MS Essentials as sole AV?

[livichops]

Hi all,

Was using a copy of Norton 360 3.0 as sole AV on my system until last week. An infection crept through and caused a lot of chaos. Will not be using my copy of Norton again for various reasons.

Whilst fixing my system, I was advised to use MS Essentials which I am utilizing at present. I am reluctant to pay for an AV right now as I only bought Norton a couple of months ago. I was wondering if MS Essentials offers good all round protection in it's own right or whether it is recommended to use it in conjunction with another form of protection.

I have read a few of the threads/links regarding best (free and paid) AV but am not convinced MS Essentials has a good enough detection rate alone. If I have missed a thread addressing this question, sorry for the repetition. My OS is Windows 7.

I like my AV to do a solid job at detecting all forms of attacks, have a decent scan speed but run fairly inconspicuously in the background. I also like to be prompted to do regular updates or have automatic updates, rather than going to a website to search for them.

Thanks for reading

 

[thathagat]

Was using a copy of Norton 360 3.0 as sole AV on my system until last week. An infection crept through and caused a lot of chaos.

A layered set up is an ideal security solution....with imaging/backup +something like sandboxie/returnil thrown in.

I was advised to use MS Essentials which I am utilizing at present. I am reluctant to pay for an AV right now as I only bought Norton a couple of months ago. I was wondering if MS Essentials offers good all round protection in it's own right or whether it is recommended to use it in conjunction with another form of protection.

it is safe....as safe as your surfing habbits ...imho...use it in conjunction with something like
mbam pro or prevx both are paid for though

I like my AV to do a solid job at detecting all forms of attacks, have a decent scan speed but run fairly inconspicuously in the background. I also like to be prompted to do regular updates or have automatic updates, rather than going to a website to search for them.

honestly the new norton line does just that ...but mse is also an unobtrusive... silent..yet effective av with an automatic update schedule

 

[livichops]

I've read about Sandboxie and it sounds interesting. I just wondered if there were any potential issues that could arrive whilst working alongside my primary AV. i don't know much about it other than it isolates certain files in secure areas of the HD.

I'm sure that Norton is fine for most people. I personally had some unresolved issues with the Norton support team that put me off using their software.

 

[gregrocker]

MSE has surpassed Avast now as most effective lightweight AV for me. After putting Avast on over 100 machines without issue or infection, it began missing the new fake virus scan browser infections. Even it's boot scan couldn't find them, nor could Malwarebytes or Spybot which I also used for scan.

MSE found them and deleted, which coupled with its nearly-invisible profile makes it my new choice for every install.

There is no reason to run 2 AV's. Defender will be disabled at MSE install. I previously kept Malwarebytes and Spybot on the desktop for one-off scans, but MSE has now made them unnecessary and is my only recommendation as I've had issues with every other free application and the paid ones are bloatware.

 

[electrotune1200]

No AV on this planet is full proof. I myself have been a Norton 360 user since v1, and have not had anything slip by(knocks on wood).

I also use MBAM as a secondary AV. I don't know if I could rely on just one security suite. Sometimes a second opinion just eases your fears.

Whatever AV you decide to role with as your primary protection, use a secondary scanner just to be on the safe side. That and a little common sense and your PC should be sufficiently secured.

 

[livichops]

Hi Greg,

Weirdly enough, it was one of those Fake AV's that attacked me last week so that is reassuring.

I think I'm going to stick with MSE, I just wondered whether I needed anti-malware protection too.

Thanks again

 

[pparks1]

Maximum PC just reviewed some AV apps and MSE scored an 8 out of 10 and was there recommendation for solid protection if you didn't want to pay for an app. Their paid for suggestion was ESET.


As to whether you need multiple tools, I guess the determing factor is what types of sites and places that you visit most regularly on the web. MSE is the product that I use, I'm pretty darn safe, and I don't have habits that usually get me into trouble. If I were to do anything that might be somewhat unsafe, I simply fire up a Linux virtual machine and use that.

 

[electrotune1200]

Weirdly enough, it was one of those Fake AV's that attacked me last week so that is reassuring.

I think I'm going to stick with MSE, I just wondered whether I needed anti-malware protection too.

Thanks again

Why are you still using 360 v.3 when v.4 is available?

 

[livichops]

I get what everyone is saying about being careful about what websites I frequent. I'm not particularly careless or foolish in that sense! I was on a legit looking Photoshop tips website when I was attacked, so in my personal experience they can come from anywhere.

Maybe I'm just being over cautious. Once bitten, twice shy and all that!

 

[swarfega]

Why are you using Norton!

Seriously though, MSE is good enough for detecting most things. The only other program I have running is WinPatrol which did actually stop a virus from adding itself to startup programs. So it was worth the 99c!

 

[livichops]

Electrotune,

As far I know, Norton 3.0 was brand new when I purchased Dec '09

 

[electrotune1200]

If you have subscription time still available.... You're eligible to upgrade to 360 v.4

 

[livichops]

Thanks Electrotune, but I really am put off Norton due my my personal experience with them

 

[electrotune1200]

Thanks Electrotune, but I really am put off Norton due my my personal experience with them

No worries.... I'm not trying to sway your decision one way or the other. Just letting you know that v.4 is available.

 

[thathagat]

I've read about Sandboxie and it sounds interesting. I just wondered if there were any potential issues that could arrive whilst working alongside my primary AV. i don't know much about it other than it isolates certain files in secure areas of the HD.

it happily co-exists with all av....as for its configuration take a look at this Sandboxie Configuration Recommendations

I'm sure that Norton is fine for most people. I personally had some unresolved issues with the Norton support team that put me off using their software.

yeah it sucks....paid support...asking you to run mbam..etc...etc ...been there..done that..but i kind of like the new line

it was one of those Fake AV's that attacked me

these fake /rogues are a real pita....mbam would take care of them generally

I was on a legit looking Photoshop tips website when I was attacked, so in my personal experience they can come from anywhere.

that's drive by d/l....sandboxie would take the mickey out of such threats

 

[Jaxryley]

Yep, Sandboxie is my favourite security app and I also use Returnil with no realtime AV/AM.

Malwarebytes is used as on demand to check detections of samples which are uploaded/reported if not hit.

MRG Tests

Malware Research Group Project 023

Project number: 023
Project Details: On Demand Scan Test
Operating System used: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3
Number of applications used: 15
Number of malware samples used: 259.694

MRG Tests Malware Research Group

 

[cokeonice]

Good stuff

As usual; there is some good advice from the peeps on this forum.

My 2¢:

MS Security Essentials is good enough when it comes to AV and other anti-malware protection.

This combined with Sandboxie is even better.

In addition I like to use the "MVPS hosts file" (Google that). The "MVPS hosts file" prevents websites that host ads from downloading those ads (as long as the hosts file is regularly updated).

What happens is this; when you are just generally surfing the web and searching for things (like Photoshop tips), you may end up on a website that has good information but has to host ads to make money to pay to keep their site alive.

When these sites host ads; they do so by running an engine that retrieves these ads from ad servers. These ad servers can be located anywhere in the world in server farms that do data warehousing. More reputable sites will go through the extra trouble of scanning the ad content before sending it to you. Most sites do not have the extra budget to do that and simply send the ad. So, as you might have guessed, you can get an "ad" that is actually malicious content. In the case of these lovely "Antivirus 2008/2009/2010, XP, etc, etc" virus' they are most likely flash programs that get sent as an ad request.

So, if you use the "MVPS hosts file" in conjunction with a good AV and Sandboxie; well, I tell people it is like wearing three condoms at the same time. Layered protection!

Oh, and if you do all of that on a virtual machine...you get the picture...

And I didn't even mention using a hardware firewall as opposed to a software firewall. Layers, layers, layers!

 

[pparks1]

So, if you use the "MVPS hosts file" in conjunction with a good AV and Sandboxie; well, I tell people it is like wearing three condoms at the same time. Layered protection!

Isn't it recommended to not layer condoms? I believe it's more dangerous than just using 1...at least from what I remember.

 

[cokeonice]

So, if you use the "MVPS hosts file" in conjunction with a good AV and Sandboxie; well, I tell people it is like wearing three condoms at the same time. Layered protection!

Isn't it recommended to not layer condoms? I believe it's more dangerous than just using 1...at least from what I remember.

LOL!

I do not know about the recommended uses of condoms! Perhaps it was a bad analogy?

Another one I like to use is, "I like to wear two condoms all day long. That way, when I take one off at night, I feel WILD"! I think that is an old Smothers Brothers joke...