Best Antivirus/Antimalware Questions

[Ultimate Predator]

Hi people,

 

Its once again been quite a while since I've last bene here, I've been using lubuntu for so long that I've forgotten a lot of what is the best sofware for windows security.

 

I'm fixing up my girlfriend's laptop at the moment (Windows 7). Her norton ran out, and wa slooking on here to find out what the best (free) antivirus is. I was expecting to see avast - but under the anti-malware toolkit form lunarsoft, it gives the options for avast or avira. And reading topics relating to anti-virus software, Tarun mentions Microsoft Security Essentials, and I've heard some people complain that avast isn't particularly good anymore?

 

I've put on Microsoft Security Essentials for now, but would like to hear if I should install something else.

 

Also noticed that under the AntiMalware Toolkit the afore mentioned Microsoft Security Essentials isn't added, and nor is Spybot; seach and destroy.

 

How come? What is the bets anti-spyware sofware to use?

 

Currently my girlfriends laptop just has Microsoft Security Essentials and Spyware Blaster for now. Would like to hear your thoughts on what else could be needed.

 

Many thanks, and I'll try and do a hijackthis log soon (assumign it works for windows 7).

 

 

[Ultimate Predator]

Also, please let me know if I should be changing some of the antivirus/antimalware programs on my parents XP pc - they have avast also.

[Tarun]

Microsoft Security Essentials is listed in the Anti-Malware Toolkit. The download URL may be broken, however. I just updated it with the newest url and tested it. Working now.

 

So for anti-virus, MSE and for anti-malware go for Malwarebytes.

 

Spybot got removed as it's lagging behind and is no longer practical/useful anymore. Many elements with it have become very dated and even the UI seems to be quite dated, too.

[greenknight]

"Best" can mean different things. MSE is best at protecting computers without troubling the users at all, which makes it the best AV for a lot of people. I have friends whose computer I disinfected; installed Avast on it for them. A year later, I found they were still using the same version, though Avast had released several program updates. For them, MSE would be a better choice.

 

I think that if you've got Avast and you don't have a problem installing program updates, or any other problems with it, no reason to change. Going by AV Comparatives, both Avast and Avira have slightly higher detection rates than MSE. MSE has the lowest rate of false positives, though. Any one of those would be a good choice.

 

That's my two cents, anyway. Malwarebytes I totally agree about. I also run SuperAntiSpyware Free, but I'm a freak.

[Ultimate Predator]

Microsoft Security Essentials is listed in the Anti-Malware Toolkit. The download URL may be broken, however. I just updated it with the newest url and tested it. Working now.

 

So for anti-virus, MSE and for anti-malware go for Malwarebytes.

 

Spybot got removed as it's lagging behind and is no longer practical/useful anymore. Many elements with it have become very dated and even the UI seems to be quite dated, too.

 

Oh yes, I see it now. I have it installed. May I ask, what makes it better than avast (I personally have noticed some speed differences - and I like how there is no need to subscribe to it, unlike avast).

 

Also, how come avira and avast are still listed on the Anti-Malware Toolkit?

 

I have Malwarebytes, is it still worth having SpywareBlaster and SUPERAntiSpyware? If so, I assume its best to turn off the real-time protection, but keep them around as on-demand scanners?

 

Fair enough with Spybot.

 

Whats the situation with firewalls? I see Comodo is no longer recommended? Was that because it was so bloated?

I currently just have the windows firewalls running (both for XP and 7), is that enough, or should I go for Outpost (which is the only firewall I can see int he Anti-Malware Toolkit)?

 

Thank you people for your help!

 

 

"Best" can mean different things. MSE is best at protecting computers without troubling the users at all, which makes it the best AV for a lot of people. I have friends whose computer I disinfected; installed Avast on it for them. A year later, I found they were still using the same version, though Avast had released several program updates. For them, MSE would be a better choice.

 

I think that if you've got Avast and you don't have a problem installing program updates, or any other problems with it, no reason to change. Going by AV Comparatives, both Avast and Avira have slightly higher detection rates than MSE. MSE has the lowest rate of false positives, though. Any one of those would be a good choice.

 

That's my two cents, anyway. Malwarebytes I totally agree about. I also run SuperAntiSpyware Free, but I'm a freak.

 

Thank you, I have Superantispyware, and you remind me - I had some real problems with avast in the past with false positives. Hopefully MSE will be ok!

[Tarun]

I think greenknight did a great job covering the key points, honestly.

 

Avast and avira are there as free choices/alternatives.

 

Malwarebytes: I'd go for their real time protection over Spywareblaster/SAS.

 

Firewalls: Comodo was caught numerous times giving SSL certificates to known malware distributors. When caught and confronted on their forums, they deleted the posts and tried to hide it. They had also allowed some known malware through their firewall as "trusted". Outpost Pro is a great firewall imo. Haven't tried their free product in years though.

[Ultimate Predator]

I think greenknight did a great job covering the key points, honestly.

 

Avast and avira are there as free choices/alternatives.

 

Malwarebytes: I'd go for their real time protection over Spywareblaster/SAS.

 

Firewalls: Comodo was caught numerous times giving SSL certificates to known malware distributors. When caught and confronted on their forums, they deleted the posts and tried to hide it. They had also allowed some known malware through their firewall as "trusted". Outpost Pro is a great firewall imo. Haven't tried their free product in years though.

 

Thank you for the reply, I getcha!

[greenknight]

SpywareBlaster doesn't actually have realtime protection, it just blocks websites on its blacklist by applying browser settings. Probably redundant these days; your browser will probably block those sites, as well as your AV. Doesn't tie up resources, since you close it after it's applied its protection; but it's one more thing that needs to be kept updated.

 

The Win 7/Vista firewall is actually quite effective. It lacks an easy way to control it, though, and its default settings are a bit lax. On my laptop, I've been using a small program that hardens the firewall settings and provides a GUI to control it - MajorGeeks has several of them, I've been using TinyWall. It works ok, but I've decided its "no pop-ups" feature is not a good idea; going to try a different one.

[Eldmannen]

I use Microsoft Security Essentials on the Windows 8 machine at work, at home I use Linux.

 

MSE is good for me, because it stays out of the way and doesn't bother or nag on me or slow down the computer.

I don't know how good it is at catching bad stuff, but I am security conscious, so I don't worry too much.

[greenknight]

For my Win 7 firewall controller, I installed Windows Firewall Notifier. Very lightweight, hardens the firewall settings and provides a UI to control it and access the logs. Seems to work fine, I like it so far.

 

edit: It also provides a list of all active connections.

[James_A]

The case for using Microsoft Security Essentials has already been made, just to add that it is the best for using on older hardware, because its memory footprint is so much smaller than its more bloated competitors. It will even run on an ancient Pentium III laptop, with only 512MB of RAM, although there is some pain when it updates definitions since it then uses all available RAM.

 

MSE is very much a set-it-and-forget it operation, since it relies on Windows Update (actually Microsoft Update) to fetch its definitions and also updates to the program itself. From running it on a small network I know that the definitions are released 3 times per day -- every 8 hours, regular as clockwork. Obviously, then, you can't turn off Automatic Updates once MSE is installed.

[Ultimate Predator]

Thank you for all the replies people, MSE definitely seems the bees knees, particularly in the case of older machines, and for people who don't want to be bombarded with messages. Will definitely be using it on my family's windows machines.

[TechnoNinja]

yea, mse is definitely the way to go for slow comps. its efficient enough and doesnt take up alot of resources. But if you are able to spend some money, get g-data. It is the one i am using right now and it is perfect. You  can check out other peoples feedbacks at http://www.hopreviews.com/reviews/g-data-totalsecurity-2013/ if you want.

[Tarun]

For all of 2020 and even around the end of 2019, Microsoft Defender has been rated the best antivirus.