PC security recommendations?

[Ole Man River]

Hi all, have a new PC came with McAfee installed, free for 30 days. About to expire, any advice on renewing at 39.99 for 1 year? Or Not? What do others use. Only need good basic security.
Thanks. 

[gattaca66]

Solely from personal experience and that of family members, I'd recommend removing McAfee and installing Norton. It's currently on offer for the same price, and that covers 5 separate machines. I found McAfee adversely affected my use of some everyday sites like EBay and Amazon, and it was just too darned intrusive. Norton, on the other hand, has been superb, easy to use and the customer service at least accessible.

Some may be McAfee devotees, I'm sure, whilst others will point you towards other products or free-to-use software. I just happen to have found Norton to deliver what I want. I see McAfee often comes as a built in feature, including the McAfee toolbar, and I instinctively dislike anything which is sneaked in by 'stealth'!

[Ole Man River]

Thanks gattaca66 for the advice. Think you are probably similar to my line of thinking & what I have heard in the past.

[fourthwisemonkey]

Do you have online banking in uk. If have barclays then can get a 3 user licence for kaspersky for free via barclays. I have tried most of the security packages over the years and from my experience in pc repair etc I personally avoid mcafee and norton. Kaspersky often comes out in the top 2 each year and is not too much of a system hog and for the general user is fairly simple. There are possibly better combinations out there but not so simple to use (ie nod32 AV and comodo firewall etc).

Never had a virus with kaspersky and do not get too many false positives and I do go to websites where viruses can easily be gotten. I guess there is a reason why norton or mcafee get bundled free for 30 days with new pc´s.....

[Stone Free]

As soon as I buy a new PC, I uninstall McAfee or whatever and use Microsoft's free antivirus protection.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_security/how-to-enable-and-use-the-built-in-windows/0682bf04-b8d2-4646-9dfb-e5823a5e2117

I've used it for the last 6 years on several PCs without any problems.

You will probably have to download a utility from McAfee's website to fully uninstall their software.

[Ole Man River]

Thanks,

Kaspersky? don't know the name but will look at it.

Tried to uninstall McAfee in the past. Couldn't do it. I'm on Windows 8.1 not 10.

Online banking, yes, but not Barclays.

[Deso]

Kaspersky currently have a sale on. 

http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/sem/bs_tiered_promotion_4up_a?redef=1&reseller=DRPPC_BS_BG&ksid=7aba2b7c-6a41-479c-a9b6-5084cc680891&ksprof_id=56&ksaffcode=119922&ksdevice=c&gclid=CjwKEAiAwZO0BRDvxs_1w-qFnhkSJABo10ggv8_DPng6ubUdZQqsUH_WrLquHhsnsyKWjV2zYdzb7hoC0nDw_wcB

Google McAfee uninstall, it can be a bit of a pain to get rid completely. You should find a tutorial on how to get rid of it.

[Ole Man River]

Do I have to uninstall McAfee before I add the new one?

[hairybiker]

I have installed AVG Free on many PCs over may years and have never had a virus (touches head!!) yet. 

I install all updates automatically as they are available 

I run a scheduled full system scan every week on the main box. 

Also have SpyBot installled and run this once a month.

I also install AVG Free on any PC I am asked to fix and, as far as I know, no one I have done this for has had a problm either.

But then I am careful about where I go on the Net and what I do

[hairybiker]

Do I have to uninstall McAfee before I add the new one?

I would.

[Rich000]

Yes having 2 AV programs on they clash and slow it down

Any of the free ones will do you, MSE, AVG, Avast then just run Anti malwarebypes, Super antispyware and Ccleaner once a month, all again free programs to download. Just remember to look carefully to uncheck certain boxes or you will end up with loads of search bars on the browser and then have to remove them

[Ole Man River]

Not sure if anyone is on the forum today?

I tried to get Kaspersky from Deso's link; it's only for UK & Ireland, won't change to Spain for my info.
Is there an international site? With the sale on it.

[Deso]

There is a Spanish site but no sale on there 

http://www.kaspersky.es/tienda-1.html

Do you have an English Paypal account?

[Ole Man River]

Yes I have Paypal with an English Bank account on it.

[beachlife]

I would get rid of Mcafee by downloading revo uninstaller Its free it uses windows own installer first and then will ask you if it should search your computer for left behind files that other programs leave behind.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Do reviews of Avast it scores high on detecting virus,trojans and malware compared to most other AV`s. Go for the free version.

https://www.avast.com/windows-10-antivirus

I personally stay away from Norton it is bloated and has a large footprint of your system so uses a large chunk of resources.

Just got a new laptop and got a years free Mcafee first thing I did was uninstall it with revo and install Avast.

[Deso]

Yes I have Paypal with an English Bank account on it.

If you pay by Paypal you should be able to use the address details and mail address that are linked to that account.
As far as I can see, the software will be a download and they will mail you the Licence.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials which is free but you need to keep your Microsoft Security updates current and be vigilant on what sort of files/mails you open.

[Ole Man River]

My Paypal address in here in Fuerte. So I don't think that will work.
I did find a Kaspersky website in the US earlier today that would let me use Spain. In dollars, seemed more expensive but looks like that is inevitable. Are there any problems with using this one do you think?
Thanks Deso.

[Deso]

It looks like the Licence is region specific so you will have to use the Spanish site.

http://www.kaspersky.es/tienda-1.html

[beachlife]

Which ever AV you choose before you delete mcafee, download the new AV first, but do not uninstall mcafee until you have the new download for the AV you are going to use to replace. Then use revo uninstaller I gave the link for in an earlier post, as this will delete all the remains from your computer of mcafee . Then install your new AV.

[Tatts]

We have had purchased many security programmes over the years for our business & home networks, we run AVG on the office network and Avast free  on our home networks for some time.
Find Avast Free for home adequate for the purpose without any issues