Hey Dr. FixIt,

The other day I was at your store in Boston because my HP laptop had a virus, and one of the technicians told me that The Tech Center only installs Microsoft Security Essentials on customer’s computers. Why is this? Is Security Essentials better than Norton or Avast? The guy at Best Buy was really pushing me to buy Norton Anti-Virus.

--Kenny L.

Hey Kenny,  

The Tech Center does things a little different than The Big Guys.  We never put making money before providing our customers the best experience possible.  Norton Anti-Virus is a bloated, overpriced program that in my opinion does more harm to your computer than good.  Back in the day, when Dr. FixIt was much younger (and less grey), Norton Anti-Virus was the best program to protect your computer from getting viruses.  However, over the years the program has become more resource intensive (meaning it’s using more of your computers horsepower), will constantly nag you (super annoying and borderline virus-like in its own right), and has gotten to be really expensive at $50+ dollars per year.  The Big Guys makes millions of dollars selling this junkware to its customers.  Lucky for you, you found The Tech Center, and we use a more sophisticated program called Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).  We use MSE for several reasons:

1. It is very lightweight, meaning it will not slow down your computer simply by having it running in the background like many other antivirus programs.
2. It is made by Microsoft so it is fully integrated into the operating system and windows update so you will always be current.
3. It provides the same or better protection than its competitors.
4. IT’S FREE FOR LIFE!  No subscriptions or fees after it’s installed.

We could try to sell our customers something that they don’t need (Dr. FixIt does have his eye on that new iPad) but we would prefer to earn your repeat business by saving you money and not overcharging you for an inferior product that will cost you more money than you need to spend (Dr. Fixit wants you to have the new iPad too ;)