Paid Vs Free Anti-Virus Software

[Grayfox]

Or are you really watching your process manager all the time and are sure that all of those are really what they tell you they are? Because no virus or worm was ever named the same as a legitimate process.

True a virus can call it self svchost.exe, but since I have set Task Manager to display the location of all running processes, if a "windows" process is running in %userprofile%\appdata\roaming or %userprofile%\appdata\local\ you can be sure it is not real.

I agree in general that Windows Defender isn't great, but it's better than nothing. And for the effort and price, one might as well install one of the several reputable free anti-virus and anti-malware programs. Because even if you're the cleanest user in the world, if you have a PC connected to a network you're at risk.

And you can still get infected even with an anti virus, so why not just get Tails OS(a very secure linux distro) and stay offline?

Telling people that they should turn off Windows Defender and not bother to install AV is borderline trolling. It's an extreme version of telling people that Alt+F4 gets you cheat codes. I'm really not sure that advice that could actively damage the hardware of people is a fair go; this isn't your opinion, this is straight up misinformation.

One should disable the windefender service regardless, this way you wont get those annoying updates to update definitions every few days.
And If you want an Anti Virus go for it, less resources for the anti virus to compete with and a faster boot up time as well.

And how can telling people to disable software damage hardware?

Windows Defender did not stop let alone detect wannacry, so if a hardware damaging malware was released windows defender will not stop it or detect it for a few weeks and even then the malware would just disable the windefender service with ease as it is not a protected service.

And so you know I went from Kaspersky to Microsoft Security Essentials to nothing as I felt confident that my browsing habits and updating regime as more than ample.

 

[Imari]

True a virus can call it self svchost.exe, but since I have set Task Manager to display the location of all running processes, if a "windows" process is running in %userprofile%\appdata\roaming or %userprofile%\appdata\local\ you can be sure it is not real.

So you're really claiming that you have Task Manager running all the time and that you know the true location of all legitimate Windows processes. Huh.

And you can still get infected even with an anti virus, so why not just get Tails OS(a very secure linux distro) and stay offline?

Because it's less fun?

Come on, man. You're on a gaming site. You know the answer to that question.

And so you know I went from Kaspersky to Microsoft Security Essentials to nothing as I felt confident that my browsing habits and updating regime as more than ample.

And so actually, you wouldn't recommend other people who were less confident in their browsing habits, were less informed or had legitimate reasons to be using areas of the internet that could be less safe, that they should run without Defender or an AV solution?

Because none of these caveats were in your previous posts. It almost sounds like you're recommending that people have some protection unless they're as sure about their usage as you are.

Also: Microsoft Security Essentials and you're mocking Windows Defender? Now you're really trolling. Defender replaced what MSE had become.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

In the end it's a lot about preferences too. I know someone who tests and sells av software and he says Defender is ok, actually pretty good and Kaspersky is "the best". Now, after my experience with it Kaspersky is "the worst", but Defender really works well, so he was right about 1 thing, but not the other.


But no av at all is really super irresponsible, and those people are probably all part of a couple of botnets without even knowing it...

Never had a good time with Norton or Kaspersky either so I'm surprised when I see other vouch for them, especially something as expensive as Kaspersky.

 

[G.T.Ace]

- Don't rely on Windows Defender, seriously don't.
- Read test results from renowned websites.
- Never ever use McAfee or Norton.
- Let your AV program run in the background, but have something like Anti Malwarebytes' installed and up-to-date.
- Browse clever, don't open any suspicious links or E-Mails and use things like NoScript and ad blockers to avoid drive-by infections.
- Keep all your software up-to-date.
- Don't listen to people who don't protect their PC.

 

[Grayfox]

So you're really claiming that you have Task Manager running all the time and that you know the true location of all legitimate Windows processes. Huh.


And so actually, you wouldn't recommend other people who were less confident in their browsing habits, were less informed or had legitimate reasons to be using areas of the internet that could be less safe, that they should run without Defender or an AV solution?

Because none of these caveats were in your previous posts. It almost sounds like you're recommending that people have some protection unless they're as sure about their usage as you are.

Also: Microsoft Security Essentials and you're mocking Windows Defender? Now you're really trolling. Defender replaced what MSE had become.

I have added task manager as a start up application and it starts minimized so I dont even notice it when it starts up
I have avast on my HTPC which is used by my nephews to play minecraft and I never said "Dont use an anti virus but I dont use an anti virus

Windows Defender does not scan viruses on WIn7 where as MSE does.
And MSE is still downloadable and supported.
Yes defender got virus definitions starting at windows 8 as I mentioned in a previous post, but since I intend to run windows 7 for a while defender doesnt have virus detecting support on it which is why I used MSE at one point.


Stating that windows needs an anti virus is kinda like saying Linux is only for Servers

And I have posted how I keep my self virus free a while back(see post 11), but most of it involves safe browsing habits.

But I will post what I normally do.

Keep Windows updated.
Keep Flash updated.
Keep Java updated.
I do not run IE, but use firefox.
Set Flash as Click to activate.
Set Java as Click to Activate.
Keep other software upto date
Keep my router firmware up to date.
I have disabled Autorun in windows, so no autorun.ini file will ever effect my system.
I do not torrent unless it is from legal sites, which offer a torrent download for the product(Gimp, Linux distros, ect).
I dont click on random links even on forums as they can easily be spoofed with the enhanced URL code tags(<url=www.philshingsite.com>Google</url>(I used < > instead of [ ])).
If I want to use that link I see what the URL is by looking at the bottom left of the browser as it will tell you.
I have a pop up blocker as this is one of the many ways malware gets into the PC.
If I get an email from my bank, paypal, ect I dont open the link to it in the email, I go to my browser and use the bookmark.
I check my of my emails using my android phone, when I do use my PC I dont go opening up the attachments, and I have pictures disabled on emails.
I monitor processes that run on my PC and with enough time even you can tell a genuine process from a fake as fake ones dont normally run in the temp directory in some random hexadecimal folder.
I use my linux laptop to plug in random USB drives and use the VM in linux to run what ever is on it, if the VM gets infect, meh I have a backup of it so if it does end up being a virus it will take a minute to restore the VDI backup.
I plug in my USB drives that were in unknown machines without pluging it into linux or my android phone.

 

[G.T.Ace]

You do realize that this is rather impractical for any average user right?
I mean, why go through all the hassle? Just run a Linux distro and only use Windows when you want to game.
It's nearly impossible to catch something on a Linux system, unless you kinda force it too.

 

[Grayfox]

You do realize that this is rather impractical for any average user right?
I mean, why go through all the hassle? Just run a Linux distro and only use Windows when you want to game.
It's nearly impossible to catch something on a Linux system, unless you kinda force it too.

I would recommend an anti virus for the average user, as they're not that knowledgeable with computers and how to spot something suspicious.
As I mentioned I have an anti virus on the HTPC which my nephews use.
But for me the things I mentioned have become some what second nature and the updating part and settings part is done right after install of the OS.
In 4 years time I might end up getting an anti virus as I dont see my self going to windows 10 even after 2020.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

It's 2017, and I'm still on XP and might still be in 2020 How times have changed-looking back when I learn/build my 1st i386 DX PC.

 

[Grayfox]

It's 2017, and I'm still on XP and might still be in 2020 How times have changed-looking back when I learn/build my 1st i386 DX PC.

I still use XP as the VAGCOM device I plug into my subaru has drivers for XP only.
That XP is on a VM which never goes on the internet.

Nothing really wrong with XP a part from it not being supported and the few minor annoyances that were there since XP Gold

 

[Stephan]

I've been using Avira for many years now and still I haven't tried using the paid version since the free version has everything I need to protect my computer from viruses.

 

[Robin]

I installed F-Secure, working OK as far as I can tell. Pretty lightweight only using 130 MB at idle. It blocks suspicious webpages, a function Defender doesn't have, so I guess that's a bonus.

 

[H20HYBRID_GT]

Heh, I'm having the opposite problem right now. Just installed Mcafee Livesafe (again) and it installed a "Web advisor" thing, too, which seems to be a separate app. Going to try to deinstall that when it's done scanning, which appearantly takes forever, I don't recall it being that slow last time I had it installed, and I don't really have a lot of stuff installed (about 100GB).


And what is "Mcafee Chromium container delegate"? It takes up quite a few resources, too, don't remember having ever seen that before either...

Also 100% disc usage doesn't strike me as normal even while scanning?

That could just be Windows preparing my system for the total awesomeness that is the Creators update again ...
(although I set my connection to "metered")


EDIT: Ok, I deinstalled this Web advisor thing. It seems unnecessary and a little bit over the top.

And I restarted my laptop, system memory usage is basically the same like it was with defender, under 30%... (of 8GB)

Disc usage is back to ~1% and cpu time, too.


Haven't tested to play a game yet, that'll be the ultimate test I suppose and I still don't know what "Chromium container" does or if it's even still there, I suspect it was a process used for the "Web advisor" app.


Glad to hear this f-secure thing works for you (Mcafee sure as heck uses more than 130MB, more like 200 I would guess).

 

[BobK]

I came across a product I would not recommend -- Reimage Repair. I came across it in a Yahoo News "article". The writeup clearly indicates it's for Windows even though a blurb at the top assured me I needed it on my Linux box as well. So I figured what the heck, and downloaded it. I then installed it on a Windows machine and ran it. Predictably it reported a number of issues with the system and offered to fix them, but of course I would have to purchase a license first. Now here's the thing -- the machine in question was a pristine, clean install of Windows 7 that was only a couple minutes old when I ran this thing.