pc.security

[mshrmh]

One thing I found when we changed our security a couple of years ago was that many of the mainstream providers were available on disk in either shops or online from big sites at a lot less than signing up direct online, so whichever you choose it could be worth shopping around before you buy or renew.

FWIW we moved from McAfee to Norton (3 user licence) & have been happy, but as others say we all like different things!

[Midase]

Comodo Internet security premium is Free No need to pay for the likes of those mentioned.

[Nick29]

Maybe it's free because no-one in their right mind would pay for it ?  It is said to be the worst of all the freebies 

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/security/3355481/comodo-internet-security-premium-5-review/

[Midase]

That is a bold statement and is unfounded. The report does not say that it is the worst of the freebies. Not many reviews can be relied on and I see that there are no user comments! Have you even tried it? And also by that statement you sound like you are not akin to any free software. For me it does it's job.

[GOODDOG]

Thank you GrahamSimons, Brian, Mike175, Nick29, roopat, mshrmh, and Midase for your replies.Sorry for delay in replying but i was away. You have all given me a lot to think about re new security  I will scout around different stores etc. next week and see what catches my eye.
Some i have looked at cover 3 pcs, others say pc +ipad+something else. does this only cover 1 pc. I have  a tower plus laptop.

Will have a check on google etc. whilst watching Rugby.
   Many thanks to you all
    Michael

[GOODDOG]

My previous one was PCTOOLS not PCDOCTOR.  I had said that i did not like Norton but in 2008
SYMANTEC bought out  PCTOOLS.  For 5 years i had been using a company which i did not like and had been happy with it.

Can any experts tell me would they still use PCTOOLS system without altering it with NORTON system.  I wonder how many others are owned bywhat we would call competiters.

Ah well back to the drawing board as they say.

You learn something new every day.
     Cheers     
Michael

[Nick29]

That is a bold statement and is unfounded. The report does not say that it is the worst of the freebies. Not many reviews can be relied on and I see that there are no user comments! Have you even tried it? And also by that statement you sound like you are not akin to any free software. For me it does it's job.

How do you know it's doing its job ?   As I've said so many times before, viruses and malware don't advertise their presence.  They don't slow the average machine down.  Comodo was blasted in that article because it handled malware very poorly.  The other day I needed an instruction manual for something, and I found a site which claimed to supply them free, so I tried downloading the one I wanted.  Within 15 seconds all sorts of alarms were going off on my machine, which was being continuously infected, disinfected, and reinfected by malware.  I dread to think what would have been happening if I had not been using one of the top AV programs - absolutely nothing, I suspect 

As for 'not being akin to free software' - that's not the case, I do use free software, but the free software that I use has been written for a very limited market, so is unlikely to make any substantial income for its writers, who instead ask for a small donation either for themselves or to charity.

With software with mass appeal the situation is different.  Why would someone give their software away for free, if they could make lots of money selling it ?  As far as I'm concerned, the virus checker/firewall is the second most important part in a computer (the first one being the fan that cools the processor chip).  When something is that important, I prefer not to take gambles on software that people are unable to make any money out of !

[Roger The Hat]

I currently run Avast a/v, and Online Armor (both free versions) on my XP p.c. I also scan weekly for malware.
I use the Comodo firewall (free version) on my XP lappy, with no a/v. Again, I scan weekly.
The only problem I ever had was having my e-mail "spoofed", but that was after someone else posted it on a public website. Thank you very much.

My son uses the Comodo suite (free version) on his Vista lappy. As far as I'm aware he hasn't had any problems, though I haven't checked it recently. My other son uses Norton that came with his Win7 lappy. No problems there, either.

I've tried most of the free security softwares (I'll try anything on this lappy!), and the biggest problems I've encountered are failed updates/upgrades and resource hogging. The difference with paid-for software is that you should get full technical support if something does go wrong - obviously using free software I don't expect any!

I believe the best security is just being very careful how we use the 'net.
Just my opinion, and not something I want to get into a debate about!

Best o' luck, Gooddog.   

'Hat.

[Midase]

That is a bold statement and is unfounded. The report does not say that it is the worst of the freebies. Not many reviews can be relied on and I see that there are no user comments! Have you even tried it? And also by that statement you sound like you are not akin to any free software. For me it does it's job.

How do you know it's doing its job ?   As I've said so many times before, viruses and malware don't advertise their presence.  They don't slow the average machine down.  Comodo was blasted in that article because it handled malware very poorly.  The other day I needed an instruction manual for something, and I found a site which claimed to supply them free, so I tried downloading the one I wanted.  Within 15 seconds all sorts of alarms were going off on my machine, which was being continuously infected, disinfected, and reinfected by malware.  I dread to think what would have been happening if I had not been using one of the top AV programs - absolutely nothing, I suspect 

As for 'not being akin to free software' - that's not the case, I do use free software, but the free software that I use has been written for a very limited market, so is unlikely to make any substantial income for its writers, who instead ask for a small donation either for themselves or to charity.

With software with mass appeal the situation is different.  Why would someone give their software away for free, if they could make lots of money selling it ?  As far as I'm concerned, the virus checker/firewall is the second most important part in a computer (the first one being the fan that cools the processor chip).  When something is that important, I prefer not to take gambles on software that people are unable to make any money out of !

Each to his or her own I guess!

Comodo does throw up warnings and indeed blocks websites with malicious content etc starightaway.

As for free stuff, not everyone is flush with money to purchase top of the range and often bloated software.

I will leave it at that as I have no wish to get into any kind of long debate about this. The OP has thanked everyone for their help and now has his/her own mind to make up.