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Best protection money can't buy?

#1 User is offline   DnDer 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 12:00 AM

What's the best free stuff? General consensus seems to be that a person should not run more than 1 active anti-malware program at a time (I was chastized when I told someone I was running AVG, Ad-Aware and Spybot as my "suite"), which really means you only need 1 firewall and 1 anti-virus for general purpose innoculation.

Of course, specific removal tools are for specific cases... But for every day use, what's really become the conensus for quality free products? It used to be AVG and ZoneAlarm, but I'm hearing "not so much" anymore?

#2 User is offline   nigglesnush85 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 08:01 AM

Hello,

My setup is Comodo firewall, Avira antivir, and an assortmant of other tools that are not active.
Regards,

Alan.

#3 User is offline   E-Mu 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 08:52 AM

Hi,

I (like Alan) use Comodo Firewall & Avira Antivir on both my Vista PC and XP Laptop as daily protections.
I then have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Spybot, HijackThis, +others available at just a click.

This post has been edited by Emu1616: 19 November 2008 - 08:53 AM

~ E-Mu ~
"Emu, You Moo, We All Moo for Emu!" <-- Thanks to Animal
"If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0"

#4 User is offline   Cloud13 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 01:02 PM

View PostDnDer, on Nov 18 2008, 11:00 PM, said:

What's the best free stuff? General consensus seems to be that a person should not run more than 1 active anti-malware program at a time (I was chastized when I told someone I was running AVG, Ad-Aware and Spybot as my "suite"), which really means you only need 1 firewall and 1 anti-virus for general purpose innoculation.


You should only have one anti-virus running at a time, because otherwise they can conflict with each other.

However, you can have multiple anti-spyware.

I find avast! and MBAM/SAS to be pretty effective for me.

I use the Windows firewall...

>.>

#5 User is online   m0le 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 01:20 PM

I have AVG (in my opinion the best free antivirus) and Spybot and Malwarebytes Antimalware inactive. I use Vista's firewall which seems fine for my surfing needs.

As has been said before, one AV and one Antispyware is right - but unless you update these signatures weekly they lose effectiveness very quickly. Free AVs don't have the autoupdate option so you are really paying for the peace of mind of that.
If I have helped you fix your PC then please donate to the anti-malware cause. Thanks

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#6 User is offline   nigglesnush85 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 01:53 PM

View Postm0le, on Nov 19 2008, 06:20 PM, said:

Free AVs don't have the autoupdate option so you are really paying for the peace of mind of that.


Avira does.
Regards,

Alan.

#7 User is offline   E-Mu 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 01:56 PM

View Postm0le, on Nov 19 2008, 06:20 PM, said:

Free AVs don't have the autoupdate option


My Avira Antivir automatically updates every couple of days, so this really depends on the program you choose.

This is the type of thing to research before downloading free protection programs.
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"If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0"

#8 User is online   m0le 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 01:58 PM

I stand corrected (twice)

I meant to say "tend not to have autoupdates". :thumbsup:
If I have helped you fix your PC then please donate to the anti-malware cause. Thanks

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#9 User is offline   E-Mu 

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Posted 19 November 2008 - 02:02 PM

View Postm0le, on Nov 19 2008, 06:58 PM, said:

I stand corrected (twice)

I meant to say "tend not to have autoupdates". :thumbsup:


Hehehe doubles post lol

No worries tho
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#10 User is offline   DnDer 

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Posted 21 November 2008 - 05:28 PM

View PostEmu1616, on Nov 19 2008, 07:52 AM, said:

Hi,

I (like Alan) use Comodo Firewall & Avira Antivir on both my Vista PC and XP Laptop as daily protections.
I then have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Spybot, HijackThis, +others available at just a click.


Sounds good to me. What kind of options of special configurations am I looking at for Avira and Comodo? I've never actually used those products before.

#11 User is offline   E-Mu 

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Posted 21 November 2008 - 07:01 PM

View PostDnDer, on Nov 21 2008, 10:28 PM, said:

View PostEmu1616, on Nov 19 2008, 07:52 AM, said:

Hi,

I (like Alan) use Comodo Firewall & Avira Antivir on both my Vista PC and XP Laptop as daily protections.
I then have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Spybot, HijackThis, +others available at just a click.


Sounds good to me. What kind of options of special configurations am I looking at for Avira and Comodo? I've never actually used those products before.


Not quite sure what you mean by "What kind of options of special configurations?"

You will be able to install Avira and Comodo and run them as standard with out special configuration.
~ E-Mu ~
"Emu, You Moo, We All Moo for Emu!" <-- Thanks to Animal
"If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0"

#12 User is offline   nigglesnush85 

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Posted 22 November 2008 - 06:07 AM

The tools are quite flexible, but as Emu said the standard or default configuration will be fine. If you have any problems with either tool, give us a shout.
Regards,

Alan.

#13 User is offline   DnDer 

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Posted 24 November 2008 - 10:42 AM

View PostEmu1616, on Nov 21 2008, 06:01 PM, said:

Not quite sure what you mean by "What kind of options of special configurations?"

You will be able to install Avira and Comodo and run them as standard with out special configuration.


In a previous version of AVG, for example, you'd go through the menus to turn on deep scanning, heuristics, scan all files (instead of only infectable ones). Setting up old Ad-Aware was fun, too... Got to muck about with all the processes and cleaning engines for a customized scan. I can give more detail, but I think you get the idea.

Just wondering if these new anti-virals required the same amount of... optimization, for lack of a better word.

#14 User is offline   nigglesnush85 

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Posted 24 November 2008 - 05:08 PM

You can alter the options in these programs, but the default options are suitable for most cases. Experimentation is the key.
Regards,

Alan.

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