My ISP offers McAffee Internet Security 2012

**Zee15** · 2012-05-05 00:19

Hi My ISP is offering McAffee Internet Security 2012 and I have a couple questions.
1) Is this the same version that is sold retail?
2) Can I trust this when I download updates,meaning would my ISP Ease Drop when downloading.
I thank you in advance.
Win XP SP3 1 gig of Ram 300gb HD.

**BruceR** · 2012-05-05 01:12

1) Probably. You could buy it for $12.
2) Eavesdrop? No, why would they?

**Paul T** · 2012-05-05 02:02

I'm not a particular fan of MS but I do like MSE. It's low on resources and seems to do all that is required. Best of all it's free.

cheers, Paul

**Medico** · 2012-05-05 04:14

I definitely do not favor McAfee. McAfee is paying many PC manufacturer's to include it in new PC's and I suspect they are doing the same with ISP's because they have lost so much of the AV market share. The university IT Dept my wife works for recently dropped McAfee university wide because of poor performance in favor of another app.

A 15 month subscription to McAfee Av came free on a new PC I recently purchased for my Granddaughter. I immediately removed it and installed MSE. That's what I think of McAfee. Just my 2 cents.

**Zee15** · 2012-05-05 19:23

Hi: What I also wanted to say was I plan on using this laptop offline for personal use but, wanted an a AV and FW Suite so when I update monthly MS patches I can have some type of protection while on the internet.And when XP updates are no longer unavailable I will just use the laptop as is.
Thanks.

**Paul T** · 2012-05-06 02:00

The Windows firewall works really well and you can turn it up if you want even more protection.
As long as you practice safe hex you won't get a virus.
1. Be careful when surfing.
2. Only download things you really need and always scan them before running.
3. Read and understand the message before clicking OK.
4. Backup lots.

cheers, Paul

**BATcher** · 2012-05-06 06:54

Originally Posted by Zee15

My ISP is offering McAfee Internet Security 2012

You know the old saying about "not looking a gift horse in the mouth"?
Well, this is one you can look in the mouth. With enthusiasm.

**John-O** · 2012-05-08 12:05

This caught my eye...the Computer Associates package being pushed by Comcast installers is a pig. It (or the Comcast installer person) doesn't bother to check if you already have AV, and when it runs alongside another one, the system may as well be dipped in molasses.

ConstantGuard, I think it's called. It might work just fine all by itself, but it's making me a nice bit of beer money as I keep removing it from systems that have suddenly slowed.

-John

**BruceR** · 2012-05-08 13:27

Originally Posted by John-O

This caught my eye...the Computer Associates package being pushed by Comcast installers is a pig. It (or the Comcast installer person) doesn't bother to check if you already have AV, and when it runs alongside another one, the system may as well be dipped in molasses.

ConstantGuard, I think it's called. It might work just fine all by itself, but it's making me a nice bit of beer money as I keep removing it from systems that have suddenly slowed.

-John

Comcast Constant Guard includes Norton Security Suite as an option, and they also push Immunet from Sourcefire. Is there another Comcast AV from CA?

Bruce

**Zig** · 2012-05-08 14:35

One can install Norton without ConstantGuard, install both, or install none at all; it's your choice. I've been happy with Norton in the last 2-3 years.

Zig

**RAdu** · 2012-05-10 12:54

You can buy an older Norton Internet Security (3-PC version) on Amazon for, like, $20+
Then it's a free update to 2012.
I use it instead of extending my current Norton installations (only need the CD Keys)

**cloudsandskye** · 2012-05-14 15:14

PC Magazine tested McAfee Total Protection 2012, which is a step up from McAfee Internet Security 2012, and found it to be nothing special. Since your online activity will be infrequent, and unless you really need a suite, try one of the better free products like Avast! (http://www.avast.com/en-us/index) or AVG (http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage). If you go with Avast!, turn off the Cloud Community feature, because it doesn't like being disconnected from the internet. Also, as a previous post mentioned, your operating system already has a firewall, so just make sure it's turned on.

**bobdog** · 2012-06-07 08:54

I agree that McAfee Internet Security 2012 is nothing special, and I'm no fan of Norton Internet Security, either. In my experience, they're both bloated resource hogs, and I go out of my way to remove them from client machines whenever I can. Even AVG Free, a past favorite of mine, has gotten bloated and intrusive lately.

Counter-intuitive as it may seem, I actually prefer MSSE. It's got a small footprint, doesn't interfere, and does a pretty good job of catching malware on the spot for most users.

There's no such thing as a perfect AV product. And for most users, I see no reason to cripple a machine with an overly aggressive product that gets in the way and slows a machine down to a crawl, unless a user has a history of repeated malware attacks.

**csmart4125** · 2012-07-01 21:23

Some other antimalware (pertains to spyware, worms, Trojans, etc.) to consider are Avast, Malwarebytes' Antimalware, and SUPERAntispyware. Major Geeks has a site in which it recommends products and methods to remove malware--Malwarebytes' Antimalware and SUPERAntispyware were two of the products they recommended in their site. One year I purchase Avast and SUPERAntispyware, and the next I purchase Malwarebytes' Antimalware.

This combination of products has worked great for me. Before I tried it, I contacted the manufacturers to see if they anticipated conflicts, and they did not.

Several of the volunteers at our Mature Persons' (not senior!!!) Computer Lab have advanced degrees and more than 30 years experience in IT. All of them are using Norton products such as Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security.

I definitely would not recommend any TrendMicro Products. I purchased their security suite several years ago, and my computer filled up with a veritable zoo of malware. When I wrote to the company asking for a refund, they did not acknowledge my letter, much less give me a refund.

Hope my thourghts along with the others help you in making a decision.

Charles

**mart44** · 2012-07-02 02:55

Originally Posted by bobdog

I agree that McAfee Internet Security 2012 is nothing special, and I'm no fan of Norton Internet Security, either. In my experience, they're both bloated resource hogs, and I go out of my way to remove them from client machines whenever I can. Even AVG Free, a past favorite of mine, has gotten bloated and intrusive lately.

I used McAfee when it was reckoned to be a good program (windows 95 days). Its reputation seems to have slipped now. If it does genuinely have reputation problems with the trend-setters on forums and elsewhere across the Internet, it will have to become very good before it can shake that reputation off. Norton suffered the same way it seems. It was good but then developed a poor reputation. The fact that it is a now a pretty decent product doesn't cut much ice with those who had a bad experience with it in the past.

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