Confused with Anti Virus Software

paulo1888

Hi there, I am just looking for a bit of advice,
 I want to install a fairly decent anti virus program on my computer as I seem to be having various issues and pop up scams recently, e.g. TalkTalk Congratulations you have been selected for a prize etc etc.)  I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on one to buy. I was also wondering,  I have Mcafeee that runs on my computer but is not fully activated. It runs a program every so often and informs me that they have found a couple of "Critical" issues that need addressing. But of course I would have to subscribe first. Why does my windows defender not pick up these "Critical" issues. Is Windows defender not as good as Norton or Mcafee? My Windows Defender runs a scan and says "No issues found."  Just looking for advice on what to buy to make my computer more secure.  Would appreciate any advice. Thank you very much

JJ_Egan

Pop Ups are from your browser  > use a pop up/ adblocker .

Critical Issues  we don't know what they are if you don't say .Could just be software updates .

Windows Defender on win 10 gets about 98% on current tests .

paulo1888

Thank very much for your Egan, Was just going to sign up to Norton 1 year standard plan.(£24.99) I know you can't give a definitive answer but do you think in you opinion that would be better than what I have already got, which is Windows Defender?

Carrot007

paulo1888 said:

Thank very much for your Egan, Was just going to sign up to Norton 1 year standard plan.(£24.99) I know you can't give a definitive answer but do you think in you opinion that would be better than what I have already got, which is Windows Defender?

In my opinion norton is worse than having nothing and disabling windows inbuilt protection. It had not been a decent piece of sofrtware for over 20 years.

Neil49

Uninstall McAffe completely (rebooting once removed). Double check your files to see what McAffe rubbish remains and delete.

Install Malwarebytes and run it alongside Windows Defender. 

As mentioned above by JJEgan, pop ups are via your browser. Install an ad blocker. 

Carrot007

Neil49 said:
As mentioned above by JJEgan, pop ups are via your browser. Install an ad blocker. 

Or stop visting sites that do not care about you in any way. (but install ublock origin or something as well, and maybe use firefox too, keeping chrome (of chrome edge) for the few websites that you must use that refuse to work with intensive blocking).

Highland76

Carrot007 said:

In my opinion norton is worse than having nothing and disabling windows inbuilt protection. It had not been a decent piece of sofrtware for over 20 years.

Are you still living in 2005? Norton is no longer the bloatware AV it used to be and hasn't been for quite a while. Whilst I agree the free Windows Defender is more than adequate for most, however if someone is looking to pay for AV then these days Norton is up there with the very best paid AVs such as NOD32/ESET, Kaspersky wrt performance. The AV review charts don't lie, despite what you might think of Norton. Norton was 1 of 4 AV suites to score 100% in all 3 categories, in recent tests by the highly rated German review site AV-Test. In fact it beat both Malwarebytes & Windows Defender in tests:
https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/


OP,
If you're looking to buy Norton 360 as cheaply as possible then its only £13 or so from Amazon for 1 year. Just be aware to switch off 'auto renew' because the auto renew price is a ridiculous 50+ quid as one user here on MSE found out. He/she called it a "scam" but most likely they just forgot to deactivate the auto-renew setting.

Neil_Jones

Everything is a "scam" to people who don't read things properly before clicking "I agree", and then deciding its everybody else's fault but their own a few months down the line.

paulo1888

Thanks Highland for the tip and thanks everyone for the info. I'm not too Techie so all this is helpful. 

RumRat

Stick with Windows Defender and relax.

stragglebod

Highland76 said:

The AV review charts don't lie, despite what you might think of Norton. Norton was 1 of 4 AV suites to score 100% in all 3 categories, in recent tests by the highly rated German review site AV-Test. In fact it beat both Malwarebytes & Windows Defender in tests:
https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/

Highly rated by who exactly? Why does it not surprise me that a website called AT-Test thinks that people should buy paid anti virus software? Who finances the site?