three antivirus programs

[tapuz]

I have installed on my computer 3 anti virus – I think – avg free edition, avira, and microsoft security essentials, the reason being that many outsiders connect usb plug and play or other external etc… after getting a few viruses getting messed up etc.. I realized that this way I have a better chance of catching a virus before it does damage to the computer.​

I disabled auto run, when I connect something external, I right click on that drive – in my computer – and scan it with the above 3 anti virus programs.​

Only two of them are active, avira is disabled untill I have to scan something.​

My question is, does the above cause any comflicting between the two programs, or slowing down of the computer.​

​

Since I switched to the above I have never gotten a virus.​

​

Any ideas about the above, or better ways to protect the computer, would be appreciated.​

 

[vicvic]

i don't think it is good running so many anti viruses.

there is a nice little program which prevents usb from getting viruses. it creates a folder that the virus can't touch. very light in the back ground and free.

ANTIMALWARE: Panda USB Vaccine - Download FREE - PANDA SECURITY

you could do a regedit to prevent auto run as well. here is a link for how to do it and information.

One quick trick prevents AutoRun attacks

Then you should scan them as soon as they are plugged into your computer.

 

[tapuz]

vicvic
thanks for your quick reply.
just finished reading everything, including your links, downloaded and installed.
i understand from what you have written, and the links, it is not good to have more than one antivirus program, the best usb protection is panda, and to turnoff through panda the autorun.ini etc. and to run that registry file.

thanks for the help.

as aside, from the above three antivirus programs, ahich one would you suggest to keep, and not uninstall ?

 

[ickymay]

vicvic
thanks for your quick reply.
just finished reading everything, including your links, downloaded and installed.
i understand from what you have written, and the links, it is not good to have more than one antivirus program, the best usb protection is panda, and to turnoff through panda the autorun.ini etc. and to run that registry file.

thanks for the help.

as aside, from the above three antivirus programs, ahich one would you suggest to keep, and not uninstall ?

avira is probably the most diligent if you are ok with the occasional false positive and you should also have a specific malware tool to run once every few days such as malwarebytes

 

[Johnd76]

I have installed on my computer 3 anti virus – I think – avg free edition, avira, and microsoft security essentials, the reason being that many outsiders connect usb plug and play or other external etc… after getting a few viruses getting messed up etc.. I realized that this way I have a better chance of catching a virus before it does damage to the computer.​

I disabled auto run, when I connect something external, I right click on that drive – in my computer – and scan it with the above 3 anti virus programs.​

Only two of them are active, avira is disabled untill I have to scan something.​

My question is, does the above cause any comflicting between the two programs, or slowing down of the computer.​

Since I switched to the above I have never gotten a virus.​

Any ideas about the above, or better ways to protect the computer, would be appreciated.​

Im very happy with Windows Security, works quietly in the background.......the way it should be.

 

[valtonray]

you def don't want to run 3 av softwares, you increase false positives, it will bog down your system and it's really not going to benefit you in any way. pick one not all of the above.

 

[richc46]

A large number of membesr, including myself suggest MSE, in conjunction with malwarebytes. A good firewall should, also be used.

 

[brady]

The honest truth is: none of the above will truly keep you safe or secured. There is no program available to the public that will prevent intelligent attacks.

 

[richc46]

The honest truth is: none of the above will truly keep you safe or secured. There is no program available to the public that will prevent intelligent attacks.

Very good. We should add another defense. Our own common sense. We are, indeed, the best defense against Virus attacks.

 

[valtonray]

The honest truth is: none of the above will truly keep you safe or secured. There is no program available to the public that will prevent intelligent attacks.

while that may be the truth it's not a real world threat for most people.

 

[brady]

The honest truth is: none of the above will truly keep you safe or secured. There is no program available to the public that will prevent intelligent attacks.

while that may be the truth it's not a real world threat for most people.

Real world threats reach e-mailboxes all over the world, every second of every day. My point simply being, think before clicking.

 

[valtonray]

well some idiots are going to get a virus no matter what kind of protection they use. but generally safe browsing habits will be your number one defense.

 

[manchot]

The honest truth is: none of the above will truly keep you safe or secured. There is no program available to the public that will prevent intelligent attacks.

Very good. We should add another defense. Our own common sense. We are, indeed, the best defense against Virus attacks.

i think my parents have the most common sense out of anyone i know... but computers are just foreign mysteries to them used for sporadically looking up things and email... so if that is their best defense against virus... god help us all...

 

[valtonray]

The honest truth is: none of the above will truly keep you safe or secured. There is no program available to the public that will prevent intelligent attacks.

Very good. We should add another defense. Our own common sense. We are, indeed, the best defense against Virus attacks.

i think my parents have the most common sense out of anyone i know... but computers are just foreign mysteries to them used for sporadically looking up things and email... so if that is their best defense against virus... god help us all...

well teach them the basics, if they dont know who that email came from don't open it, don't visit odd sites. porn is rarely free, and no matter what your computer says you did not win $1000

 

[Capella]

Honestly, anybody who has more than one antivirus is being paranoid lol (jking). There is absolutely NO reason you would need anymore than one simple antivirus or antimalware. Even a firewall is redundant. There are many many other iwndows 7 security features that will prevent viruses lol. Some viruses and malware right now are not even COMPATIBLE with windows 7 yet. I use to like installing more antivirus thinking that more protection is better after reading all the articles about windows security. WITH JUST MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS, I HAVEN'T GOT A SINGLE VIRUS IN MY LIFE XD. It even caught something NIS failed to catch.
As for firewall, if you are using a router, IT ALREADY HAS HARDWARE FIREWALL which is even BETTER than software firewall. to configure your router firewall, go to the router setup page and configure it. By default, most of the common ports should block anonymous requests. You can test your ports here: https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
With the router firewall, it said that on my windows 7 system, not one port was open and accepting anonymous connections. All were in stealth mode.

The only "point" in a firewall would be if you use your laptop in public facilities or if you are using a desktop, to which you are not connecting by means of a router. Of course firewall companies will try to convince users that they are in danger all the time *rolls eyes*

In the end, it is still your choice, but my suggestion is to use only microsoft security essentials or only avira or only avast. "Less is more" In this case, you don't need any more than you need.

Hope you make a good choice

 

[TheIgster]

Honestly, anybody who has more than one antivirus is being paranoid lol (jking). There is absolutely NO reason you would need anymore than one simple antivirus or antimalware. Even a firewall is redundant. There are many many other iwndows 7 security features that will prevent viruses lol. Some viruses and malware right now are not even COMPATIBLE with windows 7 yet. I use to like installing more antivirus thinking that more protection is better after reading all the articles about windows security. WITH JUST MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS, I HAVEN'T GOT A SINGLE VIRUS IN MY LIFE XD. It even caught something NIS failed to catch.

Well, a layered approach to security is never a bad thing. Using programs like ThreatFire or Prevx or other programs that can run alongside an anti virus program is never a bad thing in my opinion. You also state that you've never got a single virus your entire life with Microsoft Security Essentials. To be fair, not exactly a lot of test data there considering you state "entire life" yet MSE has been on the market for what 8 months?

As for firewall, if you are using a router, IT ALREADY HAS HARDWARE FIREWALL which is even BETTER than software firewall. to configure your router firewall, go to the router setup page and configure it. By default, most of the common ports should block anonymous requests. You can test your ports here: https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
With the router firewall, it said that on my windows 7 system, not one port was open and accepting anonymous connections. All were in stealth mode.

The only "point" in a firewall would be if you use your laptop in public facilities or if you are using a desktop, to which you are not connecting by means of a router. Of course firewall companies will try to convince users that they are in danger all the time *rolls eyes*

Sorry, but I strongly disagree. Sure, you may perhaps be protected from "incoming" connections to a certain extent with the firewall built-in to your router, but what about outgoing connections? Programs that try to call home, including malware, spyware, etc. I like to know what software is trying to access the Internet and call out on my system. Your hardware firewall will do nothing to help you there, nor will it tell you anything as to what software is trying to connect and send data, etc.

 

[Capella]

Windows firewall also blocks outbound connections. However, this isn't the point. You wouldn't have any outbound connections if your av or antimalware catches them. I have no problem with programs like threatfire. The trouble is, although they are good security, you do not need the security of a government building. Even a corporate workplace usually only has one antivirus

Has your firewall ever actually caught an outward connection? it is possible, but your av most likely catches the culprit b4 it can even attempt to. You can also simply disable all outwards connections if something you notice is really wrong. Then use the malware/av to remove it. The thing is, the majority of malware that send outward connections are easily recognizable.

If you notice your computer running slow, investigate it. However, installing multiple av just to avoid this, is redundant, because if you are sensible, you barely are in any risk for malware virus.

Another concern I have is the definitions of various av programs even if you run them in an inactive mode. Many av programs, even with realtime protection disabled, will fill many registry keys that are only used when that program is active. Since, you are running inactive, surely, those registry keys are redundant and bloating? I understand that registry corruption is much less common on modern systems. However, they are something that you can without and when you remove the programs, many uninstallers leave these keys behind.

Read this btw, about firewalls. He uses router firewall with NAT enabled.
Is an outbound firewall needed?
Routers will not allow such a connection if you configure it with security in mind. Actually, most routers DO include inward and outward protection.

My last concern with firewalls, is that utorrent speed can definitely be affected...

 

[hackerman1]

sparkie: "Windows firewall also blocks outbound connections."

Windows Firewall doesn´t block OUTGOING connections, by default.
you have to create rules, which requires a lot of work.

sparkie: "However, this isn't the point. You wouldn't have any outbound connections if your av or antimalware catches them."

but what happens if they don´t catch them ?
no antivirus / antimalware can find everything, it´s always like "found 99,8%"...
this is why it´s very important to have a firewall that blocks outgoing connections.

running 3 antivirus programs with reealtime-protection can give you a lot of problems.
when i installed MSE i didn´t trust it because it was a beta, so i decided to keep Avira.
Avira wasn´t on the non-compatible list & MSE didn´t complain about Avira when i installed it.
i´m glad i kept Avira because MSE has shown some problems, it turned itself off and then it didn´t want to start again.
i even kept Avira when MSE was released, as i didn´t really trust MSE, so i´ve been running Avira, MSE & a2 without problems.

good FREE antivirus-programs: Avira, MSE, Avast
a-squared (FREE) is a very good antimalware-program, which has better detection-rate than MBAM.

also take a look at my signature below...

 

[Capella]

lol, 99.8 % is more than three standard deviations on a normal density curve.....Im actually willing to take that chance :sarc: XD.
Im willing to take that chance lol, as far as I know, again, most corporate settings even aren't so protective by installing multiple av and spyware. Simply, update update update, make sure all holes are filled in the building, not by creating a brick wall in front of the building (windows update and definitions)
For .2% chance: you want slower internet speed, more to load at startup, etc........I just don't think that is worth it.
Even with the firewall, there is still that .01% chance lol
But my main point was that if you used a router (most people do) it has hardware outgoing and ingoing protection. The hardware protection is faster and more reliable than software protection. You get that without installing anything on your computer.

 

[hackerman1]

sparkie: well, the question was "Any ideas about the above, or better ways to protect the computer, would be appreciated."

if you don´t want to protect your computer....:huh: