McAfee took about 24 hours to do a full scan. Windows 11 Professional 24H2 OS Build 26100.2454

Ozguy · Dec 5, 2024

I've got about 279 gig of used space on my SSD and about 1 gig of used space on my Google drive. It took about half as long when I had Windows 10 Professional. Should I change to Norton Antivirus when my McAfee subrscription is due for renewal, would Norton be faster? Is there any way to speed up McAfee, even though I already chose the option to do a fast scan?

glasskuter · Dec 5, 2024

It's a matter of personal choice but mine is I wouldn't ever use either Norton or McAfee for the simple reason they are, and have always been, resource hogs.
We've had a number of threads on the subject on this forum with many opinions. I believe I'm safe in saying that the general consensus is Defender is the one most used as primary protection. A number of members (me included) run Malwarebytes Premium alongside Defender for extra protection.
Unlike with other AV programs that disable defender, MWB and Defender both run in realtime with no major effect on performance.

Viruses do still exist but the major factor affecting computers today is malware and ransomware. No matter what AV one uses, the biggest deterrent to nasties gettiing into a system is the user and how smart his decisions are in the sites he visits, the ads he clicks on, the emails he opens, and the software he downloads. And the number one rule....NEVER give ANYONE remote access to your system unless you know darn sure who you are dealing with.
Never respond to anyone calling you regarding your computer or any popup on your screen claiming to be Microsoft or any other major company who wants you to call them. These big companies WILL NOT contact you.

Pay attention in your web searches that you go to official sites, not off the wall places that can get you in trouble. You can do this by closely examining the URL before clicking on them.

Nothing helps more than good old common sense.

cereberus · Dec 5, 2024

glasskuter said:
It's a matter of personal choice but mine is I wouldn't ever use either Norton or McAfee for the simple reason they are, and have always been, resource hogs.
We've had a number of threads on the subject on this forum with many opinions. I believe I'm safe in saying that the general consensus is Defender is the one most used as primary protection. A number of members (me included) run Malwarebytes Premium alongside Defender for extra protection.
Unlike with other AV programs that disable defender, MWB and Defender both run in realtime with no major effect on performance.

Viruses do still exist but the major factor affecting computers today is malware and ransomware. No matter what AV one uses, the biggest deterrent to nasties gettiing into a system is the user and how smart his decisions are in the sites he visits, the ads he clicks on, the emails he opens, and the software he downloads. And the number one rule....NEVER give ANYONE remote access to your system unless you know darn sure who you are dealing with.
Never respond to anyone calling you regarding your computer or any popup on your screen claiming to be Microsoft or any other major company who wants you to call them. These big companies WILL NOT contact you.

Pay attention in your web searches that you go to official sites, not off the wall places that can get you in trouble. You can do this by closely examining the URL before clicking on them.

Nothing helps more than good old common sense.

Regrettably, common sense is an oxymoron.

Helmut · Dec 5, 2024

I would try and find out the reason why, not easy. It maybe just the settings need adjusting, maybe other security Apps clashing, maybe it is suspicious of some files and digs deeper in analysing them, and so forth. Maybe you should of stayed with 23H2 etc etc.

"wouldn't ever use either Norton or McAfee for the simple reason they are, and have always been, resource hogs."

That sort of classic recycled disinformation on McAfee and Norton is getting to be decades out of date.
I have used several AV apps over the years. Most recent was McAfee and it certainly was not a resource hog, indeed it worked well with minimal resources, though it needed some configuration of notifications, easily done through it's settings.
It was uninstalled because I did not want to pay for it after the trial period.

Having common sense is unfortunately wishful thinking, the vast majority of consumers only have a minimalist knowledge of how computer hardware and software works, even more true of complex Apps like AV software and criminal psychology.

TraderGary · Dec 5, 2024

glasskuter said:
It's a matter of personal choice but mine is I wouldn't ever use either Norton or McAfee for the simple reason they are, and have always been, resource hogs.
We've had a number of threads on the subject on this forum with many opinions. I believe I'm safe in saying that the general consensus is Defender is the one most used as primary protection.

I too have a Dell computer. The first thing I do with Dell is uninstall McAfee so that Windows built-in Defender takes over.

retiredat44 · Dec 5, 2024

i only scan C: drive SSD on mine (the OS and most used)... for the rest of the drives I don't see a reason,, and the individual files that go in and out of computer to all the drivers are scanned when they go in/out. If you scan every file on many drives and space you are being overly cautious or wasting time... IMHO I use Norton 360.

glasskuter · Dec 6, 2024

Helmut said:
That sort of classic recycled disinformation on McAfee and Norton is getting to be decades out of date.

Respectfully, I disagree. It's from a lot of personal experience. While I can say both have gotten better about how much resources they use, they still have a way to go. I have worked on many computers where both of these AV apps stressed a system's resources not leaving much for the user if he wanted to do much that required more cpu or ram. It's not so much the scanner part of these bloated apps that is the issue as it it all the other add-on stuff these 2 companies slip into their package. Avast does the same thing.

As far as protection, Defender end-point protection ranks right up there with the others tested in the business security tests conducted by AV Comparative,. Mcafee and Norton either didn't even rank or weren't considered for these tests ...and Defender is FREE and part of the OS. It doesn't make much sense to pay for something that is either just marginally better or less better that what one already has for free.

Business Security Test 2024 (March - June)

The first half-year Enterprise main-test series report with Real-World Protection, Malware Protection and Performance Test, along with security solution reviews has been released.

www.av-comparatives.org

andrew129260 · Dec 6, 2024

The way I see it, is microsoft made the operating system, so any protection they made for it will surely know more than some third party.

I also dont think its a good idea for third party AV's to have the deep access level they need to the OS, as it causes many issues. Example: Crowdstrike.

Defender is fine for most people for windows. If you like other features a third party offers you, then sure. But I dont think its a good use of your money.

KevTech · Dec 6, 2024

andrew129260 said:
Defender is fine for most people for windows.

Latest real world protection tests Defender came out as standard.

KevTech · Dec 6, 2024

glasskuter said:
As far as protection, Defender end-point protection ranks right up there with the others tested in the business security tests conducted by AV Comparative,.

And how many consumers are running business AV solutions?
On that business test you linked Defender was compromised 9 times and was toward the bottom of the list.

andrew129260 · Dec 6, 2024

KevTech said:
Latest real world protection tests Defender came out as standard.

View attachment 118597

And sometimes they come out as advanced. It changes constantly. AV test sites are great, but it's not the be all or end all. Eventually you have to pick one.

Sometimes they bounce around month to month, you going to constantly switch antivirus programs?

I don't think so.

Anyone is free to choose whatever AV they want, but I don't think the extra hogging of resources and nagging messages are worth it.

Also, which one is correct?

Test antivirus software for Windows 11 - February 2026

The current tests of antivirus software for Windows 11 from February 2026 of AV-TEST, the leading international and independent service provider for antivirus software and malware.

www.av-test.org

Defender Enterprise security:

https://www.mrg-effitas.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/MRG_Effitas_360_Q2_2024_Final-2.pdf

glasskuter · Dec 6, 2024

There is no argument here. One has to choose what works best for them based on his own past experience, how smart he is in his everday computing, how far one leans in his expectations of infection and what measures he takes to protect his system so that he can recover if necessary, and whether one wants to pay or not. As I said it's a personal choice. There is no one size fits all.

FrancoDT · Dec 6, 2024

I wouldn't exactly call a 98.2% protection rate terrible, just saying.

TairikuOkami · Dec 7, 2024

FrancoDT said:
I wouldn't exactly call a 98.2% protection rate terrible, just saying.

All it takes is 1 infection to ruin your life, encrypt your files or steal your banking info.
Would you use 98% reliable car, broken 10 days a year, when you need to go to work?

Helmut said:
That sort of classic recycled disinformation on McAfee and Norton is getting to be decades out of date.

My boss had Norton preinstalled on a cheap laptop, it took 30 mins to uninstall it and that alone made it faster.

glasskuter · Dec 7, 2024

TairikuOkami said:
All it takes is 1 infection to ruin your life, encrypt your files or steal your banking info.

So true about one's life can be ruined, but both those other arguments are negated as long as one has a backup of the files and 2 step verification on his banking account and all other financials. Unless the hacker has my phone, he can't get into my accounts. He can't get any of my passwords either since I use a password manager with an 18 digit master password. I save no logins of any kind in my browser as that's one of the easiest things for even a minor hacker to harvest. I'd much rather spend my money on a password manager than I had an AV as none are infallible.

It's my thinking that steps I take are my own best defense. Had I not been grandfathered in many years ago with my old lifetime license of Malwarebytes Premium, I wouldn't still be using it alongside Defender today.

Almighty1 · Dec 7, 2024

Even for Defender, how much protection you get or not depends on how you configure it such as using DefenderUI for example.

jimbo45 · Dec 7, 2024

"McAwful" should never be let near a home computer -- totally unnecessary. For standard home installations I can't for the life of me see what's wrong these days with just using Windows Defender -- what on Earth are people doing to their machines that they get all sorts of rubbish on them.

Also when downloading ensure you get what you are looking for - not something else and always avoid any "extras". Don't just do click, click,click etc without looking carefully.

IMHO these days scams are likely to be a far more problem for home users rather than sophisticated virial attacks which is what hackers have to do these days to "break" WD -- and that's not not easy -- there's better pickings around !!!!!

Cheers
jimbo

Almighty1 · Dec 7, 2024

andrew129260 said:
The way I see it, is microsoft made the operating system, so any protection they made for it will surely know more than some third party.

I also dont think its a good idea for third party AV's to have the deep access level they need to the OS, as it causes many issues. Example: Crowdstrike.

Defender is fine for most people for windows. If you like other features a third party offers you, then sure. But I dont think its a good use of your money.

Hard to say since yes, they know the internals but it doesn't mean whatever they make is the best there is as Microsoft is known for their OS and Office and not Security Protection. Similar to a car, BMW makes cars but Dinan also sells their BMW's which is better than the stock BMW models. The only way to really know is when something bad happens, if it actually offers protection. I am not talking about the ones it blocks but there are viruses that the AV claims to block but that's after the file is infected so you basically have to replace all files, Win32.tenga is a good example. And while Windows Defender might be good, it can also be more targeted as a attack as it's a more common target.

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