Is my Laptop protected enough ?

[Aran Taylor]

Hi,

Im hoping that someone can give me some advice with my current laptop. I don't want my laptop like fort knox filled with every type of program possible .

Atm i have Avast Anti-virus and Windows firewall. Possibly windows defender as well but it doesn't show it anywhere.

Basically, can anyone suggest any other programs that i might need to proect my laptop.

Thanks in advance and thanks for taking your time to look at this thread.

 

[richc46]

This is all you need
Microsoft Security Essentials
Malwarebytes
The Windows Firewall

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

MSE is made for Windows, has small footprint and works great.

Malwarebytes will work great with spyware and the software is free as is MSE
Anything more may cause performace problems.

Edit: More added.

 

[Aran Taylor]

Ah great I just downloaded malawarebytes.

Anything i need to be aware of with it ? E.g does it simply work in the background like an anti-virus program does ?

Thanks again.

 

[richc46]

MSE is real time it is always running
Malwarebytes, the free version, you run a scan once a week or so.
Works in the background

Most on the Forum use the two in combination, as do I.

You do not need more than the ones that I mentioned.

You should know the Malwarebytes, the free version, works only when you run a scan, about once a week. It will remove any spyware that it finds, after the scan.

 

[Aran Taylor]

Awesome

Thank you very much for the help and very quick replies.

 

[richc46]

You are very welcome Aaran. Any other questions about this or any Seven issue, just post. All the members will be glad to help.
Be aware some will come on, possibly, disagreeing, with my advice, saying that they know of better software. I am basing my suggestion on personal experience and that of many posters that I have helped.
You should, also note, that the most important protection is your common sense. There is no software that can replace that.

You do not want too much protection as they can cause BSOD (crash) and slow performance.

http://community.spiceworks.com/product/16230-microsoft-security-essentials

 

[freaky88]

rich, malwarebytes isnt made for spyware, supearantispyware will go great with all of them

 

[Petey7]

MalwareBytes is for all types of malware, including spyware. I've personally seen it remove spyware from different computers.

 

[freaky88]

:mad2::mad2:

you can still add superantispyware for max protection

 

[Aran Taylor]

Won't having both of them make conflictions ?

I've always been told not to have 2 anti-viruses etc.

 

[whs]

+1 for SAS ( SUPERAntiSpyware.com | Remove Malware | Remove Spyware - AntiMalware, AntiSpyware, AntiAdware! ). Works great.

Won't having both of them make conflictions ?

I've always been told not to have 2 anti-viruses etc.

SAS and Malwarebytes are scanners. They do not conflict with MSE. You can even run Avast and MSE together. They have been tested together. Question is whether that makes sense.

 

[Petey7]

You should never have two real-time protection anti-viruses/anti-malware programs at the same time. You can have one real-time AV and one or more on-demand (only scans when you tell it to) AV. The combo I use is one real-time (MSE), one on demand (MBAM), one firewall (Windows Firewall), and a router (Linksys) with a built-in firewall.

 

[freaky88]

You should never have two real-time protection anti-viruses/anti-malware programs at the same time. You can have one real-time AV and one or more on-demand (only scans when you tell it to) AV. The combo I use is one real-time (MSE), one on demand (MBAM), one firewall (Windows Firewall), and a router (Linksys) with a built-in firewall.

sorry, but what will happen if you do?

 

[whs]

You should never have two real-time protection anti-viruses/anti-malware programs at the same time. You can have one real-time AV and one or more on-demand (only scans when you tell it to) AV. The combo I use is one real-time (MSE), one on demand (MBAM), one firewall (Windows Firewall), and a router (Linksys) with a built-in firewall.

There are exceptions - have a look at this: Threatfire Test with MSE and Avast 5 |

 

[whs]

You should never have two real-time protection anti-viruses/anti-malware programs at the same time. You can have one real-time AV and one or more on-demand (only scans when you tell it to) AV. The combo I use is one real-time (MSE), one on demand (MBAM), one firewall (Windows Firewall), and a router (Linksys) with a built-in firewall.

sorry, but what will happen if you do?

Scanners you can run as many as you want - one after the other. For real time AV programs you get all kinds of unexpected problems if you run more than one - with the Avast/MSE exception (see post above).

 

[antharr]

It is all a matter of preference. The best advice that I can give you is to research and test. You can always ask questions here in the forum and members are always looking to help.

There are so many combinations of security apps that can be used that it is almost impossible to sit here and tell you what is best. Only you can determine what works best for your needs.

I use:
Eset Antivirus
Malwarebytes
SuperAntiSpyware
SpywareBlaster
Windows 7 Firewall Control

I disable Windows Defender because I find it slows my machine down and does little or nothing to help keep my machine clean. MSE has gotten rave reviews from forum members so I would be safe to say it would be a safe bet to try.

Try some trials and check out the free software here on the forums and find the best fit for you. Good luck!

I will add that I have had bad experiences running multiple real-time scanners. My antivirus is my only realtime scanner.

 

[Petey7]

WHS, there are always exceptions to every rule, but as in public school, I stick to teaching the general rules instead of trying to explain every exception to that rule.

You should never have two real-time protection anti-viruses/anti-malware programs at the same time. You can have one real-time AV and one or more on-demand (only scans when you tell it to) AV. The combo I use is one real-time (MSE), one on demand (MBAM), one firewall (Windows Firewall), and a router (Linksys) with a built-in firewall.

sorry, but what will happen if you do?

It can cause the computer to freeze or crash. I remember linking to one article a couple weeks ago (can't find it ATM) where the person installed two AVs to see what would happen and the computer would BSOD even before he logged in because of conflicts. Less severe cases include one AV believing the other is a virus because of how it behaves (false positive) and trying to erase certain parts of it, and conflicts resulting in neither working as they are supposed to, resulting in you not being as protected as you would be with either alone.

 

[richc46]

@ Ann Taylor: Read my first post, the different opinions were expected. I stand by my original position.

 

[antharr]

rich, malwarebytes isnt made for spyware, supearantispyware will go great with all of them

I have found that installing both is a great option. One will find things the the other will not and vice versa.

Both free versions are not real time so they don't have an impact on system performance or interfere with the operation of any other security software.

 

[freaky88]

download SAS trial