Mac Viruses

@panzade,

panzade wrote:

Ironically, Microsoft offers a free anti virus program for PC's that is so good I stopped using other anti virus programs. Every day when you get online it uploads new definitions and you can set it to automatic scans.

Microsoft Security Essentials

I was using Avast but switched one of my laptops to Microsoft Security Essentials. It seems just fine but the truth of the matter is that for the end-user, unless they are willing to do extensive testing, will never know which anti-virus preforms best for their purposes.

Having said that however, Microsoft Security Essentials seems as robust and non-invasive as Avast.

1 Reply

@Chumly,

Avast seemed to slow my computer down, especially when doing tasks such as video editing. I'd have to disable it. Haven't noticed that at all with MCE.

1 Reply

@Irishk,

Irishk wrote:

Avast seemed to slow my computer down, especially when doing tasks such as video editing. I'd have to disable it. Haven't noticed that at all with MCE.

Interesting as I noted no performance loss on any of my machines including an antique Pentium III. Mind you I have noted no performance loss using MSE on the 5 year old laptop I am trying MSE on.

Prior to installing Avast did you run Crap Cleaner and also confirm there were no other applications running in the background? I have been using Avast for over five years on upwards of 10 PC's with no issues of any kind ever, but that does not mean I do not like MSE (as far as I can tell).

2 Replies

@Chumly,

Thanks! I just ran Crap Cleaner and my 'puter is...well....sprightly. Good program

1 Reply

@panzade,

I totally love Crap Cleaner and I've tried many of its ilk and IMHO it's the best and even better it gets updated very regularly (I do this manually as I hate things updating in the middle of processes - in fact Avast will do that and it could be another reason why Irishk felt it was slow...the truth is Avast is very fast and runs a very small footprint).

I've used both Crap Cleaner and Avast for many years to great success, I am not 100% sure about MSE yet as I've only been running it on one machine for about 6 months.

1 Reply

@Chumly,

Avast and MSE will slow your computer to a crawl when they're downloading definitions...but it only takes 15 minutes and it's done for the day.

1 Reply

@panzade,

You are correct that auto-updates can bog things down...it's why I tend to do updates manually so they get done without interfering with my work-flow.

1 Reply

@Chumly,

that's a good idea, gonna flip it over to manual.

1 Reply

@Chumly,

Chumly wrote:

Prior to installing Avast did you run Crap Cleaner and also confirm there were no other applications running in the background? I have been using Avast for over five years on upwards of 10 PC's with no issues of any kind ever, but that does not mean I do not like MSE (as far as I can tell).

Oh, heck no, totally forgot to do that and didn't know about Crap Cleaner. I'll check it out and thanks for the advice.

My usual routine when preparing to do any heavy-duty tasks (like the video editing/burning) was to restart the computer, wait for everything to load and then disable as much as I could one-by-one, including any anti-virus programs. Seemed to make a difference, but I did some work yesterday with MSE running and everything was fine...so it probably is the updating. I'll switch that to manual, as well.

Thanks, guys! Always looking for ways to speed things up so I have more time to play around on the 'internets' LOL.

0 Replies

@panzade,

Personally, I think manual updates are a bad idea for virus definitions. You really want the protection of getting frequent updates. Just schedule the updates to happen at night.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

That's a good point DD, but I turn my 'puter off every night. So how would I work it?

1 Reply

@panzade,

Well, if you're already updated then there shouldn't be a big slowdown while the software updates itself.

Schedule automatic updates, but perform updates manually to avoid the slow down. If you forget to update, then you experience the slow down but you're then protected.

2 Replies

@DrewDad,

Well yes and no.

Yes, I often set my automatic updates to prompt before install however, but no that still does not necessarily alleviate all slowdowns and some of the reasons are:
1) it clogs up the throughput of the LAN / WAN
2) it may keep the HD / processor busier storing the update data
3) it may prompt you at inopportune times

In other words, for the laptop I use while teaching, even automatic updates with prompts as to permission can be both annoying and slowdown-ish.

So fully automatic or fully manual or somewhere in between depends on how you need to use your machine! Also there is no real increase in risk with fully manual updates of anti-virus software, if you are consistent.

0 Replies

@DrewDad,

The update starts when I open Firefox and lasts about 15 minutes. I'm starting to use that time to make my cup of Cuban (cortadito) coffee.

1 Reply

@panzade,

Strange that the browser triggers the update; I've never encountered that with antivirus software before.

I'm installing MSE on a virtual machine to play with it, since I've always used AVG for my home systems.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

good. Let me know how the definition download is triggered.

1 Reply

@panzade,

What about scheduled scans? When I installed the program, it didn't ask me about scheduled updates, but the default for scheduled scans was Sundays at 2am and I guess I clicked 'OK'.

I just checked and the last 'update' was done yesterday at 7:04 pm and I apparently have the box checked that says 'check for updates before performing scheduled scan'. So I guess if that's done, I'll always be updated? <insert confused emoticon>

0 Replies

@engineer,

I have paid subscriptions to several antivirus solutions but chose the free Microsoft version too because it was less annoying (the others kept trying to perform more unnecessary security theater that they didn't let me disable).

I highly recommend it now, both because it's free and because it's better than the paid options available (I can't get the Norton corporate client anymore, but that is another one that does its job quietly and well).

0 Replies

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I think Robert has written on a2k that Macs are vulnerable to viruses.

Any computer that can run third party code is. But to be honest these days "viruses" are less of an attack vector on any platform. Right now people should be worried about their apps, like the browser, more than the operating system. It has gotten to the point that I'm almost ok with not running any AV software on PCs because the attack surface has hardened on all OSes to the point where it's not as easy an profitable as it was 10 years ago.

0 Replies

@panzade,

panzade wrote:

makes you wonder if Gates has been dragging his feet all these years, engineer

They also didn't want to piss off the AV vendors by providing a free product that undercuts them. Ultimately they got sick of being bludgeoned over security because of the many users who aren't willing to pay for AV and offered a free solution for that.

But they still don't push it hard, as they are trying to cover a market (those who will not buy an AV solution) that does not compete with Norton et all. Thing is, those vendors are releasing inferior products to the free solution. Right now I recommend their freeware even if you already have a paid AV solution.

1 Reply

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know