No self-proclaimed  "techie" should overlook Iobit,imho. Their software does a good job,yet is safe enough for casual users. The registry cleaner alone is reason to use ASC.

+1

P.S. Glad I helped with the OP. Thanks Mike, you made my day. 

I don't know it's no good.  I know there are better options.  Which is what I said.

you do not need it. go to your run menu type in service go down to windows defender and turn it off so it does not load at start up if u have your own fire wall turn windows firewall off as well it will speed up start up time and free up cpu and ram one other thing running more than one antivirus and spyware utilitys on a comp will cause conflict and can cause program problems for u  . need one of each i use norton antivirous and orbit 360. i use spyware blaster for blocking tracking cookies and ad cookies that is all so here is the lowdown on just turning it off by its defalt that does not stop it from starting up when u turn on your comp and u will get that dog gone popup that says windows defender is turned off so just go to service and disable it u will not get any popups or any thing about it being off. so if u feel the need to run more than what is needed ony use those programs for what the others lack turn the rest of the programs other apps off on most antivirus and spyware apps u have the ability to turn off what u do not want or need.  the reason for this is if u run 2 antivirus programs real time protecion is compromized do to conflict with both apps. trying to do the same job at the same time it can slow down your comp or cause it to crash or heaven forbid even the blue screen of death due to conflict. so take my advice or not your choice. i build comps for gaming on the side for people so do not compromize your system if u do not want a lot of problems only use what is needed to keep your comp and privacy safe have a good day.

Well if he wasn't confused before, he will be trying to read that.  You only need one good AV software.  Separate Spyware/Adware blockers are only needed when the AV software doesn't address those. 

It's generally not good to have more than one AV software running at the same time such as Windows Defender and AVG.  It wastes memory and CPU resources and may lead to conflicts between the two.

i thought you could/should not have two different anti-virus programs but that you could have multiple anit-spyware/malware programs.  Yes ti does make sense to not have them running in the background at the same time.

You can have multiple anti-spyware programs (especially if you're a heavy P2P user I suppose, in which case you have plenty of that sort of thing to worry about) but for most people it's unnecessary.

The discussion is soon to be moot anyway.  Microsoft Security Essentials will replace Defender soon enough, and that will practically destroy the competition in the antimalware world.  (Because it's free, and because it's among the best products available.  I've been using it since the closed beta went live on June 23rd.)

Norton is one of the WORSE things you can install on your computer.

I luv my norton.

Obviously you haven't heard Jafo's stories about Norton. As for myself I can't see paying for Norton or the updates when the free alternatives outscored Norton in recent tests. And those alternatives aren't as bloated...

Nortons newer versions are respectable but they're still not a great option.

Symantec will choke and die after MSE is released.

Hopefully Mcafee as well.

I have more respect for McAfee as they've at least had a great firewall when I used it.  They won't last either, though.

These companies will undoubtedly still live mind you, but it'll be more likely because of any OTHER tools they make than because of their antivirus.

Of course, putting all these AV guys out of work could make some interesting malware writers.