yoba333 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) I don't really like Mcafee that much, which is what I have. I feel like its not detecting viruses very well, and since I'm getting a new laptop I need to buy a new antivirus program. So what do you guys think is the best in terms of protection, ease of access, etc. I also wouldn't a mind a combination of more than one, if they aren't ridiculously priced. Edited April 12, 2011 by yoba333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilneko Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 You're gonna get as many answers as there are antivirus vendors. Take a look at http://www.av-comparatives.org/ My advice is to simply try some. Most if not all have fully-functional 30-day trial versions. Decide for yourself. Or you can leave behind the outmoded anti-virus paradigm and go with something much more effective: executable whitelisting. Faronics Anti-Execute, the paid-versions of Returnil, Blue Ridge AppGuard, and the old DiamondCS ProcessGuard feature this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoba333 Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thanks for that, I'll probably end up getting one of the executable whitelisting programs. I need to do a bit more research on them, however.I'll probably pair it with a free antivirus program, so I can scan downloads and search my computer for tracking cookies and all that good stuff. Thanks very much, kudos to you, evilneko! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWarrior45 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) It's always good to have a good anti-virus. The only computers that I've owned that have had bad infections were those Windows machines without antivirus. However, I strongly recommend against paying for an antivirus, and would strongly recommend ditching Mcafee. The IT department at which I work at uses Mcafee Enterprise on about 3,000 computers along with Mcafee's unified threat management server; all of which is outperformed by the free Microsoft Security Essentials (no joke). The only advantage we gain with Mcafee is the commercial support, of which is almost nonexistent. If you want an anti-virus, I would recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. I've had extremely good luck with it. Mcafee will need to be uninstalled prior to installing another anti-virus, or else you'll hose up your computer. You will need a scrubber that will pull Mcafee out by the roots, as its uninstaller leaves part of it behind. I also very strongly recommend using a router that has a firewall in conjunction with whatever security solution you end up with. Cisco, Lynksis, and Netgear routers all have this. Word of caution though. No single security solution, anti-virus, white-lists, etc, will completely protect your computer and you from viruses, keyloggers, rootkits, and pirates. Part of it is being self aware of where you're at on the web, and also aware of what you're downloading. Safe surfing habits and a good head on your shoulders will always outperform security software, no matter how good it is. PS: Windows 7 Enterprise, if you by some off chance have this edition, has its own whitelisting software built into the OS. The software is called Applocker, and can both blacklist and whitelist applications. Edited April 13, 2011 by DarkWarrior45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecna6667 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) I use the free edition of Avira Anti-virus, combined with Threatfire(runs parallel with Avira) and occasionally Windows Defender(Win7 Ultimate has this built in, but I don't have it run automatically as the other two get the job done.) This trio is complemented with Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware, Super Anti-Spyware and Spybot Search & Destroy. I have heard good things about Microsoft Security Esentials as well. Edited April 13, 2011 by Vecna6667 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbringe Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Months ago went through a process of trying out various anti virus and no matter what I tried or how I configured my set up something always got through.Then took a suggestion that I use MSE , just use windows native firewall (and firewall on router if it has one) and for browser use Firefox with NoScript because it uses a whitelist approach instead of a blacklist approach and without any specific anti malware or anti spyware programs running I have not had one single problem in months.When a page loads with NoScript you can see the scripts that they are trying to load and if it looks at all shady I go elsewhere and don't get myself into trouble in the first place.Also as a side bonus my computer is running noticeably faster as I have less programs running in the background using up resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwaxalot Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Months ago went through a process of trying out various anti virus and no matter what I tried or how I configured my set up something always got through.Then took a suggestion that I use MSE , just use windows native firewall (and firewall on router if it has one) and for browser use Firefox with NoScript because it uses a whitelist approach instead of a blacklist approach and without any specific anti malware or anti spyware programs running I have not had one single problem in months.When a page loads with NoScript you can see the scripts that they are trying to load and if it looks at all shady I go elsewhere and don't get myself into trouble in the first place.Also as a side bonus my computer is running noticeably faster as I have less programs running in the background using up resources. I quite agree with this ^^^^ MSE seems as good as anything out there. Not obtrusive, and free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csgators Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) As others have mentioned, the Microsoft Security Essentials is quite good. I also like to have malwarebytes installed to run a scan with every few weeks. Edited April 13, 2011 by csgators Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RZ1029 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) AVG has a pretty nice free version that I like to use. You can find it at free.avg.com, but I believe CNET also has a review/download of it too, if you prefer a well-vetted source in the software community. The free version actually has more features than they make it sound like, including a pretty cool thing called LinkScanner. You mouse over a link on say, Google search results, it'll tell you whether it's a trusted or untrusted site, whether it's a known source of cracked software or other such things that could get you into trouble, software-wise or legally. EDIT: Also, MalwareBytes for if/when FUBAR is achieved, because no program is flawless. Edited April 13, 2011 by RZ1029 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoba333 Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) Okay, thank you to everyone who answered. I have a few more questions. -Do I need the paid version of MalwareBytes to have the system restore feature?-What is the most secure browser? I use Chrome but I know a lot of people like Firefox, I don't want to go back to IE, however. It was too slow.-Would MSE + Faronics Anti-Execute + MalwareBytes be way too much protection and would they not cooperate with each other?-Am I being too paranoid :blink:? Edited April 13, 2011 by yoba333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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