Microsoft Security Essentials: EPIC FAIL - Comments Page 2

Yes Bob, I have used AVG, Avast, Avira, and MSE. When recommending something *simple* and *non* annoying for the seniors in my computer club, it's always MSE. Personally, I use Avast, but have to accept that it’s going to be talking to me all the time, it’s "Just look at me how good I am" reports, it’s "Buy the *Pro* version!" requests, it’s registration requirements, and confusing and "oh … just one more feature" interface. All things MSE is not.
Granted seniors are not a high risk group (they have a much greater risk from taskbars and adware and very few products stop the Conduit crapware, if they did I'm sure Conduit would sue them out of existence) so MSE is it.
I just can't stomach Symantec/Norton despite it's high ratings for recent versions; 15+ years of bad taste takes a while to wear off, "Not worth free."
The walled gardens of iMacs, tablets and smart phone stores are nice for them, but that ship has sailed for the PCs. Microsoft is trying to pull it back with Windows 8 and the Microsoft Store, but I resist a phone OS on my 2-monitor Core i7 desktop.

Throughout the years I have used Avast..good but an update messed it up back some time ago...discarded
AVG..too flip-in slow and slows my PC...discarded
Commodo..update problems numerous times..discarded.
MSE..Consistent, no update problems, doesn't slow my PC. I'll keep it thank you.

It all boils down to what you want the antivirus program to accomplish. Users needs are different.
I have no problem recommending MSE for users that normally don't take any "chances".
Definitely a category to keep yourself informed about, so thanks for the article. It made much more sense than those other "cloned" or "denial" articles with their agendas.

I kind of agree with Fred. I too have used all the good free av programs, but found the same thing. They all started out great, but with each update became more interfering and bulky on my XP machine. MSE has been the perfect guest. Along with MBAM, CCleaner and Spy-bot, my XP machine stays as clean as I can keep it.

But now I have a dilema. Just got a new laptop with Windows 8(no touch screen) as a birthday gift with a free trial of McAfee that I will uninstall as soon as the trial is over. Was looking forward to running MSE, but not so sure now. As a Comcast customer, I can go to them for free McAfee, but out of the "big" 2, McAfee & Norton, I don't know which I dislike more. Cannot afford a paid version of anything at this time, and I really don't want AVG, Commodo, Avast,etc. They left a bad taste too.

Now I am confused! I've MSE installed. Can I get a second defence, for example Avast? I was told only one will do, either MSE or something else. Can I've both, Bob?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I recommend against multiple real-time malware scanners. MBAM would be a good choice as an on-demand scanner. MBAM Pro is real-time, but I can't say for sure if it plays nice with MSE or other A/V programs.

Thanks for the update on MSE. I was considering updating my laptop to MS 8.1 as I thought MSE would replace my Norton more effectively; however, I will wait until I replace my laptop in the future or am forced to go to the current MS operating system.

I like McAfee - been using them from the beginning. Obviously some bad press on them since the fall of the founder ( what is the matter with him anyway! ) but that aside I stay with the product because it has always done a good job for me. Funny how you mention Norton amongst the article but not McAfee. Good article by the way as usual.

I've been using MSE for a couple years, but took Bob's article as an excuse to replace it with Avast, which I'd been using and had always been my favorite.

A full scan by Avast revealed a single infection. (Previously, 3rd party online scans had always come up clean.) MSE hasn't been an epic fail for me.

The problem with league tables is that suppliers focus too much on passing the required tests which means less focus on those areas not tested. This doesn't mean theirs is a better product.

This is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of outside the rarefied realm of school administration. Why bother to make a product at all if you're not intending to make it the best product that you can?

Add me to the loyal opposition. I've never considered Microsoft's "complete solution" hype credible, but the uniform advice from recommendation sources has always been "use it as your antivirus and supplement it with specialty stuff like MBAM, WinPatrol, SuperAntiSpybot, etc. - with all of which MSE plays nicely and has never let me down. OTOH on my new Win7 computer I decided not to activate MSE and try the McAfee for the 90 days instead. Bad idea. Before 60 days were up a nasty piece of ransomeware blew right by it; it took me eight hours to grab back control, dump McAfee (which did not go quietly) and install MSE,
On my old XP laptop I used Avira for years before they started playing games on updates. I put in Comodo for several months but it is simultaneously uncommunicative and aggressive so I turfed it last week and put in Avast, which first didn't install properly (their email support is very fast and responsive, pity they don't know English). When I figured enough out about what they were trying to suggest I did it and Avast installed fine and worked well through the first boot. It froze the computer on the second. Once I get it thawed I'll make decisions from there. I'm sure there must be some antivirus that's free and works.

I got Bit Defender as it was so called "top rated" but I find it is very hard to configure, doesn't seem to keep it's settings, the "wallet" nag screen can't be made to go away and it eats my system resources down to the nub. I very much wish I hadn't gone with it!

WOW! This article came as a huge shock to me. For years, I've been led to believe MSE was one of the most effective defenses against malware and malicious software I could use. I mean, it's developed by Microsoft. If anyone wanted to protect their operating systems the most, it would be them...right?

I can't really say I have any complaints though. It runs continually on my machine and I scan regularly with other products like MBAM, CCleasner, SpyBot, etc. I rarely have any issues whatsoever. The occasional false positive from programs that have left some rouge files behind after installation.

I keep Windows updates running and make sure all my drivers and software are updated, as well.

Well, this has certainly opened my eyes. I'll start shopping for another solution right away. Thank you Microsoft for deluding your loyal customers once again.

So what have we decided is the best free solution now?

really confusing, i have always depended on security
essentials , now i can't, microsoft has really dropped the ball on this one.i also notice that their internet exployer has problems opening web pages..thank goodness for your site, i always check it every day for its valued info//

What an eye-opener. I was depending on MSE and recommending others do so also.

Thanks, Bob, for being up-front about this.

Don

I have been using the free version of AVG after reading reviews about it from some of the PC magazines. I have been using it for a few years now.

A bit like Fred, I too have stayed with MSE for the same reasons. Have tried most of the other freebies including paid versions of McAfee and Norton and found that MSE to be the most consistent and least troublesome/annoying/resource hungry. Have read what both Leo and Bob have said and taking into consideration the way I use my computer, I will be sticking with MSE for the time being!

The use of the term, "Epic Fail" to describe MSE is really irresponsible. I'm not arguing that there are not better alternatives, but to label it as one of the worst failures ever is going way too far.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's not just MSE that I see as a failure, it's the way Microsoft hid the news that MSE really wasn't intended to be anything better than "baseline." Go look at the AV-TEST scores and you'll see that MSE scores last in almost every test.

One option is to use a cloud-based AV application like Panda Cloud Antivirus along with MSE.

I was introduced some five years ago to SuperAntiSpyware when all of the other'recognized' companies had failed to remove a very persistent trojan. From then on it has worked beautifully in conjunction with MBAM.

Spybot's latest design completely throws me - just cannot understand it yet its predecessor was wonderful.

AVG was fine until this year's update which completely crashed my pc - left me unable to enter Safe Mode and with a useless AVG Rescue CD. You can Google AVG's problems if you do not believe me.