Best all-in-one Spyware/Adware/Virus removal?

T

thecrafter

I have LOVED the Cock for
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Feb 11, 2011
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Hello,

I'm a very safe user and don't visit any shady sites or fall for phishing scams or anything like that. In the past I used to run without any sort of protection and only had an infection about once a year if that, at which point it's format time anyway so it worked well.

But now I have an itch to try something new. Thing is, I'm not the type of person to have Spybot for immunization, MSE for general security, a Comodo Firewall running, checking HiJackThis every 6 hours and Malware Bytes scan every day. Especially since I'm on a laptop and battery is important to me.

I really am looking for an all in one solution. I know it's nowhere near as good as standalones, but I'll take the risk.

So from your findings if you're into this stuff, what is the most effective program? I'm leaning towards MSE but I just read a CNET review for it and apparently is bogs down the system more than I was hoping for, as well as adding I think it was 12 seconds to bootup time.

According to AV comperatives, F-Secure is the best, with MSE coming in second. How is F-Secure on resources and how is its spyware detection?
Free and paid both accepted :)

Thanks in advance!
 
no one thing is the best. you are already doing it right. don't change it ;)
 
matrix563 said:
no one thing is the best. you are already doing it right. don't change it ;)
Click to expand...

This.

I've seen plenty of times where MSE missed a major trojan and MalwareBytes did not and vice versa. Same goes for Spybot and SuperAntiSpyware.

And I still recommend MSE.
 
I think at minimum you're going to need two programs - on to scan for virus infections, and the other for malware. I know the border between the two is very thin these days.

I would run Security Essentials as your real time protection, then once a month (depending on your habbits), fire off a full scan with Malware AntiBytes while you're sleeping.
 
There is no one-stop solution. It sounds like you've already got good habits, so keep it up.

This sticky is worth a read, too.
 
Here's what I've been using for the past year solid (longer, actually, but this is my only setup on my own hardware):

- Windows 7 Pro (x86 or x64 depending on the machine)
- Microsoft Security Essentials (version 1.x until the day the 2.x beta first appeared then I switched at that point, and v2.x is final now, has been for a few months)
- Firefox 3.6.x until Firefox 4 beta 12 appeared at which point I switched to Firefox 4 (these are portable browsers, btw, running from a single folder on a RAMdisk also, and third party cookies are disabled)
- NoScript (Firefox addon, updated as new versions come out)
- AdBlock Plus (Firefox addon, dev version which is more current than the public builds, updated as new versions come out)
- BetterPrivacy (Firefox addon, primarily stops tracking cookies placed by Flash banner ads, and LSOs aka Local Shared Objects, another notorious cookie-like tracking info files that don't get removed by regular cookie cleaners - this one is highly recommended)

That's it. That's all I use, that's all I've been using, and for the record I do "surf" in places online that the majority would tend to avoid, I suppose. Just for shits and giggles in the past 40-50 minutes I did the following:

- Installed MalwareBytes Antimalware (commonly just called MBAM) and ran a full complete scan of this machine. When the scan was complete, it showed 1 tracking cookie - just one item, promptly removed.
- Ran a full complete scan using HouseCall by TrendMicro (using IE9 since I recently updated from IE8). When the scan was complete, it found absolutely nothing.
- Ran a full complete scan using Spybot Search & Destroy (latest version). Result: nothing.
- Ran a HiJackThis pass. Result: nothing.
- RootkitRevealer by Sysinternals. Result: nothing
- Adware. Result: nothing.
- Combofix. Result: nothing

and that's when I decided "Enough's enough, it's clean." :D

My recommendation for years now has been Windows 7 (or Vista if you're so inclined) + Microsoft Security Essentials + Firefox + NoScript + AdBlock Plus = a clean "safe" surfing machine and not much else is required.

If you wish to load up several malware detection apps and run 'em weekly, so be it, can't stop you from that although I would simply respond that it's more often than not an exercise in futility.

Also, there's Common Sense 2011, a product that is simply without price. :p
 
Demon10000 said:
I think at minimum you're going to need two programs - on to scan for virus infections, and the other for malware.
Click to expand...

This.
You wouldn't go to your regular MD for dental advice would you? ;)
Two different fields.

Same with malware.
An AV (MSE) is going to be better at catching viruses than MBAM, but MBAM is going to be better at finding malware (spyware/trojans). MSE may catch spyware occasionally, but don't rely on it for spyware.

My "clean PC" swiss army knife consists of the trifecta of MSE + MBAM + SAS (SUPERAntiSpyware). I've seen one miss something that one of the others caught. I let MSE run all the time, and occasionally run quick scans in MBAM and SAS (and find nothing but tracking cookies).

I quit using Spybot about a year ago and I quit using Ad-Aware years ago when it started getting bloated (now it's worse). I've tried using NoScript but I get sick of having to approve site after site as being OK so I gave up on it. I use Fx4 with ABP ([H] whitelisted of course) + WOT, I've had 0 problems.
 
Is hijackthis still a good tool to use? It's been around a while and I'm not sure of any updates to it.
 
NOD32 rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But isnt free. Avast isnt too bad for being free. I used to prefer Antivir over Avast, but Antivir had pop ups and other BS.

ND32 takes the cake as a AV for me. Malware bytes for eh malware.

MSE sorta works 80-90% of the time. But is a complete pain the in ass impossibility to uninstall.
 
The lightest anti-virus i ever tried is Vipre. I'm not sure abut performance though. Did AV comparatives ever test it?
 
Sunbelt refuses to let Vipre be tested. Some people love it, I find it suspicious though. I personally would use Avast, MSE, or since Comcast offers it for free, Norton's suite. I'm very pleasantly surprised with how light and unobtrusive Norton is, almost as unnoticeable as MSE, and it's even lighter.
 
If Sunbelt isnt willing to let Vipre get itself tested by a third party, that is very suspicious. If they have nothing to hide then they wouldn't be so protective of their product.

NOD32 all the way. Been using it for YEARS (8+ now?) and recommend it to all my clients and friends/family. No program is perfect but this is one is darn near close.
 
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