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Thread: Lend me your antivirus suggestions

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  1. #1
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    Lend me your antivirus suggestions

    Asking for a friend. "He" visited an animal porn site and "his" computer contracted the cyber equivalent of needing a full diseased rectal transplant. Plz halp!

    Nah just kidding. I'm asking for me.

    I've got no issues that I know of since switching to Windows 10 almost a year ago. But the only precautions I take are the built in Windows Defender software, Ad Block on my browser (Chrome - if that combo doesn't prevent some low level viruses please let me know) as well as not following any of the dodgy links you see shared around the place, and yeah general diligent browsing and software installing habits.

    I'm mostly asking because I'm curious to see if there are any essential (and free) antivirus/anti malware programs that I should be running in conjunction with the standard Windows protections. I'm also curious as to whether it's even necessary, because Defender seems to be pretty damn good.

    Thanks. The sooner I get advice, the sooner I can satisfy my hunger for viewing some durty man-on-horse action.

  2. #2
    Ask me about my bottom br FaultyMario's Avatar
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    Microsoft security essentials.

    I've been using that since like forever. No complains. The crap that gets thru is because of the streaming that needs me having to add exceptions to NoScript.
    acket.

  3. #3
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    I'm using Malwarebytes premium. Seems to work okay but I don't really attend sites where dirty software is commonly found, if you know what I mean.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by FaultyMario View Post
    Microsoft security essentials.

    I've been using that since like forever. No complains.
    So you must be on Windows 7 or 8. The Win 10 equivalent is Windows Defender; it's exactly the same and comes as part of the OS.

  5. #5
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    Windows 7, also using MSE. The last time I did a scan it didn't even find anything. Whether that means it's working or failing miserably is another question though! I'm happy with it. It's unobtrusive and doesn't seem to take up many resources at all.

  6. #6
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    First, I use MSE and it's all I have used for years. But it's honestly not that great - it routinely scores pretty low on effectiveness and pretty high on resource consumption . But it never bugs you about anything which can't be said about any of the other entries, so it's what I use. I don't go off road so I don't consider it a liability, but if you're going to I would consider Bitdefender or ESET personally.

  7. #7
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    One of the things I wonder about Defender and MSE is if it's built into every Win8/10 install, and 90% of users rely on it to cover them (perhaps unwittingly for a huge chunk of that) then it would be the obvious target for cunning malware developers since it would yield the greatest impact. Hence this thread I guess.

    In somewhat related news, my dad bought a new laptop with Win10 on it about two months ago and it's already fucked. Pre installed OEM adware and ridiculous pop-ups on some of the sites he visits (he mentioned banggood.com) started the rot and made it terribly slow, and now it's lost it's start menu and image viewer after an update and he can't fix it himself.

    My dad is a classic case of terrible computer habits. When he showed me the problems today I rolled my eyes at him, then told him to back up all of his shit and organise a day for me to come over and do a full clean install of the OS.

  8. #8
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    I will bet MSE/WD have an unexpectedly small market share. Most people buy PCs from major brands and retailers and most of those people get kickbacks from loading 3rd party software so those guys can make cash on renewal. Every PC Dell sells has McAfee on it. Every PC Best Buy sells has Webroot on it, etc. The shitty thing is that most of these are just 30 day trial versions so when they expire you're left in worse shape than if you'd just been running the marginally less effective MSE from the start as they don't expire and then helpfully turn MSE back on - they just sit there being out of date until you respond to their demands for money. Whenever I help someone set up a new computer, first thing I do is uninstall whatever it came with an install MSE, explaining that MSE isn't as good but won't stop working when they fail to pay. For most, it's a good compromise.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by thesameguy View Post
    Every PC Best Buy sells has Webroot on it, etc.
    Terrible name. First time I saw it (on someone else's pc), I was like "WTF? Gotta kill that thing. What kind of idiot hacker gives his virus such an obvious name?"
    -Formerly Stabulator

  10. #10
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    I'm sure MSE isn't the best, but it's certainly better than not running anything, or something which hasn't been updated in months, never mind someone who hasn't run a scan on their PC in years.

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