I'm needing to decide on protection for my new PC.
The Dell came with a 30 day trial of McAfee,
but I'm not sure about that one.
I need one that will do an excellent job ofg protecting me,
plus it needs to be compatible/not cantankerous with gaming, etc...
oh yeah, and Very blonde g'ma friendly
Will probably purchase multiple site access one.
Need for new PC {Win 7}, old PC {Win Vista},
Laptop {Win XP} and Mom's Desktop {Win 7}.
Can I stretch it over 3 OS's? and where would
I be better off money wise?

I'm sure you will get lots of suggestions, but have you considered the free Microsoft Security Essentials? I've been using it for about 10 months now and I really like it. It has gone from being ranked in the middle of the pack for free anti-virus programs to near the top. You can get it for XP, Vista and Windows 7. You can read more here...

Microsoft Security Essentials

You have to pay extra to cover more than one computer but I am very happy with Vipre Home Premium (AV and firewall) by Sunbelt Software for my one and only. I've had it for a couple of years now and it's instantly grabbed a couple of Trojans I ran into before they could do anything- and it's not a memory hog as some of the big name AVs are. Really good program, IMO.

Gil.

Just curious, Draclvr, does Security Essentials come with a firewall?

Gil.

No, but Windows does.

And the Windows 7 firewall is a pretty good one. Even XP still has the incoming firewall.

Vista and Windows 7 also have an outbound firewall, but it can be tricky to configure.

Drac, you don't have any probs w/it be too bossy?
Jenny, This blonde g'ma needs the "E" word, as in Easy, not "T" for Tricky, LOL.

Drac, will check that out now, thnx!

katbear, that's one of the reasons I'm liking MSE so much. Other than when it's popped up a couple of times telling me to "run for the hills," I don't even know it's there. I've scheduled it to run scans at times when I'm away from my computer and it updates the same way.

If you download it and try it out, do make sure you disable the McAfee completely. Now THAT one is bossy and a reason (among others) that I don't like it.

I have just left the Windows 7 firewall to the default settings. But there is much you can do to customize it if you are so inclined.

There are other free offerings out there that are also rated very highly - Avast being another one.

I'm a big fan of Security Essentials as well - I just installed it on the grand kids PC's. I also run it on my XP Virtual machines, it seems to do a pretty god job.

I just bought a couple of months ago, the Trend Micro for three computers - about $60 for the package. Next time around I think I will head for the Security Essentials. There is one more that has Nortons now (I didn't buy it) should be up in a few months, I have heard that Nortons can be wicked to get rid of. I don't really like to pay when something just as good can be had for free.

The only way to get rid of Norton completly is to use their removal tool. There are several versions, you'll find them all on their web site.

Thanks Inland AZ.