[fraseyboy]

Quote:

4 YEAR NECROPOST
 
 
also Microsoft Security Essentials is the current best free anti virus on windows

 
Sure it's a good antivirus but I had real issues with it using 100% cpu and making everything lock up. In the end I used Malwarebytes and it removed a serious virus which had been pestering me for a while and was not removed by either Avira Antivir or MSE.
 
And then I met Ubuntu and all my troubles were over
 

 

[Landis]

Quote:

More wow. I didn't actually mean that so seriously as it was taken. My apologies. I run AVG free edition aside from brains. I'm also running firefox with noscript and adblock +. The only virus or spyware which is to be seen on my computer is Windows itself and steam. Other than that I've got a clean image of my hard drive and I make backups very regularly. I'm in IT for a quite a while now and I think I know quite well how virusses and spyware work. Aside from all the virusscanners I've got a very neat firewall. That said, I still think brains are BY FAR the best measure against virusses and spyware. It's my very own heuristic virusscanner and it catches most things.
 
Also, as a sidenote. I never clean my registry because I prefer just running my image again or reïnstalling Windows altogether. The first obviously happens more often than the latter.
 
I'll refrain from trying to make jokes for today since those clearly don't get across with just plain text.

Sorry, I think the post in question had come off as more arrogant than joke!
 
(Tone is sometimes hard to convey via text)

 

[cyberspyder]

I just wipe my computer each time. Many times, not so common malware takes hours to find on my hard drive, and those hours would be better spent reformatting I've found.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I just wipe my computer each time. Many times, not so common malware takes hours to find on my hard drive, and those hours would be better spent reformatting I've found.

Well, if you're going to all that trouble, why not just run an OS that's not susceptible to all this kruft?  Linux, OSX, etc.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Well, if you're going to all that trouble, why not just run an OS that's not susceptible to all this kruft?  Linux, OSX, etc.

X2.  I've still got Fedora 4 running on an old box for the past several years.  Haven't had to wipe or reinstall anything for, well, since I started it up.  I've done a few updates over the years, but probably won't upgrade until the machine physically kicks off.  The MacBook has been up since May 2007.  No problems.  When you're running 60-90 hours a week in the office and other commitments, I can't afford to spend several hours on unnecessary computer maintenance.

 

[cyberspyder]

Not going into an OS debate again. It's not like I've had to do this very often. I got bit yesterday for the first time in five years through a suspicious file.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Not going into an OS debate again. It's not like I've had to do this very often. I got bit yesterday for the first time in five years through a suspicious file.

That's ok, because there is no debate.  Something I might suggest, particularly for those of you who are technically savvy, and need a Win environment for some applications, is to run your Win OS as a virtual machine within a more stable OS.  Then a complete "rebuild" of your complete, configured windows environment complete with all of your installed and configured applications can be done in minutes, while you're enjoying a cup of coffee.  You don't ever have to re-configure/rebuild a Win OS again.
 

 

[robm321]

MSE is good but bogs down older systems. I freestyle it (use nothing active) with the option to reformat if all goes south. 
 
Of course, I have a laptop, so I use that mostly for lots of web stuff. If I only had 1 PC, I would be leary of this method and would probably use Norton 360 which i have on my laptop. Norton used to suck, but it's way better now. 
 
This is a good and free scan to add to your list. Requires no resources. Just scan as you need it. 
 
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Quote:

Well, if you're going to all that trouble, why not just run an OS that's not susceptible to all this kruft?  Linux, OSX, etc.

I think it's fear of the unknown. I've thought of that but as things go with a PC worry that some super small snag will render the PC a mess and unuseable for hours. I guess I could partition the hard drive and do it that way, hmmmm... 

 

[sanakaku]

Honestly i love Windoze 7 but i hate the fact that after you download the OS you have to either update/ install and maintain the Antivirus and Firewall also hate the bloatware that comes with it
 
For my laptop or pc i dont want to put too much pressure on them. im not saying it cant handle pressure but i dont want to  install 3rd party software all the time the reason i go over Linux  which involves Mandrvia/ Ubuntu and the likes
 
what i like about them is i dont have to install anything for protection well except for the necessary things to run your laptop/pc in order. the only thing that makes me go back to windows is about their software they dont have photoshop or lightroom which is a neccessity for me. sure there are softwares that are almost identical to them but doesnt generate the same results ,
 
Hackintosh is also another thing you wanna check into but mind you i only use it on my home theater for some eyecandy for friends if they come over to visit the place.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

...

I think it's fear of the unknown. I've thought of that but as things go with a PC worry that some super small snag will render the PC a mess and unuseable for hours. I guess I could partition the hard drive and do it that way, hmmmm... 
 

No doubt fear of the unknown keeps many locked into what they've got.
 
I'm running Win7 in a virtual machine on an iMac, and it runs flawlessly.  If I were doing heavy gaming, I might expect some challenges, but for what I do, it's flawless.  I run WinXP on a netbook I have along with Diskkeeper and PCTools Antivirus w/ Spyware Doctor.The system runs great!
 
Most of my daily use is on a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.  The MacBook Pro also has Parallels VM with an installation of WinXP on it too.  All works flawlessly.

 

[robm321]

I also liked PCTools Antivirus w/ Spyware Doctor. 
 
I'm using System Mechanics for tune up. I like it. It's $20+ a year. You can do most of what it does free, it just takes a long time or you have to use 4 free programs which is a pain. 
 
I envy your iMac. One day... one day