Recommend an AV Program?
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dr. flay
when you install mse, it turns off defender (original spyware version). you can't run them together.windows really confused things by renaming mse defender for windows 8. in terms of antispyware, the original defender was excellent (free and has realtime shields and lite). i also liked that it didn't use scare tactics or flag nonsense as spyware.
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windows defender is not an highly rated program.
av-test results for 2013: defender for detecting malware scored 0 out of 6. it was the worst of 26 products, most of which you've never even heard of. v3 internet security was next worst with a 1.5. panda cloud free scored a 6. it is light on your system, but it doesn't protect it as well.
http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-8/novdec-2013/
virus bulletin results: microsoft did get a vb100 checkmark. but it scored lower than almost everyone else in the universe. check out the graph of results.
https://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index
dennis technology. 2013. microsoft failed testing (so did mcafee).
TOTAL ACCURACY RATINGS summary taken from download on their site:
Product Total Accuracy Rating Percentage Award
Kaspersky 2014 99% AAA
ESET 98% AAA
Norton 97% AAA
Avast! Free 92% AA
BitDefender 87% A
AVG Free 86% A
Trend Micro 80% B
Microsoft 66% -
McAfee 65% -i could go on. they preform worse than everyone in every test. they have a corporate malware product that performs well, but microsoft uses the bitdefender engine and signifures in it. that says it all.
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1st, before we continue.
Dr.Flay does not recommend Micro$oft inSecurity Essences.Good point James, under the bonnet it has changed a lot and is far from what it was. They started with a good product.
But my point was not about quality, only lineage.
Defender was around long before MSE, and was an anti-spyware program rather than AV (though it always recognised many viri).Yes biggerabalone, indeed MSE will disable Defender.
MSE could be said to be Defender+, so Defender is pointless.…unless.
Some people have a low-spec PC. MSE is a complete dog on a single core 32bit system.
So to use the protection with less resource hogging, it is better to have Defender run as runtime scanner, and MSE used for on-demand scans.
So, there you have both living and being used together.Not ideal, as I think we all agree a decent AV would be better anyway.
(BTW. I use Avira) -
hey doc
hmmm, you maybe correct about mse running with original defender. its been a while so my memory might be faulty or microsoft might have changed something. way way back, i kinda remember when i installed mse, defender was uninstalled from your computer and lost (does anyone remember that? perhaps it was a weird dream). later i thought they changed it so that its like i stated: that mse disabled defender (and you couldn't turn it on with mse present). but now your telling me i'm lagging in my info and you're running both at the same time (with defender real time protection turned off, but with viable updates and demand scanner)? have you confirmed that defender is operational and can scan with mse present? i'll gladly eat my words, they're delicious:)
(also, there were some defender knock-offs that had that name and were scareware. is your defender microsofts (came with your computer or downloaded from microsoft)? likely a silly question, b/c mse would hopefully detect an imposter(?)).
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hey doc again
you said you use avira. i was running a mixed security setup. yes i had mse. but i ran it with webroot secureanywhere (which can be run alongside another antivirus). so even though mse wasn't preforming well, i was covered by webroot. mse offered me a light av and protection when off line. i had been waiting (1.5 years) for mse to rebound back into the certification crowd. i recently gave up and decided to dump it (now you can see why i have all that current av test data). i decided on avira (excellent scores). but it wouldn't install with webroot, malwarebytes free, and siteadvisor. oh well. next avg. my install had a weird bug (apparently uncommon according to the blogs) so i dumped it. now i have avast. seems good. really, all 3 are excellent products with different strengths. but since i originally wanted avira and didn't get it … i was kinda curious how it was running for you?
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QuHno
surunner sounds interesting. so you run from a limited account and elevate via password as you need too (like in linux)? i always hate running in a limited account (sooo hard to update things etc, though, i make my kids use one). instead i use spyshelter. it can restrict programs and run them with diminished rights. so i can essentially sandbox my browsers, email, etc to reduce exposure to nasties. i've been real happy with it. it also has a multitude of other security features. does surunner protect 64 bit programs? spyshelter only does in the paid version (though its a lifetime license).
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I don't know if someone's said it yet or not, but I cannot recommend Malwarebytes enough! It's honestly one of the very first apps that I download on any computer. It's not designed for full virus protection, just malware so I recommend using it with another such as AVG or Bitdefender (I personally use Bitdefender but AVG is really great as well)
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Really sorry I got distracted and did not answer
First I should say that my main AV is always installed before any standalone, so I have not had an issue with Avira rejecting installing.However recently I had an infested laptop to deal with and thought I would share my experience.
As it would not login or shut down I opted for booting from a Live distro on a USB stick.
First to have a go was Kasperski which boots to a handy mini linux desktop.
This make my first task before scanning much easier, and was simply to delete the contents of all the Windows temp locations.
Kasperski did it's scan and found many problems dating back to 2013, so this PC was truly as infested as a tramps underwear.Hooray ! now it boots and logs in properly, and I see all sorts of stupid looking desktop addons appearing and understand the source of the numerous trojans.
So now I install Malware Bytes and let it loose from inside the running OS, and it finds a load more that Kasperski could not see (the disadvantage of external scans).
While it is scanning I have a look at the current AV status, and uninstall the adware clients.
MSE had been waiting since 2013 to update its engine. The definitions had been updating but the engine upgrade is counted as a "recommended update" so required that the owner bothered to open the windows update panel.
What a stupid idea !
I fixed and updated MSE, and let it do a scan after Malware Bytes. All clear it says. Hooray for Malware Bytes I say.Next I decided this user could not be trusted with MSE anyway and removed it in favour of Avira Free.
Out of curiosity once Avira was updated, I thought why not let it have another go.
Oh ! More malware and adware. Hooray for Avira.My lesson learned
I suspect the full version of Malware Bytes can dig deeper than the standalone, so as good as it is, please check with something else after. -
Woops, I completely overlooked this, but better answering late than never:
@biggerabalone:surunner sounds interesting. so you run from a limited account and elevate via password as you need too (like in linux)?
In principle yes, but it is a bit more intelligent and can start programs that need higher rights without your help if they fulfill several conditions and after you have confirmed it once.
Reducing the rights has one disadvantage: In principle the programs still have full rights at least once and thus can at least once install other not wanted programs too.
The author of SuRun tried to avoid that (and it seems to work so far) simply by creating a kind of superuser account which has only the rights the programs need to run but can not administer the system and should not be able to install other stuff silently.Additionally entering the password etc is done in a secure desktop (you can imagine it as a second desktop running in parallel) to avoid password grabbing (which is still possible if you use things like runas or reducing the rights afterwards). The goal is not to run any software in the SYSTEM or ADMINISTRATOR context ever. It uses a special kind of account that allows normal operation with (almost) no noticeable restrictions for normal daily use. In normal environments you will not get bothered any more by the program after the short training phase. This works for all software is halfway decently programmed following the Microsoft guidelines, which is luckily the case with most modern software.
One personal remark:
There is something fundamentally flawed with the whole security concept of a computer if you need to elevate your rights in normal daily use - meaning apart from those times when you deliberately do things like low level maintenance or configuring the system itself. Additionally you should really avoid doing those tasks by elevating the daily user account but always by use a special account that you do not use for anything else. -
i see that the guy who started this thread got blocked - is that the same as being banned? i believe he was also banned at opera's forum.
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i see that the guy who started this thread got blocked - is that the same as being banned? i believe he was also banned at opera's forum.
The forum software blocks some black-listed IPs even when the user is faultless. That may be the case here. It keeps happening to Tiamarth, too.
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I'm not a fan of antivirus software, I use Windows Defender simply because I'm too lazy to turn it off, sometimes it deletes my downloads without even asking me for permission and it's very annoying.
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My personal preference is not to use 3P AV software. Sooner or later, it always f*cks up your normal system operation. I use the security tools MS offers and employ safe browsing practices. I have not been infected in over five years.
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biggerabalone wrote:
i see that the guy who started this thread got blocked - is that the same as being banned? i believe he was also banned at opera's forum.He made the decision to leave the forum here and Opera, simply said he wasn't going to partake in forums anymore. It used to say 'account closed' or something, now it says 'blocked'. He wasn't shy to state his opinions but wasn't a problem poster either, nowhere near.
As for an AV I pay for Avast, it has Safe Zone browser which is meant to protect you when using online banking etc. It has sandboxing included too, useful perhaps, but not something I've used much.
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I'm using Panda Cloud, a very good, fast and secure AV since the first version. I never had a problem with virus
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@rvieira that website is bombshell
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I'm using Comodo Internet Security. It's a very powerful, flexible and free-to-use app with PRO features.
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I'm using Avast! Free since about version 4.8, when it was called "Home" and, I believe, had different skins for the UI.
Have no real reasons to complain so far. -
If you are halfway security-minded, my top recommendations would be
- activate automatic updates on Windows (and other programs - Flash, Java etc)
- use MSE and Windows' firewall (default settings are ok, change them if you need)
- don't use IE or Edge, ever
- use a proper browser (Vivaldi , maybe Chrome, FF or some other)
- deactivate JavaScript (there are some good extensions, e.g. ScriptBlock for chrom(e|ium) based) and only allow on specific domains
- use an adblocker (eg uBlock Origins) and add (at least) some anti-malware lists as you like
- think!
As most malware and drive-by downloads only rely on JS to be activated, the JS blocker is one of the most important steps, just after timely updates.
Has kept me well from before W95 till W10 and now on Mac. But it WILL make surfing less comfortable at least sometimes. YMMV
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Win 10 itself is an spyware, if you don´t deactivate the kilometric and hidden "User Experience" settings
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