What's the Best Anti-virus?

[elstupido]

SUA (Standard user account for win 7). I would recommend adding Sandboxie to your computer. Its like the old american express commercials " dont leave home without it " Now with sandboxie its " dont open your browser without it "

 

[pparks1]

I've used Sandboxie and it certainly has a place in my toolkit, but it's not something that I use whenever I use my browser. For example, I'm not using it now.

 

[elstupido]

I can only lead them to water. I cant make them drink.

 

[mc4nam]

New Computer...

New to site. New to windows 7. Thanks for the great information.

I am going to set up new computer this weekend. I haven't had a new computer in 8 years so I want to really take care of this one.

Dell XPS 8300- I7-2600,3.4,8MB, 12gb Ram and 2 500gb Drives. 1gb AMD Graphics card. This is just a home PC with Windows 7 home premium.

Questions:

1. It comes with 15 months free of McAfee, from reading about it, I should just uninstall it right?

2. From reading here and other places, I have decided to go with free protection software. (Free Right choice?) Which ones? I think I have narrowed it down to either Avast or MSE. I don't think I have to worry too much about any software slowing down my PC based on the specs correct?

3. Just use Windows Firewall correct?

4. Malwarebytes for occasional scans correct?

5. If I choose avast free, it says it has its own "sandboxie". No need to have sandboxie also if I go with avast correct?

6. Mozilla or Google safer than the other?


I am open to any other suggestions and ideas. I really just want to be able to use the PC. Would really prefer not to get a pop up warning me about everything, but want the pop ups for protection.

Bottom line: Need something simple to use that will not slow my PC down.

Thanks in advance for advice.

MC

 

[elstupido]

1. If you want to use Mc Affee go ahead. If not any of the free ones will work fine.
2. Malwarebytes free for on demand scans
3. Windows firewall is fine for hassle free in bound protection.
4. Sandboxie is a must have on my list. Its strong enough to use alone if one would choose so.
5.Avasts " sandbox " feature is not the same or as strong as Sandboxie, so i would still have both.
6. You need to browse the internet from your SUA account and not the admin account.
7. UAC should be turned up to max.
8. Chrome is the best browser for usability and safety as far as im concerned.

 

[pparks1]

I can only lead them to water. I cant make them drink.

Well, as a systems admin for a living, that works with desktops and servers, Windows and Linux, day in and day out, I just don't find that I encounter enough problems to warrant constant sandboxing.

Now, people who I support and work with, yep...they seem to have constant non-stop problems. My techie friends, who are also systems admins, don't have problems. Thus, I attribute most common users problems to 1). What they are willing to click on while on the Internet. I think many here refer to that as "common sense". In addition, many of the people who have problems also seem to be using the default browser, IE, while many of my friends who don't have problems are using alternative browsers.

Based on the experiences that I see above, with differences between people, I attribute more problems on the Internet due to behavior than just something that's going to bite everyone. So, these other people are probably better off to fire up Sandboxie everytime they surf. But considering that they don't seem to be able to stop clicking on things and infecting themselves, leads me to believe that they aren't going to remember to start Sandboxie every time.

 

[mc4nam]

1. If you want to use Mc Affee go ahead. If not any of the free ones will work fine.
2. Malwarebytes free for on demand scans
3. Windows firewall is fine for hassle free in bound protection.
4. Sandboxie is a must have on my list. Its strong enough to use alone if one would choose so.
5.Avasts " sandbox " feature is not the same or as strong as Sandboxie, so i would still have both.
6. You need to browse the internet from your SUA account and not the admin account.
7. UAC should be turned up to max.
8. Chrome is the best browser for usability and safety as far as im concerned.

Thank You!

From reading about sandboxie, it says not easy for beginners. I think I am in that category, but it doesn't seem hard to use. Is it?

Free version of Sandboxie or paid version? The way I think I would use it is to simply have Chrome run in sandboxie all the time correct?

You say any free version of Anti-virus. Any advantages one way or the other with MSE or Avast?

 

[elstupido]

1. If you want to use Mc Affee go ahead. If not any of the free ones will work fine.
2. Malwarebytes free for on demand scans
3. Windows firewall is fine for hassle free in bound protection.
4. Sandboxie is a must have on my list. Its strong enough to use alone if one would choose so.
5.Avasts " sandbox " feature is not the same or as strong as Sandboxie, so i would still have both.
6. You need to browse the internet from your SUA account and not the admin account.
7. UAC should be turned up to max.
8. Chrome is the best browser for usability and safety as far as im concerned.

Thank You!

From reading about sandboxie, it says not easy for beginners. I think I am in that category, but it doesn't seem hard to use. Is it?

Free version of Sandboxie or paid version? The way I think I would use it is to simply have Chrome run in sandboxie all the time correct?

You say any free version of Anti-virus. Any advantages one way or the other with MSE or Avast?

If i can use sandboxie free so can you. You can learn how from their web site or from you tube.
I am running chrome in sandboxie as my main browser, but you can run what ever you want.
As far as A/Vs go, they are so close together performance wise, unless theres a conflict issue with other apps on your computer, i just dont think it matters much since most of the security is from using sandboxie when surfing.

 

[pparks1]

Sandboxie is a piece of cake to use. It automatically grabs your default browser and creates a new icon to run it sandboxed. And you can right click on any other application and choose to run it sandboxed, if you want it also in your sandbox.

I've only used the "free" version myself. I have to wait 5 seconds to launch it the first time, but that's no big deal.

 

[A Guy]

New to site. New to windows 7. Thanks for the great information.

I am going to set up new computer this weekend. I haven't had a new computer in 8 years so I want to really take care of this one.

Dell XPS 8300- I7-2600,3.4,8MB, 12gb Ram and 2 500gb Drives. 1gb AMD Graphics card. This is just a home PC with Windows 7 home premium.

Questions:

1. It comes with 15 months free of McAfee, from reading about it, I should just uninstall it right?

More precisely, never activate McAfee. Uninstall it.

2. From reading here and other places, I have decided to go with free protection software. (Free Right choice?) Which ones? I think I have narrowed it down to either Avast or MSE. I don't think I have to worry too much about any software slowing down my PC based on the specs correct?

My experience is with Avast. Never a problem. I can recommend it. I can't say it is better then MSE.

3. Just use Windows Firewall correct?

The Windows firewall is usually sufficient. I personally use Comodo firewall with Defense + on.

4. Malwarebytes for occasional scans correct?

Malwarebytes and Superantispyware for (weekly) scans is always a good choice.

5. If I choose avast free, it says it has its own "sandboxie". No need to have sandboxie also if I go with avast correct?

I turned Avast sandbox off. If you want a sandbox, choose Sandboxie.

6. Mozilla or Google safer than the other?

Google is thought of as a safe browser. Some will tell you IE is perhaps safer.

I am open to any other suggestions and ideas. I really just want to be able to use the PC. Would really prefer not to get a pop up warning me about everything, but want the pop ups for protection.

Bottom line: Need something simple to use that will not slow my PC down.

Thanks in advance for advice.

MC

A Guy

 

[M1GU31]

I m use now Comodo firewall, Avira-anti virus, and Spybot - Search & Destroy.

It works for me

I think you can get rid of spybot at this point. Wont add to comodo or avira and increases the chances of a conflict in the future.

Haven't used Spybot in ages. Substitute Malwarebytes, and now you're talking

A Guy

I only use spybot to immunize my browsers in my system i rarely have it scan my system unless malwarebytes and super anti spyware and mse fail to detect/remove the virus. Usually do at least 2 scans a week like at the end of the week or when ever I feel like I want to do a quick scan

 

[kikloo]

Hi,

I have used many anti viruses. I have a desktop and a laptop. My desktop is a Dual core, 2 GB RAM and my laptop is Core2Duo, 3 GB RAM both running Windows 7.

Like i said earlier I used many anti viruses and after using a lot of anti viruses for years now, I have came to conclusion that Avira Antivir Free with Malware Bytes Antimalware is best combination to protect your PC etc.

Like many are suggesting here MSE..i feel it does'nt protects you well enough. When I try a new antivirus I goto: Download ° EICAR - European Expert Group for IT-Security and I test the antivirus capability there. By clicking on those links you're downloading a dummy virus which is just to test whether your antivirus is detecting viruses or not.

The Avira Antivir Free works great. It detects viruses download from all types of protocols that are listed there and I also noted the MSE fails on some.

Also I noticed some antiviruses don't even detect this dummy virus. So next time you install a antivirus be sure that it detects all the download links here Download ° EICAR - European Expert Group for IT-Security so that you know that your antivirus is really working and you're safe and sound.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks.

 

[A Guy]

I would not trust EICAR as a test. Firefox does not save text to the HDD, as IE does, so it may not be detected. Also, the site even states that users have issues with the 2nd, .txt file

"In order to facilitate various scenarios, we provide 4 files for download. The first, eicar.com, contains the ASCII string as described above. The second file, eicar.com.txt, is a copy of this file with a different filename. Some readers reported problems when downloading the first file, which can be circumvented when using the second version. Just download and rename the file to "eicar.com". That will do the trick."

Some AV companies have purposely added the EICAR string to their detections due to complaints it wasn't detected. Your choices of Avira and Malwarebytes are good though

A Guy

 

[NecroticisM666]

Does anyone here using MSE upgraded it to version 4 already? Any reviews?

 

[elstupido]

Does anyone here using MSE upgraded it to version 4 already? Any reviews?

I have, but its running along side On Line Armor and Sandboxie, with no conflicts at the moment

 

[NecroticisM666]

Does anyone here using MSE upgraded it to version 4 already? Any reviews?

I have, but its running along side On Line Armor and Sandboxie, with no conflicts at the moment

Upgraded it already. A little bit slow in scanning and I don't like the interface. :huh:

 

[M1GU31]

Does anyone here using MSE upgraded it to version 4 already? Any reviews?

I have, but its running along side On Line Armor and Sandboxie, with no conflicts at the moment

Upgraded it already. A little bit slow in scanning and I don't like the interface. :huh:

Mine scans pretty quick I didn't notice any slow downs at all anyways here you can see i'm on version 4

 

[elstupido]

well, ive decided comodos A/V with D+ is going to be a better bet:shock:. Im still using 7s firewall instead of comodos for better system stability.

 

[djshonrock]

i guess avira is one of the bext antivirus n spyware software...

 

[lehnerus2000]

Be Careful

i guess avira is one of the bext antivirus n spyware software...

They recently released an update that screwed up a lot of Windows installs.
http://www.sevenforums.com/security...rus-update-cripples-millions-windows-pcs.html