Do you use UAC (User Account Control)?

Gary said:

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Gary said:

That is why I have Avast Internet Security running. I also am behind a Nat Router.

As good as AVAST is, something could sneak by, such as a new nasty that AVAST hasn't written a definition for yet. Keep in mind that AVs, etc. are more retroactive than proactive; they mostly respond to known nasties. If set correctly, UAC will alert you every time a process is being started so it will be difficult to impossible for a nasty to start a process without your knowledge as long as you allow UAC to do its thing and you take the extra second to read the popup before clicking on it.

I have never had a malware problem, I have never gotten a virus. I have a Firewall (not Windows). I just do not need a machine to do the thinking for me and tell me if it is OK to install this or that, BTW AIS has an auto sandbox which basically does the same thing.:)

Famous last words.

mitchell65 said:

This is turning into a most interesting thread. I am keeping a tally and will let the thread go until Friday and then post the tally. Looks very interesting so far but it would be good to get plenty more posts so that the final picture is more representative.
Thanks to all who have posted so far!

...and thanks for bringing up the topic. I too find it interesting and have been pleased that the discussion has stayed so civil.

BTW, I'm not attempting to convince others to use the UAC - I only nag those that I directly support

Reading all the posts and I have to say that UAC is disabled on my computer, because of the sole reason it is quite annoying, my age 25. I don't know if I am doing anything bad or good but I am the only user of my computer, I never click on any link without checking where it is going first. I use adblock plugins for IE10, never click on any flash related ad on any sites, I also try to keep my installed programs to a minimum and regularly check my task manger and by now I have pretty much remembered all my trusted processes and I do notice if there is a process I don't recognize which rarely happens, I have tried with or without AV. one time I switched AV every 3 months or so because none of them never said anything after that I went without one for quite some time now trying the pro version of malwarebytes which I am considering buying.

So if I do have virus on my computer they are pretty damn stealthy.

Andreas W said:

....I have tried with or without AV. one time I switched AV every 3 months or so because none of them never said anything after that I went without one for quite some time now trying the pro version of malwarebytes which I am considering buying.

So if I do have virus on my computer they are pretty damn stealthy.

Sadly, a number of infections are quite stealthy. Anyway, you might be interested in this thread:
Are Anti-Viruses A Total Waste Of Time?

mitchell65 said:

This is turning into a most interesting thread. I am keeping a tally and will let the thread go until Friday and then post the tally. Looks very interesting so far but it would be good to get plenty more posts so that the final picture is more representative.
Thanks to all who have posted so far!

You could add a poll to the thread.