Jump to content

What Anti-Virus do you use


rridgely

What AV do you use?  

304 members have voted

  1. 1. What AV do you use?

    • Antivir
      42
    • Avast
      75
    • BitDefender
      8
    • ClamWin
      1
    • eTrust
      0
    • F-Prot
      0
    • F-Secure
      1
    • AVG/Grisoft
      15
    • Kaspersky
      22
    • McAfee
      9
    • Nod32
      27
    • Norton
      22
    • Panda
      4
    • TrendMicro
      3
    • Microsoft Security Essentials
      29
    • Other
      32
    • None
      20


Recommended Posts

  • Moderators

Windows Defender on Win 10 is very strong, they have made it a good peice of software now and of course.. no 3rd party conflicts :)

 

MBAM is a good on demand scanner.

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

CC is excellent, one of the better ones around purely due to it allowing the user full control over its settings and the way it can be customised with what areas of cleaning you want to include yourself.

MBAM, in my opinion, borders on essential.  Luckily I got my license when they were still for life, but even per year, the cost is well worth it.

Making MBAM go from reactive(free version) to proactive(Pro version) is a no-brainer for me.

 

And if you are interested in a multi-layer security approach, also look at extensions for your browsers; things like Ghostery, Disconnect, AdBlock Plus, just to name some common ones.

Then there's things to consider like ramping up your HOSTS file 'protection' with MVPS's file, found here; http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Backup now & backup often.
It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.
Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators
None, common sense.

Horrible idea, even valid websites have drive-bys attached, No sandbox is perfect and tons of advertising networks have been compromised.

 

Most people who say "none" either haven't been bit yet or, more likely, are horribly wrong about their inflection status

 

ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION

DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF.

Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark)

ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T.

Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US

Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

None, common sense.

 

You state you have programminng skills and are involved in other forums which help people with malware problems.

 

It requires skill and know how to run without an av as you know.

 

To make a post which more or less states you just need common sense not an av, where it will be read by 'ordinary' folk is reckless in the extreme,

 

You should have thought before you posted.

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

None, common sense.

 

I occasionally come across people who never use an anti-virus program because they have never had a virus because they never use an anti-virus program that would tell them that.

 

People who do use AV software should treat getting an infection as When not If.

To completely expose yourself to the When is on par to wearing peril-sensitive sunglasses(thank you Douglas Adams); just because you don't see the danger doesn't make it any less real.

 

The average PC user would have no idea how to surf the web without the protection of a good AV program.

All forms of malware evolves, so even experts could not proactively protect themselves against attack vectors they have no idea, or warning, of.

Backup now & backup often.
It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.
Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

You occasional come across people like me? Has my comment made you think little of me? malware evolves yes, what do you think AV software databases are made up from. Contradicting....

 

I do not suggested to the normal user not to run an AV. You mentioned MBAM. I work with them and pacs portal who MBAM have brought from us http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php which was created by my frind paul collins who is a family friend that got me into malware.
 

I know what i am doing.

No fate but what we make

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

dude (adjusts baseball cap), don't take things so literally. :)

nothing was aimed at you, although I can now add you to the small bunch of people I know who don't use an AV program - that's all.

 

the post was aimed at the community with the intent on alerting others that unless they too know what they are doing, having an internet connected PC without security is foolish.

(and No, I'm not calling you a fool)

Backup now & backup often.
It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.
Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Common sense will not keep you from harm.  

 

More than once I have picked up malware from sites which should have been harmless.  

If Kaspersky, Avast!, Avira, AVG, etc., can be hacked, suggesting that anyone doesn't need an AV is irresponsible.

I know that is probably not what ident meant, but that post might just prompt someone to try it.  

 

Also, a different spin on the issue. . . . 

 

I want to be able to connect to any darned website I run across, even knowing that some might have bad consequences.  

Don't want to have to tippy-toe around, wondering what lurks behind that web page, and maybe get hammered anyway.  

 

So, I run in a virtual environment, using Powershadow, AND run an AV, Avast!, with MBAM available for manual scans AND with SpywareBlaster running in the background.  All that stuff runs Sandboxed.  

 

So, if Avast! or MBAM pops a warning, or if old HAL The Haunted here locks up, at worst I would just have to restart the computer and all would be well (so far, anyway  :P ).  

 

In the near future it will be necessary to use an imaging program to replace Powershadow, since it won't work after xp. If I read everything right, Macrium can be used for much the same purpose.  

 

In any case, a good backup imaging program is an essential part of a security setup.  

The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-)

Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Common sense will not keep you from harm.

 

That's an analogy that can fit in anywhere, such as when driving a car I use common sense and obey traffic laws in an attempt to keep myself safe and others using the roads -- but it doesn't mean others on the road are using common sense such as people illegally on their cell phones, texting, putting on makeup (to look good for the morgue I suppose when they crash and die), speeding, cutting people off, etc.

 

if old HAL The Haunted here locks up

 

Only time I've had lockups online is from some malformed Javascript I'm thinking on some sites that if the error is bad enough can cause a BSOD. Years ago ZDNet used to cause it all the time, so for years they've been blocked via my HOSTS file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

So, I run in a virtual environment, using Powershadow, AND run an AV, Avast!, with MBAM available for manual scans AND with SpywareBlaster running in the background. All that stuff runs Sandboxed.

Even those precautions can be circumvented

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_escape

 

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/05/extremely-serious-virtual-machine-bug-threatens-cloud-providers-everywhere/

 

 

 

Also, our issue was not with you personally not using antivirus, was more the "matter of fact"ness of your initial post. Recall that, previous to your long post describing why you don't, you left the public forum with a post the points toward it being safe to run without AV; whether you meant to or not, you did advise others to also go without protection. If a newbie traveled to this thread to see what "nerds" like us (members with many posts) use as an AV they'd be present with the opinion (in that one particular post) that its safe to do this (they had none of the information that you provided in later posts, nor did we).

 

ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION

DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF.

Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark)

ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T.

Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US

Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had at least 2 involuntary restarts which I firmly believe were attempts by malware to install itself.  

Both from sites which should have been harmless.  Oddly, never have had a problem with sites which should be a bit dodgy.  

if old HAL The Haunted here locks up, at worst I would just have to restart

An explanation is in order, since xp and Powershadow are now ancient history in the world of computers.  

Powershadow somehow runs your actual OS in a "shadowed" mode that is indistinguishable from "normal" operation.  

When you restart, any changes to a shadowed volume (partition) are gone.  Any changes; I have really checked that out.  

I think the OS runs on an unused portion of the HDD, but cannot for the life of me find any evidence to support that.  

 

If I got a malware of some sort, it might indeed begin its dirty work immediately.  But it would not survive a restart.  

That's why the AV softwares are installed, to detect that if it happens.  If something pops a warning, just restart the computer.  

 

Further, there are several "light virtualization" softwares which do much the same thing on newer OSs.  The only one I have tried is Returnil, popularized here by DennisD, and it works very well.  The others I won't name, haven't tried them.  Other members have tried them, I think.  

 

I don't think this approach would help with newer malwares which change the really low levels of the bootup code, but that doesn't apply on this xp setup.  

 

I have sort of rattled on about this, but for sure a backup regimen must be part of a security procedure, and imho a light virtualization software should be also.  

The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-)

Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I realize that many members of this forum (perhaps even most) use free versions of antivirus programs.  For reasons that I will explain in a near future post, I would like your expert opinions on what paid Internet Security programs you use (if you use one) or if you don't currently use a paid version, what you would buy if need be?

 

Forgive me if this info has already been posted somewhere on this forum.

 

As always, I really appreciate your time and efforts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

I switched to Norton's Internet Security (from AVG Internet Security) about 18months ago and have no regrets.

I went to AVG due to it's price and when I found I could get NIS for $AUD13 for the OEM version, it was a no-brainer.

Although I also used AVG Free in the past, when you can get an all-in-one, industry leader, software so cheaply, why wouldn't you?

Backup now & backup often.
It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.
Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

razz the last paid one I used was Norton Antivirus back in early 2000, it worked good until the freeware variety were worth switching to.

 

Currently using Avira Free Antivirus, so if I were to buy one it would be Avira Antivirus based solely upon my experience after using the free version - that is if they nuked the free version and went commercial/pay only:

* Light on resources.

* Constantly gets new incremental definition file updates, and the updates are small.

* Fast scanning speed - Takes about 35 minutes or less to scan my whole system (they seem to have it really optimized to scan so fast even on old WinXP systems).

 

 

 

I found I could get NIS for $AUD13 for the OEM version, it was a no-brainer.

 

I've seen it dirt cheap before on Amazon.com. Back in 2000 I bought Norton Antivirus for under $20 U.S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. . . I would like your expert opinions on what paid Internet Security programs you use (if you use one) or if you don't currently use a paid version, what you would buy if need be? . . .

 

 

Certainly no expert here, but over the years I have worked out a security system that works OK.  

 

Right now on win xp and win 7 using  Avast free, MBAM paid, SpywareBlaster, Outpost firewall free, Macrium imaging software, and Powershadow (xp only).  

 

EDIT:  forgot Sandboxie.  

 

The ability to reset the entire system, including whatever boot mechanism it uses, is essential, imho, in case something gets past all the other protections. 

 

When I have to buy one, it will probably be Norton or Avast.  Norton seems to have gotten better and lighter in the last few years.  Cost would be a big factor.  

The CCleaner SLIM version is always released a bit after any new version; when it is it will be HERE :-)

Pssssst: ... It isn't really a cloud. Its a bunch of big, giant servers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...
  • Moderators

Could be because AVG has bought them out, so i'd expect that piece of software to go the same way as AVG with all the extra annoying offerings.

Backup now & backup often.
It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.
Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

I've been an Avast Free user since 2006, and I've never had or felt the need to update the Avast Program itself for many years.

 

Separate from the Program update, Avast has an "Engine and Virus Definitions" update which is all I've ever needed, along with other layers of security, to keep a clean computer. And this is with an operating system not supported by microsoft since 2014.

 

1dc787c72e00.jpg

 

You can see how old my Avast Program is in the screenshot, but the Engine and Virus Definitions are always up to date. I've never wanted or needed the various extras which have been added over the years.

 

Please note, as usual, this is not a recommendation, just an observation that you don't always need all the "new and amazing" bells and whistles that can come with any updated software.

 

A large dollop of common sense also works wonders with security.

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.