Microsoft Security Essentials is free and runs very smooth. You won't even know it's there. Just because you haven't had any issues for 12 years means nothing. If you have anything of value at all on your hdd you are crazy for running without protection.
You sound like a guy who would say "I've barebacked hookers for 12 years and I haven't caught Aids and died yet."
All it takes is one time dude. And you won't know until it's too late.
It really doesnt matter if you buy it or not , people can say "I dont buy the law of gravity" it doesnt really matter on bit
I've worked in IT professionally for 12 years, your statement of "I have never had problems" can be "you would not even notice if you did!"
If you only knew how easy it is to compromise a computer......you dont even need to do anything bad, all you need is someone to set up a malicious script in therx and you would be TOAST.
All in all, hackers rejoice with computers that are unprotected, I suppose you dont buy the continuous load of microsoft updates either , right?
hno: , its another scam to keep you loading stuff in your computer to make it slow and force you to buy another one??I really wouldnt care one bit but all those compromised computers are excellent as spam senders and members of botnets, so for everyone else, when there are DDoS in progress its one more of those users who dont notice anything and never use AV or similar.
It really doesnt matter if you buy it or not , people can say "I dont buy the law of gravity" it doesnt really matter on bit
I've worked in IT professionally for 12 years, your statement of "I have never had problems" can be "you would not even notice if you did!"
If you only knew how easy it is to compromise a computer......you dont even need to do anything bad, all you need is someone to set up a malicious script in therx and you would be TOAST.
All in all, hackers rejoice with computers that are unprotected, I suppose you dont buy the continuous load of microsoft updates either , right?
I really wouldnt care one bit but all those compromised computers are excellent as spam senders and members of botnets, so for everyone else, when there are DDoS in progress its one more of those users who dont notice anything and never use AV or similar.
Well, lets see, I do all my banking online, pay most of my bills/credit cards online, gamble with offshore sportsbooks of questionable repute online, whom I give all my important data(SS number, address, credit card #'s, etc) to insure I can get paid if I win, I buy all kinds of things online, and yet...I'm lucky because I haven't had anything bad happen to me, or wait, I have had problems but I dont know it?
Well Mr "IT professional" You can peddle your virus protection to some other suckers, cause I'm not buying it. I refuse to live in fear because some dubious IT professionals say I should. By the way, I dont lock my car, nor do I even lock my house if I'm only going to be gone a short time, hell, sometimes I dont even close the door when I leave, often it's patio door wide open, windows wide open, front door wide open(the screens are there of course)...and guess what? Never had a problem, I guess i've been lucky.
It's really is sad how people have been brainwashed to live their lives in fear, fear of everything and everybody, don't fall for it, refuse to live in fear, take the power back.
I do update the microsoft stuff once in awhile, just for shits and giggles.
I am the one trying to help you guys, spending good money for nothing is just silly. My computer is a year and a half old, I'll retire it at the usual 5 years for the new model. My nice new computer (windows 7) that i got last year cost a whopping $299(lenovo), I didn't feel the need to throw away a few hundred more for the fancy model with a smidge more ram, etc. I have no doubt "IT professionals" would have warned me not to get the cheap computer, that I was asking for trouble if I did.
The sky is not falling, computer hackers are not salivating at people like me, they dont even know I exist. Spending money for computer protection is like buying whole life insurance, there's always some smooth talking salesman that will talk you into buying it, if you give him the chance.
How many times have people said in this thread that there are very good anti-virus programs for free? Are you even reading the posts that you are quoting? No one who has even the slightest amount of computer savvy pays for virus protection.
Check this out: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials
It's 100% free, there is no upgrade to a paid version so it's not stripped down and it runs smooth. You can set it to update and scan automatically, so once it's installed you never have to mess with it again.
Did I mention it's FREE?
Having a conversation with you is very frustrating. Are you like this in real life or are you trolling me? How old are you? Because if you're really old, I would understand.
For the third time in this thread: Microsoft Security Essentials is free and there is no upgrade to a paid version so it's not stripped down. And Microsoft isn't going to implant a bug because that would reflect poorly on their product and the repercussions for getting caught would be devastating. It would make absolutely zero sense.
For the third time in this thread: Microsoft Security Essentials is free and there is no upgrade to a paid version so it's not stripped down. And Microsoft isn't going to implant a bug because that would reflect poorly on their product and the repercussions for getting caught would be devastating. It would make absolutely zero sense.
You do agree that there are all kinds of scams going on where some site will offer to "scan" your computer for free, then will claim to have found dozens of problems and want a little money to fix them?
If that security essentials came with my computer, then I have it, I prob have it turned off though, since i always have a warning box in the corner that says windows defender wants to scan my computer and that I should get an anti-virus program.
I'm not trolling anyone, just telling my opinion and experiences.
I had all types of virus protection and have no knowledge of why one is better than the other, however a laptop usually lasted me about two years and was constantly in the shop until i installed kaspersky. I have had this notebook 4 years and have not had one problem. Bought the anti virus protection for my son and he said the same thing. The tech's that used to work on it said that ios the only one they install on their own computers.
to continue my professional IT advice, I suggest you email ALL those organizations (Banks, sportsbooks and all your online stores) and tell them to remove antivirus protection from absolutely ALL their workstations. This will no doubt help them do business faster, minimize costs and since its all a 'scam' there is no risk in them doing this.
The naivete displayed in this thread is simply a consequence of not having a clue of what goes on in this particular front. (you think you are immune because 'bad guys dont even know I exist???' its all a numbers game, if you want to become an statistic thats your business.
(I do lock my car too, I am sorry if I have to disagree with that one too)
Also if you use Firefox or Pale Moon as your browser make sure to download the NoScript Add-on. 
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/?src=search
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/?src=search
Interesting that a man gives his opinion and tells of his experiences, and professionals call him a naive idiot...almost like they have a stake in perpetuating the "fear" that bad people are out there, and buying protection is our only hope.to continue my professional IT advice, I suggest you email ALL those organizations (Banks, sportsbooks and all your online stores) and tell them to remove antivirus protection from absolutely ALL their workstations. This will no doubt help them do business faster, minimize costs and since its all a 'scam' there is no risk in them doing this.
The naivete displayed in this thread is simply a consequence of not having a clue of what goes on in this particular front. (you think you are immune because 'bad guys dont even know I exist???' its all a numbers game, if you want to become an statistic thats your business.
(I do lock my car too, I am sorry if I have to disagree with that one too)
I'll tell you what, you keep buying that protection and I'll keep doing nothing...then we are both happy, OK?
By the way, why would I want to lock my car? I live in a safe area(obviously), leave nothing inside worth stealing, and know that if anyone wants to, they can be inside in a second or two. Locking it would only serve to give a false sense of security that I've already said I dont want or need.
I dont 'buy' protection because as you have already been told 100 times there are free antiviruses. I am happy as long as your computer doesnt start spewing out spam or is part of a botnet. The only thing at stake here is to prevent more "naive idiots" (noone used the idiot word up till now) from having large bandwidth connections that are later on used in DDoS attacks (for example)
Asuming your computer is indeed not being used in large scale attacks...I would be happy, yeah, in fact very happy, if I lived near you, I could tell everyone not to use AVs and that in fact would increase my profit$, how many times /year do you think I get the "hey wolfie, can you fix my computer, its doing this weird stuff"
The bad guys INDEED salivate over having compromised computers from where its easy to launch attacks or use them as shields, please dont be so naive to think they dont want to have compromised computers.
Even if your computer has never been compromised, your urban myth is simply not consistent with reality , period. (see the analogy on the hookers, its spot on)
The only 'false sense of security' is this one you have of 'nothing has ever happened to me, its all a scam,noone cares about my computer and I will be ok'.
Asuming your computer is indeed not being used in large scale attacks...I would be happy, yeah, in fact very happy, if I lived near you, I could tell everyone not to use AVs and that in fact would increase my profit$, how many times /year do you think I get the "hey wolfie, can you fix my computer, its doing this weird stuff"
The bad guys INDEED salivate over having compromised computers from where its easy to launch attacks or use them as shields, please dont be so naive to think they dont want to have compromised computers.
Even if your computer has never been compromised, your urban myth is simply not consistent with reality , period. (see the analogy on the hookers, its spot on)
The only 'false sense of security' is this one you have of 'nothing has ever happened to me, its all a scam,noone cares about my computer and I will be ok'.
Once again, I've had 3 computers over 12 + years, and have never had the kind of problems that people talk about. People I know who use all that AV crap are always complaining about this or that, and even sometimes have to buy a new computer to fix it. I think I'll stick with whats working, thank you!
