$86 per year for anti-virus software!?!

[Red Mage]

I got a nice e-mail from McAfee today. I got notice that I was being charged $86 for their auto-renewal Total Protection software. On the website the same exact software subscription plus additional licenses is advertised for half that price. Ridiculous. No loyalty to existing customers McAfee that you would charge them full retail price instead of honoring the current sale price.Needless to say I just spent the last 15 minutes speaking outsourced customer service rep cancelling my subscription immediately. I only had their software installed in the first place because I had gotten a three-year subscription at a highly discounted rate. I think I'm going to switch all my computers over to Avast Free which I have been using on my laptop for the last year and it seems to do everything that "Total Protection" from McAfee does for free.

 

[Rac80]

Comcast provides the Norton Security suite to all of it's customers FREE! I'm cheap so that is how I get my anti-virus!

 

[Graybrew1]

Comcast provides the Norton Security suite to all of it's customers FREE! I'm cheap so that is how I get my anti-virus!

Both AVG and Avast offer decent free anti virus programs as well. :icon_e_wink: My IT guy told me about them. I currently use Avast and have had no problems. I had more problems with both Norton ad McAfree.

 

[shavedape]

Both AVG and Avast offer decent free anti virus programs as well. :icon_e_wink: My IT guy told me about them. I currently use Avast and have had no problems. I had more problems with both Norton ad McAfree.

Norton and McAfee are the devil! AVG works pretty damn good for a free program, plus it doesn't bloat your system like Norton and McAfee do. The first thing I do with a new computer is remove Norton and McAfee from the system. Total resource hogs that just slow down the system and are annoying as hell.

 

[Graybrew1]

Norton and McAfee are the devil! AVG works pretty damn good for a free program, plus it doesn't bloat your system like Norton and McAfee do. The first thing I do with a new computer is remove Norton and McAfee from the system. Total resource hogs that just slow down the system and are annoying as hell.

They generally come with adware too. First thing I do is to remove all free trials.
They are hard to get rid of all the way once you install them, so I never do.

 

[Red Mage]

They generally come with adware too. First thing I do is to remove all free trials.
They are hard to get rid of all the way once you install them, so I never do.

The second option that pops up google when you search simply "McAfee" is "McAfee Removal Tool"



That's pretty big fail when tools to remove software are searched for more than the software itself.

 

[Graybrew1]

The second option that pops up google when you search simply "McAfee" is McAfee Removal Tool"

View attachment 4549

That's pretty big fail when tools to remove software are searched for more than the software itself.

I had a infected McAfee and Norton, their removal tools could not remove everything, so I had to wipe the computer both times.

 

[shavedape]

I had a infected McAfee and Norton, their removal tools could not remove everything, so I had to wipe the computer both times.

Many people consider McAfee to be a "virus" to begin with. And no, I'm not joking. Just getting that crap out of the registry is a huge pain in the butt.

 

[Graybrew1]

Many people consider McAfee to be a "virus" to begin with. And no, I'm not joking. Just getting that crap out of the registry is a huge pain in the butt.

I spent hours on a tech site trying to get rid of them, and finally gave up and wiped them. I frakin hate both of them.

 

[Illiterati]

When I had a computer repair/maintenance business many years ago, I always recommended that my clients jettison both Norton/Symantec and McAfee. Both are pretty much system hogs, and tend to cause myriad issues with people's computers.

As others have said, AVG is free and as far as I'm concerned. is a far superior product.

 

[Overmind One]

If you are running Vista or Windows 7, anti-virus software is pretty much obsolete. The AV companies are sinking fast, and there is nothing for them to protect anymore. Norton will die if their popular Backup Exec product becomes useless and McAfee was purchased by Intel last August.

 

[Joelist]

If you are running Vista or Windows 7, anti-virus software is pretty much obsolete. The AV companies are sinking fast, and there is nothing for them to protect anymore. Norton will die if their popular Backup Exec product becomes useless and McAfee was purchased by Intel last August.

Exactly. Vista and 7 have a different security model (more akin to Unix actually) where the only way a virus can do its dirty deed is for you to actually give it permission. The functionality is called UAC (User Account Control).

 

[Overmind One]

Exactly. Vista and 7 have a different security model (more akin to Unix actually) where the only way a virus can do its dirty deed is for you to actually give it permission. The functionality is called UAC (User Account Control).

ONLY malware can still cause issues, and that is connected to the browsers you use. IE7 and even IE8 were somewhat vulnerable, but IE9 is as secure as the operating system (especially in protected mode). Mozilla is safe out of the box, as is Chrome and Opera. Apple and Linux computers dont get viruses (yes there are one or two over the past 10-20 years...so what). But since consumers dont know, they think they need anti-virus when all they really need is good anti-malware, and Avast is FREE!

 

[Illiterati]

ONLY malware can still cause issues, and that is connected to the browsers you use. IE7 and even IE8 were somewhat vulnerable, but IE9 is as secure as the operating system (especially in protected mode). Mozilla is safe out of the box, as is Chrome and Opera. Apple and Linux computers dont get viruses (yes there are one or two over the past 10-20 years...so what). But since consumers dont know, they think they need anti-virus when all they really need is good anti-malware, and Avast is FREE!

If people would only be sure they enabled "Windows Defender" (which can be found in the Control Panel area), they'd also have a bit more protection on their Windows-based systems. That's a good layer of protection for idiots (I know one or two who fit that description) who've managed to get their systems infected because it wasn't active.

 

[Graybrew1]

ONLY malware can still cause issues, and that is connected to the browsers you use. IE7 and even IE8 were somewhat vulnerable, but IE9 is as secure as the operating system (especially in protected mode). Mozilla is safe out of the box, as is Chrome and Opera. Apple and Linux computers dont get viruses (yes there are one or two over the past 10-20 years...so what). But since consumers dont know, they think they need anti-virus when all they really need is good anti-malware, and Avast is FREE!

I have been using Avast for a year with no problems, not even once.

 

[Joelist]

If people would only be sure they enabled "Windows Defender" (which can be found in the Control Panel area), they'd also have a bit more protection on their Windows-based systems. That's a good layer of protection for idiots (I know one or two who fit that description) who've managed to get their systems infected because it wasn't active.

Avast is good and so is MSE, which as part of its install has a stronger version of Defender and turns Firewall on.

Basically, run Vista or 7 with a modern browser (IE9, Chrome, Firefox) amd you're fine.

 

[Overmind One]

If people would only be sure they enabled "Windows Defender" (which can be found in the Control Panel area), they'd also have a bit more protection on their Windows-based systems. That's a good layer of protection for idiots (I know one or two who fit that description) who've managed to get their systems infected because it wasn't active.

I like AVG free too. The FREE versions of Avast and AVG are better than the paid ones! Good advice about Defender. Its gotten better over the years.

 

[Illiterati]

I like AVG free too. The FREE versions of Avast and AVG are better than the paid ones! Good advice about Defender. Its gotten better over the years.

I've got a friend who's been a Microsoft hater for years, but she's insistent on her non-internet-savvy sister getting 7 for her computer, because she knows it's much safer than earlier versions.

I have to giggle a bit (yes, I'm a bad person) when hearing that malware writers are now targeting Apple's computers. Kind of a variation on "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".

Apple user: "Our computers are safer because the bad people are only targeting Windows-based systems!!"

Yeah, right, pookie. Look again.

http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/a...s-Mac-Defender-malware-is-for-real/1306339501

Yes. I'm laughing.

 

[Graybrew1]

I've got a friend who's been a Microsoft hater for years, but she's insistent on her non-internet-savvy sister getting 7 for her computer, because she knows it's much safer than earlier versions.

I have to giggle a bit (yes, I'm a bad person) when hearing that malware writers are now targeting Apple's computers. Kind of a variation on "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".

Apple user: "Our computers are safer because the bad people are only targeting Windows-based systems!!"

Yeah, right, pookie. Look again.

http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/a...s-Mac-Defender-malware-is-for-real/1306339501

Yes. I'm laughing.

Now, all you are missing is the evil laugh emoticon......