MS Security Essentials Vs. AVG 9.0

reghakr said:

That's a little strange.

I was running a cheap $399.00 E-Machine with 1GB or RAM and running PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Antivirus and Registry Mechanic with no problem.

If said it before, different hardware, different setups, different results.

AVG has always been good here unti like other av programs interferes with some softwares. But seeing a bug get on when running search with MS's newest apparently blonder(Bing) was more of a disappointment then simply running into any bug. Generally I would have to go out of the way to run into one!

AVComparatives which has been mentioned. Go read it.

I say it all the time, AVG is garbage.

True story, about 3 years ago, of a system with 8,000+ hits on it. Yes the system ran like crap, and no, they weren't cookies.
I have seen many systems be inundated with viruses, with AVG installed. Run it, and it finds nothing, or it finds a couple but can't clean them.

Then you go and find an on-line scanner that isn't being blocked by the buggers. Start it and it gets to it's first one, yes, one that AVG hadn't reported before, only to have AVG pop up and say, "Hey, Your Infected", really? No kidding. Clean it. "Yeah, see, here's the thing, I don't do windows. (no pun intended)."

I stop the scan, copy off all the virus files I can find and burn them to CD (which I don't have anymore).
I copy them to a fresh install with a fresh copy of AVG and scan the system, oh btw, AVG maybe reported on a few of them, but didn't stop most of them. Run the same test, and get the same results.

Conclusion? AVG is GGGGggarrrbbbaaaggggeeee. And they haven't improved.

The combination we would use a lot back then,,,

ESET On-Line Scanner
MS Live Safety Scanner
Spybot S&D
Lavasoft Ad-aware (which is bloated junk now)

Most systems came out clean without problems, some were too bad and had to be reloaded.

Today, I use
Eset on-line scanner (not the full product)
Live Saftey Scanner
Spybot S&D
Malwarebytes

There is ofcourse Combofix (update info unknown), HiJackThis! 1.99.1 (still a great peice of work), not Trends version. Smitfraud (no longer updated, or very old version, or no longer needed). VundoFix (which hasn't been updated in years). And many others.

Once clean, install MSE.

SpyBot S&D is long outdated. Ewido was an old favorite not mentioned that was actually bought up by Grisoft. For trash av programs try McAfee! no thanks!

Actually the comparative "Main Tests" are dated before AVG 9.0 was even out. Read the November 2009 pdf report to see that lists the 8.5 build AV-Comparatives - Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software - Main-Tests

Lately someone has been trying to coax me into looking at VIPRE for the av program. VIPRE Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Protection - Sunbelt Software

As far as what was found at cleaning up far more data miners and other bots over Malwarebytes was Spyware Terminator. I compared both of them to see which one performed the best. The ST program found quite a bit after a run by Malwarebytes. That one also puts an active guard around the registry.

Well,, unfortunately,, there is not one AV or AM that will catch everything.
I will ahve to check out ST. If it runs as a Portable App,, that would be a plus.

Edit,, after some testing,,, I think I could make a very ugly rudimentary portable way for this app. It looks good, haven't fully tested it, just tested for portability. Doesn't seem they want it to run that way.

That's too bad really, but,, ....

See this,,, looking forward to it if they will

The one thing noticed about the latest version of ST is now seeing an install mode for when running some program's installer and being prompted to allow or deny worse then the UAC set at max! The install mode was just added in and why this is last program that goes on here when a clean install of 7 was performed.

Another one by the same software company is called System Protect which is mainly a guard on the registry to prevent unauthorized changes by bugs or unintended changes like some program also wanting to place a new IE toolbar on. File and Folder Protection ? Free System Protect

This one on the other hand is lightweight and doesn't prompt any alert or permissions request simply when you go to install a new program. It does alert you when any files are about to deleted or altered however.

Both of those programs generally install right to the main drive there. As far as any one program catching everything? The answer to that one is obvious "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE"!

Too many new bugs as well as unfamiliar older ones as well are the main reason the smart move is having a multi-layered form of protection system wide. As it turns out all too often one program catches what another misses and then that catches what the first one didn't see. A 3rd app comes along and finds even more!

Here's my 2 cents. ESET sucks! Been using a paid-ver of Smart Security for over 2 yrs now. My friend booted up his laptop - running MSE, and his booted soooooo fast. I diabled my ESET from boot - and bam..... a 42 second boot! With mse the boot time is 48-53 seconds... <3 And btw JMH - i love ur doggy avatar :P

ESET has gone a bit down hill.. The other reason I no longer recommend the full install is because
if you let the licenes lapse, it will cripple your system... among those are the ability to save pictures from on-line. So, try saving a background and you get a black picture. That is a huge no-no in my book.

Never had ESET here at all. Meanwhile MSE doesn't seem to slow anything down on start time here.

The one thing that is seen however is the options screen coming up every so often but not every day for MSE. The image here shows how that simply appeared today only since MSE first went on. It was never disabled from the startup list at any time.