If you are happy with McAfee...it's probably worth it. I have used Windows Defender and never had a problem with it. I have made myself satisfied with free Avast currently, but that's a personal choice. I won't use McAfee ever again. YMMV.

Make sure it's from your internet provider - I've been receiving probably every other day emails wanting me to renew my McAfee subscription before it expires or emails making offers saying it has expired ... all kinds of McAfee offers - all of them junk mails trying to exploit something as I don't even use McAfee and haven't in years and years. I've been marking them Phishing so Microsoft is aware if others are doing the same.

I'm happy with windows 10 defender & before that, I forget the name but it was Microsoft anti-virus.

Thank you azinoh and mikie_gw. Definitely from my internet provider, just need to decide if I want to keep obliging them with more money.....................................

I have Windows and occasional use it but 99.9% of the time I'm using Linux. So, my opinion may not mean much.


Personally, I think any additional risk I face using Windows Defender instead of something else is negligible and acceptable.

My browsing is relatively "tame?", even in Linux but even more so in Windows.

My current behavior is... I think, less prone to mistake. (wasn't always the case)

I'm careful to notice where a link points and I never open links in emails I don't trust.

"where a link points?" I mean, I don't just trust the display name, I hover the link and read the target in the status bar.

For example, can you see where this link points without clicking it? https://www.google.com/ (looks like google but is not, it's a safe link and just an example but it wouldn't have to be)

I "almost always" refuse to click shortened links and will never post one. (The only easy way to find out where they go is to click it, and I avoid them more out of belief that it's a bad habit, and sets a bad example, not fear)

I don't blindly install software. Blindly? Have I used it before? Do I trust the source? Has it been around for a long time and have lots of reviews that don't all say "Warning, .... contains a virus... etc." (There will always be that one who will wrongly accuse even the best software.)

I do regular backup images (currently I'm using Macrium Reflect). So if I got hit with malware, I'd most likely be able to restore and be back where I was. And after kicking myself, I'd be able to laugh at their failed effort. So, in essence, my regular backups might be considered part of my AV plan.

BTW, I have ATT uVerse. It looks like they're still offering McAfee free for those with down speeds of 3Mbps or greater.

"just need to decide if I want to keep obliging them with more money"

I would not. Of course, that's just my personal decision. You know your own risk acceptance level. :-)

Windows Defender was not rated very well compared to other products last time I checked reviews, which has been some years ago. It may have improved since then.

I used free AVG for years, switched to free Avast (more than 5 years ago) when an update on AVG caused a glitch with Firefox (I imagine AVG fixed the problem soon enough after it occurred).

Way back in the day when I worked for a local ISP, there were instances of infected computers brought in with McAfee installed that didn't detect the virus.

"Way back in the day"

Exactly. Way back in the day.

pcmag.com is the continuation of what used to be PC Magazine, a highly respected operation and still so. Neil Rubenking, a contributor of long standing, oversees its ongoing assessment of security products.

McAfee is one of just a few to earn the PCMag Editors' Choice award. Follow the advice of independent experts. $12 per year is a bargain.

PC Mag ratings Anti Virus

I use McAfee on 3 PCs (free from one of my ISPs), I use free Norton on another 4 (free from another ISP). I find both to be very light and invisible except when you want to see they're working - as with scanning downloaded files.

I have McAfee running right now on an older and slightly underpowered desktop that I brought out of retirement and pressed into service for what I thought would be only light occasional use in my second home. I've been here sheltering in place unexpectedly for the last 2 months and using it daily. McAfee does a great job invisibly.

kudzu, the PCMag assessments consider overhead and effectiveness as well as efficiency. Don't minimize McAfee's achievement of being considered one of just a few Editors' Choices among all the products on the market.

Your mileage may vary. Just saying what works for me...for free ;-)

Avast Review - PC Mag

I lost a PC to Avast about 5 years ago. It quarantined or otherwise deleted a couple of essential Windows files and I was unable to restore or recover the PC. It wouldn't even boot.

When people won't pay money for a product, sometimes such products are given away for free. "Free" isn't a business model that produces revenue to pay salaries and other expenses. Advast tech support was useless and provided no help at all.

Well, glad to say I’ve never had a problem with Avast!, which is more than I can say for McAfee, Norton/Symantec.

I'm like Richard above -- Win10 Pro just uses defender & also manually run free Adwcleaner every couple days. Seems the only time something is found (PUPs) is when I download some unusual program -- used to do that sometimes (quite often way back in the Win95 days) but don't anymore. Puppy linux of course doesn't require any type of "protection" & only download approved programs from protected sites for it. But someone downloading/installing unapproved programs, clicking on spam email links or visiting/clicking on links on questionable sites running Windows prb'ly needs an antivirus. But have to admit, Firefox monitor says my email address was compromised on 2 forums -- Linux Mint (I was prb'ly visiting it on Windows) and, wait for it, Houzz! Problem was my simple password for my email -- fixed that with a random 32-character password changed every couple months.

@bengz6westmd

"I was prb'ly visiting it on Windows"

If I understand correctly, the sites had their databases (on their computers) broken into. Nothing you, an AV, or a browser could have done to prevent that. (just use reasonably complex passwords and don't reuse them on other sites, especially your bank, eBay, Amazon, etc.)

I assume they used a mysql injection attack?

At Houzz (and probably the same at the mint forum), the passwords were well encrypted and "salted" (to make them unique) so it would likely take an unreasonably long time to crack any but the simplest passwords.

I've never tried to hack, ethically or otherwise so I don't fully understand, so may not be getting it totally correct.

I run mysql (and apache2 and php) in Linux for my own use. Is it vulnerable? Maybe. It's kept up-to-date but I'm not a security minded coder, just an amateur, so possibly my code has holes. But it's not exposed to the web. Not that anyone would care to dump my movie database anyway. :-)

Off topic but... If you're adventurous and/or bored and have php-cli:

kudzu, Neil Rubenking has been a respected authority in this field for over 30 years. The ratings are based on his work and that of several independent testing labs. If you think he's coming up short and making incorrect recommendations, you must contact him and let him know where he's gone wrong.

Otherwise, the more likely case is that your views are the anecdotal experiences of a home user without access to real technical tools and information. You're entitled to any opinion you want but don't be so silly as to elevate them to be on a par with the results of technical work by true experts.

PS - Windows Defender appears to have improved its efficacy (it tested out to be quite poor in the past) but has never been more than a run of the mill product. According to expert assessments. There are better choices, consult independent objective assessments like PCMag.com and others.

Oh, please, Elmer. I'm not going to get in a pissing contest with you about what expert is most trusted. You should feel free to use whatever you want. I'm simply saying that my experience is that Avast works great, and tens of millions of other users seem to be satisfied. I'm not trying to convince you of anything. But for other people reading this who are looking for reliable anti-virus options I'll quote from Wikipedia: "In a February 2018 test of various antimalware products by AV-TEST, Avast Free Antivirus has earned 6 out of 6 points in "Protection" category, detecting 100% of malware samples used in this test and earning an "AV-TEST Certified" seal. Avast's Mobile Security & Antivirus app has also performed well and detected 100% of malware samples in January 2018 test of Android malware by AV-Comparatives." I'm sure you can dig out other reviews that like other products better, or don't rate Avast highly, but don't bother to post them for my benefit, because I'm not interested in switching from something that has been totally bulletproof for me.

Wikipedia is not a resource for expert advice. PCMag's testing is much more comprehensive than what you've cited.

Do you know how Wikipedia works? Do you understand that that passage in Wiki could have been posted by Avast personnel? And is the result of one set of testing? Rubinking uses several to account for test errors and oversights.

You're entitled to whatever opinions and preferences you want but don't inflate them to a level of certainty and credibility that are unsupported and unwarranted when compared to true experts. Reading selectively and getting "knowledge" from Google searches will always leave you with the short straw.

Sure, I think we both have had our say. I didn't have a horse in the race as you seemed to think you did and needed to try to defend. I was recommending referring to expert analyses rather than the personal anecdotes you thought were on a par.

Richard, thanks for the short but clever program. I generate some of my most important passwords from the below link. If a site will only take limited number of characters for a password, I just shorten the password to that limit:

https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm