New to Vista x64, Defender versus Brand X?

1Wolf

1Wolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
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433
Just started using Windows Vista x64 and I was just wondering if anyone had some advice with regards to spyware/adware/malware scanners, etc.

Under XP...I used Spybot S&D and Adaware. The two of those did the trick very well for me. I'd only start and run the 'resident' protection when surfing the net....when gaming or for work, I'd leave resident protection disabled. I'd also use the products for scans.

It seems that Vista x64 will 'monitor' your Anti-Virus protection, and with regards to spyware...it has Windows Defender.

How does Windows Defender stack up? In your opinion, can I forego Spybot S&D and Adaware and just use the supplied Windows Defender? Or...is Windows Defender "not so good" and I should deactivate it and use Spybot S&D and Adaware?

Thanks!
 
Vista's Defender and Firewall does a great job for those who cannot afford an off-the-shelf security suite. Vista's firewall is much better than XP's too. Add UAC in the mix, you have a pretty formidable operating system.

I think it comes down to personal comforts. I have McAfee for Small Business on my Vista machine because I use it also to control other people's McAfee account in our company (where I'm the IT manager) using a central administration portal. But at home, I just use UAC, Defender and Windows Firewall.

My brother use Superantispyware free version so he could manually scan his PC once in awhile if he feels something might've gotten in (so far he's always been clean).

You might, however want to think about an antivirus software. I don't think Defender covers that, I never looked it up.
 
Defender doesn't do antivirus, no - Microsoft sell Windows Live OneCare, which includes an antivirus program. Not that that's very popular, of course. Like XP SP2, the Security Center will monitor whether you have an antivirus scanner active.

Since I've never had any spyware, I'm not really sure what the best product is for that. I just use Windows Defender at the moment.
 
I have been using vista x64 for a few months now (had used vista x86 and win xp for a long time) and I just use windows defender + Avast Antivirus. I've not had any problems and Avast (even in previous versions) seemed to always catch spyware before it actually got onto my system (like it would tell me some file or web page was trying to do something naughty and it would block it or ask me if I wanted to run it or not). I've been using Avast for several years now after my IT guy recommended it. I've never been more happy with an AV.
 
Just don't download any malware. Use a safe browser and a good firewall. Just make it a habit and you will be safe. No infections in 3+ years now.
 
The only problem I have with defender is that it's not just an antispyware program. There's some other stuff you can use like stop startup processes, but sometimes the startup manager in defender isn't as great as just using msconfig. Also, defender is a running process that will be on during startup and takes a good chunk of memory.

I've used defender for over a year and it hasn't found anything so I disabled the service freeing up about 15MB of RAM on startup. Usually, you can avoid a lot of spyware by using a good browser (Firefox + noscript and adblock plus). Lavasoft seems to be almost done with ad-aware for Vista 64 and may pick it up since I'm only using Spybot at the moment.
 
From one who works on Defender on a daily basis, and spent 5+ weeks working straight to get it into Vista, I feel it's one of the best antispyware applications out there. (But some might call me biased)

The reason Defender takes 15MB of memory, is mostly due to the signatures.

I also wanted to point out, on Vista, Internet Explorer is running in low rights mode. It's a defense in depth measure to provide more security.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Thanks kindly for all the responses guys!

Based on the info and opinions you've shared....I think I'm going to go ahead and install Spybot S&D. I'm going to just let Windows Defender handle my spyware tasks as it seems that the majority feels Windows Defender does a pretty good job. There were a few tools in the advanced options of Spybot S&D that I really liked....so....I'll still have those tools I can use...and just install Spybot S&D minimally...leave out the resident stuff...and just use the tools, and the scanner once in a while.

Thanks again everyone :)
 
Windows Defender + Eset Smart Security + a proper browser these days (IE7 is fine, Firefox, Opera, all useful browsers) = a damned tight machine where not much will get in or cause problems. Spybot was nice a long long time ago, but it simply doesn't cut the mustard anymore. SuperAntiSpyware ain't, at least not in my own testing of it - it missed hundreds of things Smart Security and most other products picked up. Ad-aware hasn't been the same for a long long time now either.

Windows Defender is great for what it does, and Eset Smart Security is NOD32 v3, a kickass firewall, and malware protection all in a nice tight resource light package. You could do worse, I assure you.
 
Defender is fairly, well, worthless. I'd pick up SuperAntiSpyware. Well worth the $20 for a lifetime license. It's free if you don't want realtime protection.
 
entropism said:
Defender is fairly, well, worthless. I'd pick up SuperAntiSpyware. Well worth the $20 for a lifetime license. It's free if you don't want realtime protection.
Click to expand...

Why do you think Defender is useless?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Ranma_Sao said:
Why do you think Defender is useless?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Click to expand...

I probably shouldn't jump into this but... I'll have to agree, Defender has never found anything in my testing. This was not because there wasn't anything to find. I cleaned up a PC for a guy that had a pretty much unusable machine. I ran Defender. Found Nothing. I ran Spybot, Adaware, and pretty much anything else I could find. They all found hundreds of things, but again, Defender found 0. It it works for you, great. Just my experience, YMMV. ;)
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
I probably shouldn't jump into this but... I'll have to agree, Defender has never found anything in my testing. This was not because there wasn't anything to find. I cleaned up a PC for a guy that had a pretty much unusable machine. I ran Defender. Found Nothing. I ran Spybot, Adaware, and pretty much anything else I could find. They all found hundreds of things, but again, Defender found 0. It it works for you, great. Just my experience, YMMV. ;)
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Did you actually look at what Adaware and Spybot found? I run them weekly myself on a few Vista and Xp systems running Defender. All Adaware and Spybot ever find is cookies, hundreds of cookies. Nothing nefarious at all. Maybe I and the rest of my family are not surfing to the right places to pick up anything, so that is all there is to find. I can't say for sure, but that is my experience.
 
Yea, SAS etc. flag tracking cookies as malicious when they aren't and Defender doesn't flag harmless cookies just to make you think it is doing its job. I use SAS too but certainly not in resident mode. No anti-spyware software ever finds anything on my PC except what they flag as tracking cookies, and those are easy to block too using the Hosts file. I just re-installed Vista today so I could use the 64bit version. I installed Avast (non-resdident), SAS (non-resident), Firefox w/noscript, and Spywareblaster (pro-active protection). Along with my router, Vista firewall and defender that is all I will need. I'm a gamer and I am not going to bog my system down with resident protection suites annoying the hell out of me like they always do. The anal paranoid amongst us can do as they please though.
 
I get frustrated by spyware detection programs tagging cookies, yes.. if it was optional then it would be okay, but I don't buy into the "cookies are evil" thing - I don't really think of my browsing history as a major privacy issue. Deleting them is trying to hold back the tide anyway; if you are worried about them then you need to block them.

I use SeaMonkey, but NoScript sounds like a bit of a pain, considering the amount of JavaScript that's out there.
 
Ranma_Sao said:
Why do you think Defender is useless?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Click to expand...

To be honest? When I used to set up systems for friends & family, I'd let Defender handle antispyware duties. I'd then go back a few months later, install SAS, let it run, fully intending on uninstalling it afterwards, but it would find *actual* pieces of malware. And yes, I know the differences between cookies and malware. :p Ever since then, I've used either SAS or A-Squared to help clean up people's computers.

Personally? I practice safe browsing. But for those who have NO clue how to work a computer, who have no clue what the difference is between firefox & IE, they download anything that piques their interest, I want something more secure than Defender.
 
You have names of threats? Anything I can use to figure out why that was?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
GORANKAR said:
Did you actually look at what Adaware and Spybot found? I run them weekly myself on a few Vista and Xp systems running Defender. All Adaware and Spybot ever find is cookies, hundreds of cookies. Nothing nefarious at all. Maybe I and the rest of my family are not surfing to the right places to pick up anything, so that is all there is to find. I can't say for sure, but that is my experience.
Click to expand...

Yes, I did. As I stated, this machine was unuseable. Really. He had Vundo, AntiVirus Gold, and several other things. Took me 3 days to clean this thing. And I ran defender first, because he already had it installed. I have no idea what he was doing to get this stuff, all I ever get is cookies. I understand why you would suspect that, I proably would have replied the same, but no, there was some nasty stuff on this guys machine. This is the real test for programs like this. I can run them all on my machine and find cookies, which makes them all worthless to me. But get your hands on someone else's infested machine, and you get to see what works and doesn't.
 
*shrugs* I've been using Vista64 for a few months now and I *knock on wood* haven't had any issues with AVG, Spybot, and Adaware. I tend to run a full scan about once or twice a week when I think about it.
 
Mithent said:
I use SeaMonkey, but NoScript sounds like a bit of a pain, considering the amount of JavaScript that's out there.
Click to expand...

Well, it's a bit of pain at first but once you have it trained for the most common sites you visit it is no problem for me. I can always allow sites to run scripts temporarily too.
 
entropism said:
Ever since then, I've used either SAS or A-Squared to help clean up people's computers.
Click to expand...
I used to use A-Squared religiously until the time I found out it was their right click context menu that was causing my desktop to crash when I clicked on the taskbar in Windows. Spent ages trying to figure out what it was causing the issue and was blaming my video card until I came across a post on a forum of the same issue caused by some other software's right click context menu. Uninstalled A-Squared and problem was solved so have never used it again since.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
Yes, I did. As I stated, this machine was unuseable. Really. He had Vundo, AntiVirus Gold, and several other things. Took me 3 days to clean this thing.
Click to expand...

Why spend three days fixing it when you could have spent just a few hours re-installing the OS and software? And even though you say you fixed it you can never be sure you removed all the nasties. I don't trust any software to say my PC is clean, once compromised I would wipe and re-install. That's the only guarantee of a clean machine. THat's all AV software is good for IMO, to notify you that you have a virus. I would never trust their software to clean it completely off my PC.
 
milkweg said:
Why spend three days fixing it when you could have spent just a few hours re-installing the OS and software? And even though you say you fixed it you can never be sure you removed all the nasties. I don't trust any software to say my PC is clean, once compromised I would wipe and re-install. That's the only guarantee of a clean machine. THat's all AV software is good for IMO, to notify you that you have a virus. I would never trust their software to clean it completely off my PC.
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He didn't have the installation disks. I didn't ask why, didn't matter. As long as he was paying, I did what I could. ;)
 
Oh, so long as you got paid for it it's all good. I have a friend who is always messing up their PC and all I ever get paid is a steak dinner.
 
mystykmax said:
try paying your power bill with a steak...I can never get the steak to fit in the envelope.
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i pay my power bill with my paycheck, and it was over $200 this month btw....that sucks:mad:,

however on topic...sounds like the guy already knows he is going to get payment in the form of a steak dinner....last time i checked it would cost me at least $20 to cook a steak dinner (just for myself), so that's $20 i did not have to spend to eat that evening in exchange for fixing someone's pc.....point is, if he doesn't like the payment terms he can always refuse service....so don't whine when you get what you agreed to...been there done that, i have never even gotten a steak dinner, i only do it because i like to do it;)
 
mystykmax said:
try paying your power bill with a steak...I can never get the steak to fit in the envelope.
Click to expand...

If you did get it in the envelope, the recipient would probably think it was a death threat anyway... :D

nobody_here said:
i pay my power bill with my paycheck, and it was over $200 this month btw....that sucks:mad:,

however on topic...sounds like the guy already knows he is going to get payment in the form of a steak dinner....last time i checked it would cost me at least $20 to cook a steak dinner (just for myself), so that's $20 i did not have to spend to eat that evening in exchange for fixing someone's pc.....point is, if he doesn't like the payment terms he can always refuse service....so don't whine when you get what you agreed to...been there done that, i have never even gotten a steak dinner, i only do it because i like to do it;)
Click to expand...

Agreed, I don't mind a steak dinner. Beats the nothing I get from too many people. As far as liking to do it, I don't anymore. Mostly for that fact that there are a lot of people that don't know crap and they bother me all of the time and give me nothing for my time. Try getting free medical advice from a doctor. ;)

Back to the topic at hand, a lifetime license for SUPERAntiSpyware is a good deal at $20, and Spybot S&D really isn't as bad as some claim. It's worth free. Adaware on the other hand has thrown away their position as a leader and probably won't get it back.
 
the only thing i know about defender is, if a vista machine is churning its harddrive and the system slows to a crawl- you go into control panel, windows defender and deactivate that shit and everything is peaches and cream again
 
krupted said:
the only thing i know about defender is, if a vista machine is churning its harddrive and the system slows to a crawl- you go into control panel, windows defender and deactivate that shit and everything is peaches and cream again
Click to expand...

Defender is, by default, configured to run a quick system scan daily at 2am. This scan actually runs very fast for me, but it might be considered a little excessive. You can reduce this to weekly in the Defender options, or turn off the automatic scanning entirely. Leaving Defender running should not otherwise cause significant drive access, though.

The more likely candidates for drive access in Vista are SuperFetch, the defragmenter and the indexing service (though the last should calm down once it finishes the indexing). I can't say I've ever been annoyed by drive access occurring though; maybe this is mostly a problem for people with loud Raptors? It does tend to be constantly ticking over doing some background work, but never thrashing.
 
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