An elderly lady in my town here needs an anti-virus. She asked me, and I really don’t know anything about PC’s. What should I recommend?
Microsoft security essentials is free and doesn’t bog your system. Still my choice lately for pc
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and if its windows 10, It’s built in anyway
So really the answer is don’t buy one…and don’t be stupid enough to click on suspicious emails and ‘ok’ on popups?
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Yep, just make sure to keep the security updates current, the windows defender system is quite comprehensive.
In answer to your question, Kaspersky.
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That used to be my favorite until it started to become a resource hog. I take it they turned things back around?
I have an older version of it on my Mac (which is also old), and it’s probably a drain on resources, but the hardware is old and not up to current specs. I turn it off for recording if it becomes a problem. On my Windows PC (7/64) the hardware is robust enough that I don’t see any resource problems. I’m quite happy with it, after getting tired of McAfee and Norton over the years. TBH I haven’t messed with the Microsoft Security Essentials or Defender much … I guess I don’t really trust Microsoft to protect me. 
When they come up with 30+ Windows Update security patches per month it doesn’t engender a great degree of confidence in the security of their products. I feel better paying $30/year or so for “specialist” grade protection, with daily virus profile updates and robust scanning. I also like having lots of configuration options, but I understand some people may want to “set it and forget it”. 
I’ve never noticed it being a resource hog, so I can’t really comment.
Since it has to be renewed every year why don’t you install the current version?
I agree on MS Defender/Essentials. Best performance, smallest footprint. It has beaten out everything else for catching the bad stuff along with fewest false positives. Used to be a third-party app but MS bought them out some years back. Very much a set it & forget it tool.
Webroot. Very light footprint and does not hog resources.
The founder of Kaspersky Labs used to work for the Russian government FSB organization and still has frequent contacts with top officials.
On the Mac, the requirement for the new version of Kaspersky is OSX 10.7, and I’m on OSX 10.6. I’m looking to upgrade for multiple reasons (several application system requirements like this one) but there are multiple upgrades I could go to over and above that so it’s just finding the best fit for my system. I think they are up to OSX 10.12 (Sierra) now, but the furthest I could go per specs is 10.11 (El Capitan). I have determined so far that 10.10 (Yosemite) might be my best bet, but I can’t find a download resource for it on the Apple store. I found it one other place, but don’t trust the source.
I had read this somewhere, and it did give me pause. However, I’m assuming that if there were any nefarious actions involved in the software that one of the worldwide security organizations that test these apps would have uncovered it. Especially after all the accusations of Russian hacking of the DNC and Trump administration collusion with the Russian government.
Kaspersky has got very good reviews the last few years, compared to the others. They all have their pro’s and con’s. If you have any evidence that this is a problem I’d be happy to look at it.
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@Stan_Halen Just for future reference… if you choose to download those updates, even if you cancel the download (if space is a premium, you can still get those upgrades under your “past purchases”. I’ve run into the same dilemma in the past.
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Ah, good idea. I don’t pay attention to those upgrades until it gets to a pain point. From what I could see, Apple tends to remove the links to the older OSX upgrades so that people with go with the “latest and greatest” (Sierra). But that doesn’t make sense for users with older hardware. My specs will not handle beyond El Capitan, but something about that one discouraged me and Yosemite looked better. Eventually I guess I’ll be out of luck when my hardware specs can no longer handle a fairly recent OSX.
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I’ve been in the same boat. I really wish they’d make it possible to find past updates but I’m sure it’s their way of pushing new sales. 
I’ve been using 360 Total Security for several years (Windows 7) as Security Essentials missed some things at one point and my bro, (who’s an IT guy) recommended. Never a problem since. No idea if SE still misses on occasion, but I’ve never had anything get by 360. Works great for 7. Updates are free, too. There is a premium you can pay for as well, but I’ve never even looked into it. Donated once, though…