Running MS Security Essentials and SUPER Anti-Spyware simultaneously

gplea · 22 Jun 2016

Is there any reason I should run MS Security Essentials AND SUPER Anti-Spyware simultaneously, or is that a redundancy, OR is it actually harmful? I've just spent an hour waiting for MS Sec. Essentials to update it's Definition D'base when it timed out, and said it couldn't connect to the internet, which I KNOW is wrong because I've already been on the web to update the SAS s'ware, and defs. If I DO need to be running something in addition to SAS, what do you recommend if not MS Essentials?

ignatzatsonic · 22 Jun 2016

There's not a lot of overlap between the 2 products.

Many here use both. Many use MSE and Malwarebytes, which is a competitor of Super Anti-spyware.

I can't recall ever hearing of conflict between MSE and SAS.

I use MSE and Malwarebytes as active protection--both are running whenever my PC is running. I've never had a conflict between them.

I've never had an issue with MSE updates, but if yours is consistently haywire, then the free alternatives include the free versions of AVG and Avast and likely some others I can't recall right now.

Then there are a bunch of paid alternatives--Norton, Kaspersky, AVG, Avast, Panda, etc. I refuse to pay, partially because I'm cheap and partially because I don't want to cough up a credit card to an online outfit and let them charge it automatically for renewals.

torchwood · 22 Jun 2016

Hi Gplea,
MS SE, is fine but id run it in conjunction with Malwarebytes free.
SAS has been dropping down the rankings, so unless yours is a paid version, move across.
note not heard of anybody having problem with the MSSE definition updates.
try what i've mentioned, (uncheck the trial but in the dashboard tick anti-rootkit).

Roy

gplea · 22 Jun 2016

Thanks guys. I think I might try 1 of the MS SE alternatives.

MoxieMomma · 22 Jun 2016

torchwood said:

Hi Gplea,
MS SE, is fine but id run it in conjunction with Malwarebytes free.

Hi, @gplea:

One minor note: MBAM Free does NOT provide any-real-time protection. It is only a manual, on-demand scanner.
If you want realtime anti-malware protection alongside MSE, you will need MBAM Premium (or a similar product, such as Emsisoft Anti-Malware).
(BTW there's no significant reason to disable MBAM anti-rootkit scanning, either in the global settings or in custom or scheduled scan settings. It's a user preference, but -- aside from increasing scan times a bit -- there is no reason not to enable that feature on most modern systems.)

Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Free (MBAE) DOES provide real-time anti-exploit protection for browsers and plug-ins. The Premium version can be configured to shield any internet-facing application. It works differently from from your AV and from MBAM. The former 2 protect against the "what" of malware. MBAE protects against the "how"...

HTH,

MM (entirely unaffiliated with Malwarebytes and no financial interest)