MicroSoft Secuity Essentials.

So I Stumbled upon a page the other day, describing basic do's and don'ts of computer security and general usage.

I learned that cleaning your registry and defragging your comp are pretty much completely unnecessary.
I also learned that most people are overpaying for pricey antivirus software, the site, which was not affiliated with Micro$oft, said that MS Security Essentials is actually a decent piece of software.

Does anyone agree/disagree or recommend a different AV/AntiSpyware program?

Currently I just use SuperAntiSpyware, CCleaner, and just practice safe browsing which is the best AntiVirus...

I basically agree, Microsoft Security Essentials is all most people need. There are others, with pros/cons, but MSE works fine.

Thanks Feanor, I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

It's compact, clear, and works well.

And it scans very efficiently and allows me to set what I want to do with files based on threat level.

All in all, I'd say if you're using a genuine Windows product, dump AVG, McAfee, avast!, or whatever freeware you're using, and get this!!

Why is defragging your HD unnecessary?

Many people think defragging is useless because when they run it they are expecting to see actual differences in their machines performance, which unfortunately isn't gonna happen.

The benefits of defragging come from wear and tear on the actual physical drive. When a drive is fragmented, data for a single application or file can be spread across different sectors on the physical drive. Whereas contiguous files are all placed in order that they need to be read by the read head. Because of this a read head will have to go through a lot more work in order to read the data from a fragmented file than it will a contiguous one, which over time can cause issues with the drives functionality.

^ Took the words from my head (and made 'em better lol). It can also help when partitioning.
In my opinion, yes, I find MSE to be perfectly fine as a fairly advanced user, and I see no reason it wouldn't be for beginners too.
To be honest I see it killing a lot of other anti-virus software.

I agree, I've liked it so far.

I don't think defragging your HD has to be done all the time. I don't know how long it takes to wear down your HD normally, but defragging to much will wear out your HD.

I haven't defragged my HD since I got my laptop almost a year ago, and it only shows as being 1% fragmented, while being not even 25% full. (C:) at least.

Defragging is good, sometimes.
Too much is bad.

Oh yeah and don't use the Windows Defrag tool.

Auslogic has a more efficient DefragTool.
They have one for your registry too.

I agree, I've liked it so far.

I don't think defragging your HD has to be done all the time. I don't know how long it takes to wear down your HD normally, but defragging to much will wear out your HD.

I haven't defragged my HD since I got my laptop almost a year ago, and it only shows as being 1% fragmented, while being not even 25% full. (C:) at least.

Defragging is good, sometimes.
Too much is bad.

Honestly, I don't defrag. Ever. lol
I have any OS on their own partitions, and I do a format every so often to keep things smooth.
Everything I want to save is on it's own partition so all I lose is whatever's installed. Simple to move save game files and the like to that partition so it only takes an hour or so to set it back up.
So, I don't find partitioning important as such, just saying it has it's uses.

ever since I also stumbled upon this, ive been quite pleased with its performance
as long as it catches the bad guys in time and nothing slips by it, i fine
but because its free
i am also worried it might not be the best, considering newer and stronger more effective virus are always made constantly

The main antivirus programs I see mentioned in threads like this are MSE, Avast, and AVG.

I've tried all three, and I like MSE the best so far. AVG bogged down my system like crazy and Avast was fine but a little more... in your face than MSE.

I did a fair amount of reading, and both MSE and Avast seemed to be rated pretty equally. I use MSE now and I like it a lot.

My HD is like 10% fragmented after a year of use, and it runs fine.

I'm pleased with MSE so far.
Really, as long as you keep your antivirus updated, there's no reason to pay for an expensive program.

MSE is the best so far. But I liked avast too

I used Avast for a bit, the ads are annoying.

I used Avast for a bit, the ads are annoying.

They have ads now?

I never got any ads when I used Avast... It was definitely less in the background than MSE, though. I never hear a peep from MSE. Avast was always like "HEY, HEYYYY!! I'M HERE AND I'M DOING THINGS!!!"

They have ads now?

I never got any ads when I used Avast... It was definitely less in the background than MSE, though. I never hear a peep from MSE. Avast was always like "HEY, HEYYYY!! I'M HERE AND I'M DOING THINGS!!!"

Yeah it tells you a few times a day to upgrade to pro. Hardly the end of the world but I could still do without it. lol

Fragmentation of the HD will depend on how often you install/uninstall software. How much shit you download and how often and where you move the files you download. I do a lot of everything, so my HD gets fragmented every 4-5 months. I usually defrag 2 times a year. It does make a difference.

As far as A/V, I use VIPRE by Sunbelt. It catches those script/cookie trojans you get from visiting websites pretty well. It also detects viruses in downloaded files before you even get a chance to execute the file. Once an infected file is done downloading, VIPRE will automatically block it and delete it before a user gets a chance to open it. A lot of antiviruses identify an infected file upon execution of the file, which is most of the time too late. I also like that VIPRE releases signature updates EVERY 24 hours. I've been using sunbelt's antivirus software ever since CounterSpy came out 10 something years ago. It works for me. But again, no single antivirus will catch all the viruses/malware out there. I'm trying to get into habit of using sandboxie more often

Not a fan of MSE, I use Eset Smart Security (when on Windows), much lighter weight and I wouldnt want another ms product, they can't keep an operating system secure so I wouldnt trust their a/v to do it well.

Fragmentation of the HD will depend on how often you install/uninstall software. How much shit you download and how often and where you move the files you download. I do a lot of everything, so my HD gets fragmented every 4-5 months. I usually defrag 2 times a year. It does make a difference.

That part doesn't matter. You're not gonna have a significant loss of speed running music/videos and with separate partitions, installers can just be run on the main.
Formatting takes less time than defragging, when I've done it in the past I've had it take half a day sometimes. With the size of HDDs today that's probably at least tripled. Not to mention you've also got the registry and uninstalling things you don't need any more on top of it.
Defragging is a simpler but less efficient option, in my opinion.

Not a fan of MSE, I use Eset Smart Security (when on Windows), much lighter weight and I wouldnt want another ms product, they can't keep an operating system secure so I wouldnt trust their a/v to do it well.

Well to me AV is only there as back-up. I haven't had a virus since I was running Windows 95 (which actually came on a non-pirated CD for some crappy game), and I do a hell of a lot of downloading. lol

Well to me AV is only there as back-up. I haven't had a virus since I was running Windows 95 (which actually came on a non-pirated CD for some crappy game), and I do a hell of a lot of downloading. lol

I'm more worried about malware that spreads without user interaction, mostly through flaws in the OS, so I want an av with good heuristics and i figure with how easy it is to get through windows as it is, I dont want another ms product to help against that.

I'm more worried about malware that spreads without user interaction, mostly through flaws in the OS, so I want an av with good heuristics and i figure with how easy it is to get through windows as it is, I dont want another ms product to help against that.

But it isn't...