Antivirus, antispyware

[Stan Brown]

?"Stan Brown" wrote in message

I fear this will touch off a religious war, so maybe people might
want to email answers rather than posting, and I can post a summary.
Up to you, of course.

My laptop came with a six-month subscription to Webroot, which will
be expiring in a few days. On my XP machine I had Avast and was
quite happy with it, plus occasional scans with Malwarebytes. I
can't see any reason to pay for Webroot when good free alternatives
are available.

Anyone want to share what antimalware software you use, and why you
chose it?

---------------------------

I use ComodoIS internet suite along with Malwarebytes. I find that the
integrated Sandbox, firewall, and antivirus works perfectly together and has
kept many nasties off my PC in the past. I can't believe they give it all
away for free.

Jeff, thanks for responding, but PLEASE quote in the standard way.
Doing it the way you do, it's difficult to impossible to follow who
said what in follow-ups.

 

[Brian Cryer]

Me too. I have three desktop PCs in the house all using AVG free; one on
Win7, two on XP.

Ed

Quote taken from http://www.avg.com/gb-en/free-antivirus (immediatly under
the table):

* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition may only be used on one computer for personal
use.

 

[Stan Brown]

Hmm. They use MSE at work, but I have not riced that it never seems

Sorry, "I have noticed that".

BTW, I went to
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
and clicked the big blue "download now" button. It repainted the
very same page. Probably because I have the temerity *not* to be
running IE with ActiveX.

 

[Brian Cryer]

I don't use any - but then I don't need to - I use Linux.

There are a number of common misconceptions about Linux, one of the popular
ones is that Linux is immune to viruses. Certainly the design is much much
better in that regard than Windows, but whilst it is much less succeptible
it is not immune.

AVG does a free (personal use) edition for Linux, perhaps you should use it.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Quote taken from http://www.avg.com/gb-en/free-antivirus (immediatly
under the table):

* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition may only be used on one computer for
personal use.

Ah! I've never seen that before. And I've been using it threefold for
ages without any trouble.

I can't figure how they could police it, apart from keeping some vast
database for all new downloaders to fill in before getting it. But the
vast majority are probably old users.

Do you think maybe I should uninstall on two and use something else?

Ed

 

[Rob]

But not all. In fact you could be infected and you don't even know
it. Linux doesn't have that problem.

But linux is a PITA for non-geek users, unless they only want very
simple
applications, such as web browsers and word processors. Using it to
try
and run more complex applications which "just work" under Windows 7,
by using Wine etc, usually needs end-users to climb a steep learning
curve and
start typing lines of incomprehensible-to-them gobbledegook into linux
command
windows.
When mainstream software houses start selling mainstream applications
in
linux-ready formats, things may change. Until then, your linux
advocacy is just
wasting bandwidth (especially on a Windows 7 forum.)

 

[Brian Cryer]

Ah! I've never seen that before. And I've been using it threefold for ages
without any trouble.

I can't figure how they could police it, apart from keeping some vast
database for all new downloaders to fill in before getting it. But the
vast majority are probably old users.

They can't police it, at least not reliably.

Do you think maybe I should uninstall on two and use something else?

Personally I would, but its down to whether or not your conscience bothers
you on it. This is why I use comodo (no restrictions), but perhaps I would
be better off using avast (similar restrictions I think) on one pc.

 

[Alex K.]

Hmm. They use MSE at work, but I have not riced that it never seems
quite sure whether it's working or not. Sometimes the icon changes to
red or blue or brown for no apparent reason. It will tell me it
needs to update, and I'll update it, and the icon is *still* red.

(And to be honest, I have kind of a knee-jerk suspicion of anything
Microsoft, because so much of it comes with Windows Genuine
Disadvantage or whatever they're calling it now. I have a legal Win
7 system, but I've heard too many horror stories of Windows suddenly
deciding it's not legitimate.)

Also on the Web I've read a number of people claiming MSE is a
resource pig, though based on what you say they may not be correct.

From the MS Web site it looks like MSE is supposed to be an all-in-
one solution for viruses and spyware. Do you agree, or do you use an
additional program for one of those?

I don't use any additional products for malware/spyware/virus
prevention. But most of my Windows machines are either gaming machines,
or "dicking" around machines. I tend not to randomly "web drift" on
them and I don't end up clicking on every ad I see...Unlike 90% of my
users @work.

I generally prefer Macintoshes (my primary computers are an iMac and
MacBook Pro as well as a Mac Pro @ work), but I bear no ill will toward
Microsoft (as many do). My experience has been that they oft make
second rate software with draconian policies that through sheer cash
marketing manages significant market share.

That said I've not noticed MsMpEng.exe eating any more than 70MB of RAM
and the only time it climbs above 0% CPU is if a scan is manually
kicked off. I should be so lucky if Trend Micro at work would take cue
from that. I have heard the anecdotes about it pegging CPU but I've
never ran into it.

I will say on XP it seems like it doesn't like to auto update vs. my Win 7 box.

I've interpreted their description as it should deal with traditional
virus software and modern "malware" though it seems to me the lines
between the two have blurred over the years and most AV providers have
gotten into the "malware" space with the "malware" software providers
delving more into rootkits and other types of malicious software in
addition to their traditional ad type malware infections. I don't use
anything additional, but as I said I don't tend to interact with the
web like a typical home user so I find I have little fear of infection.

 

[Brian Cryer]

Not a misconception but the truth.

Sorry, but it is a misconception. Linux's security model means its mostly
true, but not 100%.
You might like to read this as a starter:
http://www.neowin.net/news/a-history-of-viruses-on-linux

What is certainly true is that the security model of Linux is so much better
than with Windows that you can feasibly list all the Linux viruses and
variants, which would be somewhat difficult for Windows!

 

[ray]

There are a number of common misconceptions about Linux, one of the
popular ones is that Linux is immune to viruses. Certainly the design is
much much better in that regard than Windows, but whilst it is much less
succeptible it is not immune.

AVG does a free (personal use) edition for Linux, perhaps you should use
it.

If I thought there was any perceptable danger, I would. Yes, it is
theoretically possible to distribute a virus to attack Linux computers -
I've yet to see one.

 

[Char Jackson]

Quote taken from http://www.avg.com/gb-en/free-antivirus (immediatly under
the table):

* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition may only be used on one computer for personal
use.

I wonder if they go into detail anywhere else on the site. Do they
mean one computer per household, one computer per person, or something
completely different. There is very little context provided in that
single statement.

I don't expect any of my customers to make any changes based on this
new information, but I'll pass it on and leave it up to them.
Personally, if I were running AVG on multiple computers in the house,
I would ignore the restriction, but that's just me.

 

[Alex Kinnear]

Hmm. They use MSE at work, but I have not riced that it never seems
quite sure whether it's working or not. Sometimes the icon changes to
red or blue or brown for no apparent reason. It will tell me it
needs to update, and I'll update it, and the icon is *still* red.

(And to be honest, I have kind of a knee-jerk suspicion of anything
Microsoft, because so much of it comes with Windows Genuine
Disadvantage or whatever they're calling it now. I have a legal Win
7 system, but I've heard too many horror stories of Windows suddenly
deciding it's not legitimate.)

Not that I recommend this to anyone else, but I removed WGA from my XP
machines quite a few years ago just to avoid the situation you
described. It happened to me once, and that was enough. So when I
installed Win 7 on one machine earlier this year, I did the same
thing. It's called WAT now, but it's just as easy to remove. Before
anyone asks, no, there is no loss of functionality. Windows Update and
everything else I've tried all work perfectly.

 

[XS11E]

From the MS Web site it looks like MSE is supposed to be an
all-in- one solution for viruses and spyware. Do you agree, or do
you use an additional program for one of those?

I also use MalwareBytes, I don't think I need it but it's a habit and
an unbreakable one like grabbing the last donut even if I'm not
hungry....

 

[Dick Mahar]

I tend to use a combination of AVG and Comodo - not on the same machine
though! The reason for using Comodo is simply that I can use it on more
than one PC whereas AVG is only free for one PC (for personal use).

I know Avast is a popular choice. I didn't get on with it when I tried it
a number of years ago, but I'm sure its improved and when these sorts of
discussions come up it does seem to be the more popular choice.

I do agree that with free anti-virus software out there that its not worth
paying for your anti-virus. (The exception is if its not for home/personal
use, which is the condition under which most free anti-virus is made
available.) In any event be sure to remove and install something else
before your current subscription expires.

My vote goes to Spyware Doctor, from PC Tools. It ain't free but it works
well and is update very often, and is easy to use.

 

[XS11E]

My vote goes to Spyware Doctor, from PC Tools. It ain't free
but it works well and is update very often, and is easy to use.

It's outperformed by some of the free ones.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/detection-test

There's really little reason to pay for an AV unless you're a business
as the free versions of almost all of them use the same engine,
definitions and updates as the paid version. What the paid version
gains you is bells and whistles which may or may not be worth the cost
to you.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I also use MalwareBytes, I don't think I need it but it's a habit and
an unbreakable one like grabbing the last donut even if I'm not
hungry....

So it was *you*!

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

He has no choice. He's using the new version of Microsoft's Windows Live
Mail.

He has a choice. Other SW.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

There aren't any viruses actively in the wild. All the ones you listed
have had patches that make them ineffective. Unlike Windows, Linux
patches security vulnerabilities much quicker. Also, if you stick to the
repositories and don't download crap from some web site on the Internet,
there is NO possibility of being compromised unless you physically hand
your computer over to a hacker (or someone who knows how to bypass your
password).


You'd need a lot of web pages.

Actually, it could be done on one web page...if it's long enough.

 

[JKConey]

Do you think maybe I should uninstall on two and use something else?

Ed

I've been using it on 25 workstations for 3 years. Sorry if I'm breaking
a law?

 

[Roy Smith]

He has a choice. Other SW.

Or manually fixing what Windows Live Mail screwed up...


--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Professional
Postbox 2.1.0
Saturday, December 11, 2010 6:58:22 AM