Should I go with Microsoft Security Essentials?
 

. . . and nothing else?

I was surprised to see there was a virus called MS Antivirus, and loads on how to get rid of it. I assume the above, from what appears to be a MS site, seems to say it's all I need, and is hopefully safe.

"Should I go with Microsoft Security Essentials?"

For personal use, yes. Free, works fine, quick and small footprint.

:ok:

For serious use....use a serious OS!

You are aware of Microsoft's track record in security matters, aren't you ?

MS Security Essentials is one of the few good ones. Thumbs up from here. :ok:

Isn't Microsoft and security mutually-exclusive terms? :}

Aren't you thinking of homeland and security?;)

Have been using it since it first came out. Just use windows firewall , the firewall built into the router and essentials.

Windows security essentials just seems to get on with things quietly in the background and has picked up a couple of Adwares and removed them. Seems very light on resources too.

:ok::ok::ok:

Sounds encouraging . . . ish.:)

My main objection to Windows firewall is that I cant stop programs accessing the net which is why I use Zone alarm, despite the fact it makes the system less stable.

Errr, yes you can (with the version of Windows Firewall in Win7 at least). I find that ZoneAlarm et al leave the end user with either a false feeling of impenetrability, a wide open system through misconfiguration, or a system that falls over and spends all it's time waiting for network timeouts through misconfiguration too. With Windows Firewall there's MUCH less need for a security professional setting it up, hence much less security issue (it also works well).

Well I thought that as well, but I told it not to allow Adobe updater to access the net but it totally ignored me, so I no longer trust it.

PEBKAC? ;)

You get 2 options to block - one based on executable, and the other based on ports. If you get no joy with the executable it's most probably that the executable in question isn't the one that deals with the outbound request? In that situation, either isolate the executable in question or block by port.

I first installed Microsoft Security Essentials last year on office computers because I wanted some minimal antivirus software without the bloated mess that most commercial antivirus systems produce. It seemed to work well enough so I installed it at home (for several decades I've been running with no antivirus at all—it's not dangerous if you know what you're doing). On rare occasions it is a bit intrusive but for the most part it is quiet and reasonably effective. I refuse to install any bloatware antivirus on any machine of mine.

Yes, as a stand alone AV it is very good ( there are many tech sites that compare all the popular AV's to each other, try a google search).

The big plus for me is the low background footprint and the fact it is designed by MS to work with MS. Other paid AV's make your PC soooooooooooooooooooooooo slow!!

I also use Malwarebytes, works well with MSE and also run Spybot SD (without the "teatimer") every few weeks.

In my experience, NO av programm will find every piece of malware and so on, thats why I use secondary non-intusive scanners aswell. All of the above are FREE and can highly recomend them.

Cheesrs

PS An interesting article for the MAC fan boys who think that it is more secure

Mac OS X security myth exposed - Techworld.com

PPS

not having a go...I myself use a mac laptop and a PC.

Cheers

MS and Security ARE mutually-exclusive terms. Use Online-Armor from Tall Emu. Works better than anything I've found.

OP is looking for anti-virus. Only the top-end Online Armor has any antivirus.

I have been using MS Security Essentials free since it was released on XP and W7 and haven't looked back.

I own a computer repair workshop and virus removals are a huge part of my business. Here are my observations:

1) There is no such thing as a free lunch. Free antivirus is OK, but it is always better to have a full blown security suite.

2) MSE is nice, and has a light footprint. But like every other antivirus package, it cannot and never will offer 100% protection.

3) Windows Firewall is in general easy to defeat, regardless of version.

4) There is nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, that will stop nasties 100%. There is always something one step ahead of the good guys.

5) Even the experts get viruses from time to time. Humans are easy to fool.

6) Smart people think about what they are clicking and steer clear of dodgy sites. If it seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true.

I don't have issue with any of the other items you mention, however the two quoted above need comment.

As regards 1) you need to be clear on what you're saying is better than what. A full-blown security suite versus a free antivirus & windows firewall has a big pros vs cons argument. Surely you've had people come in your shop saying "my PC is deathly slow and i'm having problems with some programs that won't work". That's because configurable firewalls should NOT be given to numpties, and they've inevitably blocked something they shouldn't, or fiddled and left a security hole. Compare that with a free antivirus product that has 110 million users giving 110 million instances in the field with which to collect virus variants, and a 'set & forget' firewall, and you'll see how i'll disagree with your stance.

As regards 2) All firewalls are easy to defeat from the inside. Windows Firewall and all other firewalls don't have any faults from the outside.