You just use Windows Firewall with it however if like me you're sitting behind a router then there's no need to have it switched on. From reading this thread I removed AVG and put Microsoft Security Essentials on instead.
The firewall that ships with Windows 7 (Not sure if Windows Vista's got updated) is actually pretty decent. A lot of the stuff that is offered by Kaspersky and Nod32 is pretty much fluff, and you really don't need it if you are aware of what you're doing online. The main draw to using MSE/Windows Firewall is that the they're not intrusive in the slightest (Where my experience with Kaspersky just irritated me consistently due to how intrusive it was). Nod32 can get annoying as well, but it is the only paid consumer firewall I'd use.
Last time I checked ESET Nod32 was antivirus antispy, no firewall included. ESET does have a suite style package that does include a firewall which is what I was using until recently. http://www.eset.co.uk/Home
BitDefender here at the moment.. But used GData ISS for years and was very pleased with it , it uses dual AV scanning engines ( BitDefender & Avast at present ) used to be Kaspersky and Bitdefender... In making your choice you MUST ask your self what is your prime objective.. Security or Performence... No 1 for me is security , so either of the above is good for me.. Each year I choose what I get the best deals on as i sell AV products myself... Regards..
Microsoft Security Essentials + Malwarebytes + Comodo Firewall + Hosts file (if you just want pure ads than this one) all great and all free winwinwin ^_^
I think if you're not using MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) then you're being suckered into a bad deal. I never notice MSE is there, it does a sterling job and is totally free. I have to say that I just use MSE, Windows Defender and Windows Firewall - they might not be the best out there, but they work for what I want them to do. The rest is common sense.
You might want to look into Norton AntiVirus to see if you like it. What I mean by that is you can now read the source code for all of Norton's big products. heh. oops.
Nice, just cause I purchased Bitdefender Total Security 2012 - They sent me 5 copies of there Internet Security 2012 (1 pc / 1 year) free. Thing is I don't know what to do with the 5 free copies... It seems to be fixed the stuttering in video/games now... they added modes for gamers in 2012 version.
My friend's PC had a virus. I had good success with Kaspersky's Rescue CD. It is a bootable CD. Good instructions here: How to download the bootable .iso His PC had very little RAM which made the process slow. http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-canadian-security-intelligence-service/ Burn this ISO now, so you'll have this Boot CD when you need it !
I would agree, even though I've never used it. As long ago as 12 years, I was reading then people rating it as being "second to none" and the best paid option to use with many. I used to use AVG Free at the time it first came out for years. I don't like it now since, for starters you cannot disable it from within it's settings in Windows anymore. Not like you once could, it's running all the time and the constant nagging reminder adverts to upgrade to paid do become rather annoying in it. It's quite bloated compared to what it was like at first, it uses more system resources now also. It was very popular with people at the start because it was very easy on your PC resources, and could be turn off in taskbar at any point. I've also tried MS Virus for free, which you can download from there site depending were you live in the world for using free. Seemed OK, but there are some glitches running it I found at times.
I use ZoneAlarm, mostly out of habit, and that I installed it on my grand mothers computer a few years back (as a part of the 3 computer license), so now I am kinda stuck with it until I can do something about it. It has always been a good product, and pretty solid firewall as well as very lightweight. Only thing I hate about it now is that they are constantly plugging these other softwares, like registry cleaners and tune up applications. I still feel the security suite is good enough to still warrant a buy though- When it comes to MSE, I did some benchmarking when they started out with Windows Defender and it nearly always failed, even in the first two years. I also tested it a year ago or less, and it was still nothing I would want to recommend. I don't know how it is today, but I have always seen upon Windows Firewall and Defender as a false sense of security.
MSE is completely separate from Windows Defender, in fact it was originally software developed by a security firm which Microsoft later acquired and took over development. Unlike other anti-virus, MSE runs completely unintrusive in the background, and takes a minimal amount of resources (Which most other anti-virus fail to do). As far as detection goes, it detects almost everything I've thrown at it. As for Windows Firewall, when Windows Vista came out it actually became a decent product, and much more so with Windows 7. Other than a hardware setup, I only install MSE and configure Windows Firewall on my Windows systems as there isn't much need for anything else. ZoneAlarm, and most anti-virus/firewalls that have a thousand and one features are often snack oil. You really do not need every single feature they're offering, and really they're a waste of resources (There are exceptions, and some anti-viruses are quite decent). Truthfully, if you need something other than MSE and Windows Firewall, you might want to take a look at your browsing habits before putting faith into paid programs.
That is an oversimplification. I could just as easily say that if you really need MSE, you should take a look at your operating system. Also, for me it doesn't matter if Windows Defender isn't part of MSE or not, it was broken, and probably still is. It never worked as advertised, never detected a single spyware, while Spybot and others detected even more. Why would I think MSE is any different. Simply put, I don't trust them.
