[SOLVED] Paid AV/Internet Security for old PCs and family use

[radwan3]

Hi there!
I have been using Kaspersky Internet Security for the past 8 years on all of my home computers/laptops. I still enjoy the product and it feels comfortable and secure. however, I never gone outside the kaspersky bubble. I always hated Macafee and Symantec on work computers as they can kill the performance, but love their sense of security .. I was wondering about their use in home environment if they get tweaked properly ..

I have 5 laptops used for family, one of them is running Win10 i7 2nd generation and 4 GB RAM. the laptop is used by the dad, he is not a heavy user as he just check on news and emails, but he can get deceived by pop-ups on websites and so on and get some trojans or malwares ...

for me as an advanced used, I usually game on my computer which is a moderate build running an i7 4790, 16 GB and HDD ... I dont want an AV which may slow my PC down as I play or use ...

so what would be your recommendation that can provide high security and has the least impact on the performance, especially for old hardware ..

thank you in advance !

 

[punkncat]

Windows/Microsoft Defender. Included with Windows 7 and up and is actually quite good. I am not 100% positive that the 7 version still updates with EOS. The quality of any AV solution is directly related to what the user clicks on and allows.

I am sure you are aware that Kapersky was implicated in some unsecure behavior as related to phoning home to Mother Russia, right?

 

[USAFRet]

Windows Defender or BitDefender Free.

But the best AV exists between your ears.

 

[radwan3]

Windows Defender or BitDefender Free.

But the best AV exists between your ears.

Indeed, I can survive my own ... but as I said, I have a family, they are average users and need some protection online .. this is why I used internet security ..

 

[radwan3]

Windows/Microsoft Defender. Included with Windows 7 and up and is actually quite good. I am not 100% positive that the 7 version still updates with EOS. The quality of any AV solution is directly related to what the user clicks on and allows.

I am sure you are aware that Kapersky was implicated in some unsecure behavior as related to phoning home to Mother Russia, right?

exactly, this is why I want to try something other than kaspersky ...
I usually configure internet security and restrict access and configurations of the software by other family members .. on top of that, I do set it up in an aggressive way and check the AV status by an online portal to make sure everybody is secure ...

 

[USAFRet]

Indeed, I can survive my own ... but as I said, I have a family, they are average users and need some protection online .. this is why I used internet security ..

And the "paid" antivirus versions don't do anything special over the others.
None of them will stop a willful but malicious click by a user.

 

[geofelt]

Windows defender is free, effective and updated as part of windows updates.
Perhaps a year ago, it was rated the best at catching known viruses.
The value of more active and heavy solutions is the ability to detect in the wild viruses.

The best thing to protect your family is to send them some basic safety instructions.
Do not click on any links in a email unless it is one you are expecting.
Just because the name of the sender is someone you know, check that the sending email address is what you expect.
Scammers can access lists of names and emails and fake things.
If they have any files that they do not want to lose, set up some sort of EXTERNAL backup.
and....

 

[mdd1963]

Kaspersky Free is more than good enough, IMO.....

Between Kaspersky checking websites against a list of known crapware/scamware/etc., and the browser (Chrome)and even Defender Security extensions doing the same, one really has to go out of their way over-riding warnings to get to the crap sites. (Or so I'm told!)