13,920 Forumite
    Rampant Recycler Xmas Saver! Savvy Shopper! Energy Saving Champion
    singhini wrote: »
    when I bought my laptop a few years back it came with 3 years of McAfee Antivirus already installed.


    ive just started getting messages saying the licence is going to expire in November.


    Before I just renew I thought I would ask if anyone can recommend any better antivirus software (sometimes I find the laptop runs slow and I suspect its McAfee slowing it but in McAfee's defence ive not had a virus issue over the 3 years of my laptop ownership).


    Peoples thoughts are much appreciated.

    I wouldn't touch McAfee. It is the first thing I uninstall on laptops. This legal "adware" comes with each prebuilt machine bundled. It is slow and just annoying with a low protection level.
    It would take a lot of convincing for me to move away from either Norton or Kaspersky.

    I read number of malware testing websites and Norton and Kaspersky always seem to perform well. I would say that they have been the most consistent performers over the last few years.

    Use the free 30-day trial for both products (or any other products you're interested in). After 2 months decide which one you liked the most - our own personal experiences may not be the same as what you may encounter, and you'd be better off seeing the products for yourself before spending money.


    Remember to uninstall your antivirus one antivirus per machine more than one will cause conflicts.


    Can't sleep, quit counting sheep and talk directly to the shepherd :cool:
  • singhini
    singhini Posts: 553 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Thank-you to all (very helpful comments from everyone).


    I did suspect my laptop running slow was all down to McAfee but having paid for 3 years worth of antivirus (bundled into my purchase from the saleman at Currys PC World), i thought i may aswell use it since ive paid for it.


    I was just going to renew it since its all installed on the laptop but i will pop over to see my bother and get my nephew to un-install it and look into the ones menioned: Norton, Kaspersky, Windows Defender, Bitdefender (i do have an account with Barclays so will look into this aswell)
  • debitcardmayhem
    debitcardmayhem Posts: 11,857 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper Photogenic
    singhini wrote: »
    Thank-you to all (very helpful comments from everyone).


    I did suspect my laptop running slow was all down to McAfee but having paid for 3 years worth of antivirus (bundled into my purchase from the saleman at Currys PC World), i thought i may aswell use it since ive paid for it.


    I was just going to renew it since its all installed on the laptop but i will pop over to see my bother and get my nephew to un-install it and look into the ones menioned: Norton, Kaspersky, Windows Defender, Bitdefender (i do have an account with Barclays so will look into this aswell)
    Hehehe I hope your nephew can be bothered to do what his "man from UNCLE" wants... ignore me it just tickled my warped sense of humour. :D
    🍺 😎 Still grumpy, and No, Cloudflare I am NOT a robot 🤖BUT my responses are now out of my control they are posted via ChatGPT or the latest AI
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.6K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173K Life & Family
  • 247.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards