I have never run AVS locally on any of my machines. I use an external "Internet Security Appliance" with all the AV, Malware, and intrusion prevention on the appliance. This protects all devices on the network. Desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, etc. It's a little pricey, but if you are protecting more than 3-4 devices, it is well worth it.
Personally, I use a Sonicwall TZ-200 with a subscription to GAV. NOTHING gets through.
 

All very good points here. I only go to about 5/6 websites anyway, all related to my studio. So for now no anti-virus running except whatever it is that came with windows 8.1. As I stated earlier, hopefully this problem will disappear like 8 track players in cars! But I know it will be awhile. Seems to be better already. Thanks for the advice if I ever need to get anti-virus.

jb101
Norton here, and no problems with it at all.

 
So do I, mostly for historical reasons.  It's served me well for years and years, but I am wondering for the first time if I'll renew.  The latest version has this nasty habit of going into an intense disk thrashing scan that can last an hour or more on my wife's destop computer even when I disable all scheduled scans in Norton and Windows.  That computer has tons of free drive space so that's not the problem.  I've more or less given up on trying to find out what's going on.  It's obviously NIS though.
 

Hi. Norton on my normal PC. I will typically download to this machine move to an outboard drive and then connect that drive to the DAW for transfer. If and when I have to hang the DAW off the router (typically only Omnisphere updates) I'll enable MSEsentials but also have an FWOn the router. Then the DAW comes off the router and A/V disabled.

I used to run Kaspersky, then it turned out they had ties to Russian Mafia!  So I went with MSE. After a while I got nervous and I did a free Norton trial. It worked fine, the problems reported in the past seem to have been fixed. But I declined to buy it. Went back to MSE, then got nervous again and went with Bitdefender Free. That's what I'm running now. Minimal interference; really the only issue is, I need to let it log in before opening anything up. Then all is well, it's totally non-intrusive.
 
I agree that it's risky not to run AV. My advice is to use a highly-rated free AV and see how it goes. To think that viruses are a thing of the past, or created by AV companies, is to live dangerously. Of course there are viruses. A day doesn't go by that we don't read of some new hacking plot. There are people out there who want to hurt you. Protect yourself, or you may pay big time.

Duplicate, please delete.

I've not had a virus ever other than a  nasty that came from a friends SD camera card. Be careful about borrowing USB and SD cards. It was so bad it required a total OS install. 
 
I use the default Windows S E and now defender. I also run CC Cleaner free version from time to time and it cleans out junk cookies. I think only people who are looking for the wrong stuff on the net get into trouble. And only an idiot would open a Spam e mail. 

jeff oliver
Its a crime that there's no law for...yet. Or at least is being grossly overlooked. It's not a crime to create a virus, only to infect someone with it. But then what's the purpose. Except in Japan I believe where it is a crime to even create one. I could be wrong but they have taken a more serious step than we have in stopping this. And yes, Norton is the worst!!!

It should be a crime not to have a virus scanner. Infected PC's spread viruses. How could you possibly know you haven't got a virus without a virus scanner. The fact is PC's do get infected only the other day I had to rebuild a PC with hundreds of viruses because the user let their scanner expire.

BTW traditionally most antivirus vendors employ Russians, they have great expertise in the area.

jeff oliver
Its a crime that there's no law for...yet. Or at least is being grossly overlooked. It's not a crime to create a virus, only to infect someone with it. But then what's the purpose. Except in Japan I believe where it is a crime to even create one. I could be wrong but they have taken a more serious step than we have in stopping this. And yes, Norton is the worst!!!

Believe it or not, it is probably for the best that there is no law against creating a virus. Our reactionary society is fond of crying for new laws whenever something hits our outrage button without thinking of the unforseen consequences (and there is always something we fail to forsee ).  For starters, the more specific a law, the easier it is to get around it, which also creates the paradigm of broader laws tend to have unintended victims. For example, a definition I just read of computer virus could easily encompass many legit applications. The Pace security software that installs with many software programs could easily fit the definition. If you have ever tried to uninstall it and looked at how easily it replicates itself in your registry,  you will know what I mean. Of course Pace is not a virus in the stereotypical way we think when we hear the word, but a sloppily written law (  which many are) could easily include such things. One might say the law could find a way to exclude software seen as beneficial but intent and morality are difficult to legislate effectively without biases that are sometimes irrational and non-uniform in application. Using the Pace example again, it can be argued that we read and agree to have the software on our computers. Unfortunately many viruses are acquired by users agreeing to install of their own free will without reading the fine print carefully. Society as a whole does not bother reading such things so even if the licensing agreement said "You agree to have my nasty virus take over your computer and have me come by to violate your wife on alternate Tuesdays" many would click to agree to the terms. Don't get me wrong, I am all for prosecuting people who use malware for criminal purposes, but I would be hesitant on such a broad stroke that will likely affect innocent more than guilty. The only way someone knows a person created a virus is if they confess or get caught in which case they are likely gettiing prosecuted for a crime anyway.  Making it a crime to create a virus just seems like it would not catch a single extra cyber criminal but may result in the arrests of people under mistaken circumstances.

On a mostly business machine I get about two virus attachment downloads and up to a dozen phishing and false links a week via an email account that was previously dedicated to business. Some of these are pretty sophisticated, and some spoof known contacts. My personal email is rarely affected. When my wife used to speak at conferences and and generously allowed her colleagues to copy stuff from her laptop via thumb drives, she was getting an infection about three times a month. My antivirus flags stuff from the internet much less often. I have never really had any serious damage done by any malware, but I have never run without an antivirus. If you are not running an antivirus program, I am at a loss as to how you know that you do not have a virus infection. The days when malware would flash a frowny face on your screen and wipe your hard drive are long over. Most of the stuff out there now is smart enough to hide and do something useful for someone else without telling you it is there.