Anti- virus suspicions.

Anybody switched from one anti-virus provider to another? We had Kaspersky for a few years and never any problems detected until the 60 days wind down of the annual service fee.We had made it clear we were going elsewhere, and lo and behold, problems galore . Then when we started with Avast it's as though they were attacking each other and my desktop is a bloody mess and almost useless. We all know they can do all kinds of things to protect your computer, which, in my view, means they can do the exact opposite if they wish.

Never run two antivirus packages at the same time - thats always likley to cause problems.

in all honesty, there should be no need for AV software, unless you go visiting dodgy sites or downloading crap you don't know where it's come from etc...

I don't run an AV, haven't for years (except Windows security center thingy, as it's on as standard any way)

I don't download stuff from dodgy sites, I don't open attachments via email without first checking where/who it's come from, I also don't visit random websites, or click links in my emails....

but as said above, you shouldn't run more than one, you should ALWAYS remove one fully before installing another!

i agree with the above sentiments, i was using AVG years ago and i knew i had a virus, but AVG wouldnt find it even when pointed to the folder. so i uninstalled it and started using Avast, that found it straight away.

Never run two antivirus packages at the same time - thats always likley to cause problems.

I never intended to run two together, I waited until the date of expiry of Kaspersky before accepting the free trial from Avast. However I must admit, in hindsight , I should have uninstalled it myself instead of assuming it had expired. Had to get my conspiracy theory out there and vent.

---------- Post added 04-06-2018 at 13:45 ----------

in all honesty, there should be no need for AV software, unless you go visiting dodgy sites or downloading crap you don't know where it's come from etc...

 

I don't run an AV, haven't for years (except Windows security center thingy, as it's on as standard any way)

 

I don't download stuff from dodgy sites, I don't open attachments via email without first checking where/who it's come from, I also don't visit random websites, or click links in my emails....

 

but as said above, you shouldn't run more than one, you should ALWAYS remove one fully before installing another!

I don't use dodgy sites, unless this is one lol, or do I fall for scams easily. To be honest, if it wasn't for my wife. like you, I wouldn't even have the damned AV. If I ever get a brand new PC I won't go near any of that crap again.

I don't download stuff from dodgy sites, I don't open attachments via email without first checking where/who it's come from, I also don't visit random websites, or click links in my emails....

That implies implicit trust in everyone you know not to become silently infected and send stuff by email.

Dodgy and/or random sites has nothing to do with anything. Plenty of every day websites are hacked and nasty stuff put on there, you don't have to click a link to visit them and download said nasty payload.

Windows Security Center is also useless.

Saying there should be no need to install AV software to the general public in this day and age is irresponsible. Most people are not sensible and aren't in the slightest bit paranoid (God knows why). Believe me after having to be tech support for neighbours and friends having decent AV/Firewall software installed is one of the most important things on any internet connected device. When you get a phone call asking why their computer is doing funny things.....just read some of the posts in this forum for examples!

Ontarian1981 - whatever problems you had are unlikely to be due to Kaspersky ‘wind down’. You should have downloaded Avast but not installed it until Kaspersky was removed using their removal tool and then doing a reboot. I usually run CCleaner as well. You could also have run Malwarebytes free or similar.

As for antivirus, probedb is absolutely correct. It is pure folly not to have good computer security in this day and age. It could also lead you into trouble if you conduct financial transactions on the Internet. When searching for something it is all too easy to follow a bad link. Kaspersky has blocked such urls and has therefore kept me safe. Earlier this year a website that I deal with was hacked - no harm done but would not have known if it wasn’t for scanning the backup with Kaspersky.