Do I need antivirus program ?

[jfri 42]

I use Win 7 on a computer dedicated for FS and gaming. Therefore I have no mail here and don't surf on the web. Only connected to internet by the games themselves. If so do I need an antivirus program?Win 7 should be quite safe in irself right? And I have the firewall.

[irocx 293]

I use Win 7 on a computer dedicated for FS and gaming. Therefore I have no mail here and don't surf on the web. Only connected to internet by the games themselves. If so do I need an antivirus program?Win 7 should be quite safe in irself right? And I have the firewall.

Hello,FWIW, I don't run one on my dedicated, FSX only, W7/XP rig and I've never had an issue. I don't even go to W/update for security patches anymore and I too only run a hardware firewall from the router. I'm sure others will disagree (some even vehemently) with this practice, but I do use some other proactive protective measures, such as Spywareblaster and Spybot S/D and their hosts file entries. I also scan with Spybot and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Also, I (almost) always first download FSX related files to another networked computer for a virus check before transferring and installing. I also run remote virus scans from my other computers thus, I don't feel the need to have a software anti-virus installed directly.I don't agree with relying totally on the OS to protect you just because it's W7 (it is a Microsoft OS and will be targeted/exploited just as heavily as in the past). While UAC and Defender have their purpose and place, they are one of the first "features" I turned off because of performance - after all, this is an FSX only rig. Things will be totally different when I get around to installing W7 on my other machines. JMHO

[css2005 0]

Microsoft now offers an good free anitvirus program called Microsoft Security Essentials. (Just google and can find easily on the Microsoft website). I installed yesterday after upgrading to Windows 7 and it's working great. I read some reviews saying that it did a great job of stopping viruses and is about on par with many of the antivirus programs offered by other companies. Even if you don't surf the web much, can't hurt to have it.Craig

[flaminghotsauce 1]

My answer belongs in the "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" category.I don't run AV at all. I'm on the internet, I download files, stream videos, etc. I'm behind my wireless router (hardware firewall) and have the Windows firewall turned on, I think. I don't really care, I must say. I bought two new computers in the last 18 months, each set up as a typical "dumb Windows user" using all defaults, no AV, just to see how long it would last before I got an infection. The typical theory is a naked computer will last somewhere between 4 seconds or 4 minutes before getting infected on the internet. It's been all that time and no infections of any type. I run port scans occasionally, and they report my machines as "invisible" so I guess so far it's all good. Machines tested in this manner are two Vista machines, one W7 RC machine, two XP machines, and of course all the linux machines are not running any AV. Especially beneficial is running the XP machines in AV-free mode as it runs WAY better without dragging around all that ball and chain software. I took my Acer Aspire 10" (one of the XP machines) to a nearby town and while waiting for the kids to come out from the church, I searched around and found unsecured wireless available and used it. When I got home, I downloaded some scanners and malware finders, and of course it came up empty. The wireless router is a hardware firewall, so no harm no foul. I've actually been hoping to get an infection somewhere, just so I can properly end my experiment. But until then, the experiment goes on unending into the future. I have no fear, as I enjoy reformatting and reinstalling OS's and software and do it on a regular basis.

[jfri 42]

My answer belongs in the "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" category.I don't run AV at all. I'm on the internet, I download files, stream videos, etc. I'm behind my wireless router (hardware firewall) and have the Windows firewall turned on, I think. I don't really care, I must say. I bought two new computers in the last 18 months, each set up as a typical "dumb Windows user" using all defaults, no AV, just to see how long it would last before I got an infection. The typical theory is a naked computer will last somewhere between 4 seconds or 4 minutes before getting infected on the internet. It's been all that time and no infections of any type. I run port scans occasionally, and they report my machines as "invisible" so I guess so far it's all good. Machines tested in this manner are two Vista machines, one W7 RC machine, two XP machines, and of course all the linux machines are not running any AV. Especially beneficial is running the XP machines in AV-free mode as it runs WAY better without dragging around all that ball and chain software. I took my Acer Aspire 10" (one of the XP machines) to a nearby town and while waiting for the kids to come out from the church, I searched around and found unsecured wireless available and used it. When I got home, I downloaded some scanners and malware finders, and of course it came up empty. The wireless router is a hardware firewall, so no harm no foul. I've actually been hoping to get an infection somewhere, just so I can properly end my experiment. But until then, the experiment goes on unending into the future. I have no fear, as I enjoy reformatting and reinstalling OS's and software and do it on a regular basis.

I also use a hardware firewall and windows firewall. I got two computers one XP and one Win 7. The XP currently uses AVG antivirus free which I don't like. But since I use both email and web surfing on the xp machine I don't dare being without some kind of anti virus program. My understanding is that email attachements are the greatest danger

[Guest Charlie]

My answer belongs in the "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" category.I don't run AV at all. I'm on the internet, I download files, stream videos, etc. I'm behind my wireless router (hardware firewall) and have the Windows firewall turned on, I think. I don't really care, I must say. I bought two new computers in the last 18 months, each set up as a typical "dumb Windows user" using all defaults, no AV, just to see how long it would last before I got an infection. The typical theory is a naked computer will last somewhere between 4 seconds or 4 minutes before getting infected on the internet. It's been all that time and no infections of any type. I run port scans occasionally, and they report my machines as "invisible" so I guess so far it's all good. Machines tested in this manner are two Vista machines, one W7 RC machine, two XP machines, and of course all the linux machines are not running any AV. Especially beneficial is running the XP machines in AV-free mode as it runs WAY better without dragging around all that ball and chain software. I took my Acer Aspire 10" (one of the XP machines) to a nearby town and while waiting for the kids to come out from the church, I searched around and found unsecured wireless available and used it. When I got home, I downloaded some scanners and malware finders, and of course it came up empty. The wireless router is a hardware firewall, so no harm no foul. I've actually been hoping to get an infection somewhere, just so I can properly end my experiment. But until then, the experiment goes on unending into the future. I have no fear, as I enjoy reformatting and reinstalling OS's and software and do it on a regular basis.

My experience is the same. I have been on the Internet nearly every day since 1997 and have never had a virus in any of my machines. And when Norton reneged on its commitment to free virus definition upgrades for life, I decided to run without it. That was several years ago and since then I have been running W98SE and Windows 2000 without any A/V and have never had a problem.I personally believe, based on my many years of problem-free experience, that the need for A/V protection is over-hyped and over-rated for wise and careful mature adults who are sole users of their machine. Can't stress the bolded part enough. That means things like never opening an e-mail attachment from any but the most trustworthy source, deleting phishing or other questionable email immediately without opening it - no exceptions, and never putting a floppy in your machine that has been used in another one, etc.Media advertising is filled with stories designed to strike fear in the hearts of consumers in order to sell products, and I believe A/V sales hype is just another example. My important files are all backed up and I, too, enjoy reformatting and reinstalling OSs. Have done it countless times, but never because of a virus or similar problem. So there is no way I'm going to pour money down the drain for an A/V program subscription I don't need.

[jcboliveira 1]

a) If you do safe surf, specially with the aid of opendns :( if you don't open mail attachments without knowing what you are doing;c) If you download from proven sites d) if you keep the OS updated;Then you can discard the anti-virus. However, you can also install a free package that could give some extra security at least to the common virus.a) a router only protects you inbound unless you have a more sophisticated model;:( the Windows 7 firewall will protect you outbound (however the default is to allow traffic unless you have a rule) and inbound. In fact it's one of the things that I liked a lot. I'm using the Enterprise edition so I don't know if in the other versions the firewall is so sophisticated. I can't remember when I started using Internet, maybe in 91, never got a virus in the computer. Of course that some virus were catched in the mail (before switching from POP to secured IMAP) but that's because the AV went there. Jos

[McCrash 3]

I use Win 7 on a computer dedicated for FS and gaming. Therefore I have no mail here and don't surf on the web. Only connected to internet by the games themselves. If so do I need an antivirus program?Win 7 should be quite safe in irself right? And I have the firewall.

I would have to recommend you do!