A little over a week ago, version 4.0 of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) was released. First seen in version 1.0 back in 2009, MSE has been among the top free antivirus programs ever since. I first mentioned it back in 2009, when it was in its testing stages, in one of my articles. I took version 2.0 for a test drive in 2011, where it performed surprisingly well. So I decided to take this version, 4.0 for a spin as well (there never was a version 3.0).
As I’ve usually done it, the test drive consisted of visiting known infected websites with my test computer, with the antivirus program installed and then observing and analyzing how the antivirus performs in terms of detecting malware, preventing the computer from being infected and cleaning it up as needed.
So I took my test computer and accessed 4 or 5 infected websites. One of them infected with a Trojan, one with a Fake Antivirus, one with a rootkit, and finally one with another Trojan. In each case the real-time protection feature of MSE correctly detected the presence of malware, stopped access to the infection, and cleaned up successfully any files downloaded by the website to my computer, without any user intervention needed. A detailed after-the-fact analysis of what went on when I accessed each infected website revealed that neither an invisible, behind-the-scenes infection nor computer settings alteration took place, confirming that MSE succeeded and passed the test.
I already liked MSE 2.0, and I’m liking MSE 4.0 even more. Out of all the free antivirus alternatives, it is the one I like the most.
If you have MSE in your computer(s), check to make sure you have this version, the latest. If you need help checking which version you do have or how to upgrade to the latest one, feel free to ask.
I read your may 2nd post on MSE and I had a couple questions. While you say you like MSE and that it is free, what is your opinion of how it rates against the various paid programs in so far as protection? Paid anti virus or internet protection programs have come down in price over the years and while I don’t know all the current pricing nor which paid program is best. I believe many such as Kasperski is under $50 per computer or less. I have used Kasperski in the past and never had any real problems. So with the potential damage or loss from a bad virus in one’s computer costing over $50 to repair, do you recommend a good paid program over a freebe? If so which ones?
Let me know what u think.
Rudy
While it is apples to oranges, I will humor you and compare. In my opinion, some paid programs are better than MSE, only because the paid security suites have additional modules that provide added layers of protection, such as a firewall, web filter, anti-spam, etc. But as far as antivirus protection alone, MSE can compete with the equivalent paid programs.
Funny you should mention Kaspersky. Currently my choice for security software is Kaspersky Internet Security 2012. If the computer to be protected is not old or low on resources, KIS 2012 will do. But if you try to install it on a computer that is several years old you might experience a perceivable performance impact.
Read my past articles on different product reviews. Those which have passed my test, are the ones I recommend.