AV software

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RegisterMe
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AV software

Post by RegisterMe » Thu, 28. Dec 17, 22:01

Hi chaps,

A while ago I read a comment on here, perhaps from mrbadger (but supported by others) that I think said, essentially, something along the lines of "if you have a modern OS and its up to date" (by which I'm assuming that Win 10 64bit counts) then AV software is unnecessary.

Well.... my McAfee subscription is just about to expire, so if there's somebody who could correct / clarify / expand on this thinking I'd be very grateful :).

Cheers,


RM
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Post by Cpt.Jericho » Thu, 28. Dec 17, 22:14

If your Win10 has updated signatures for the Defender suite then you are quite safe (it's part of the basic Win install). Probably as safe as you can be with any other freebee antivirus solution.
McAfee is overated IMHO. But still better than no virus protection.
Last edited by Cpt.Jericho on Thu, 28. Dec 17, 22:46, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Alan Phipps » Thu, 28. Dec 17, 22:29

@ RegisterMe: You are probably thinking of this thread.
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Post by Antilogic » Thu, 28. Dec 17, 22:36

Install Avast free. Register it. Turn on silent mode. Forget it exists for a year. Done.

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red assassin
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Post by red assassin » Thu, 28. Dec 17, 22:40

Yeah, that was me and mrbadger in that thread. Win 10 definitely counts. Keep it and your software up to date and you're good to go with the built-in security. It's just as effective in any real world scenario (you can safely ignore "comparisons" of AV products, or at least read through them asking "is this actually relevant to my security needs"), and it's free because Microsoft have a strong business incentive to make Windows secure.
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Post by RegisterMe » Thu, 28. Dec 17, 23:43

Thanks all. Including Antilogic's bruised ego . :P
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Post by mrbadger » Fri, 29. Dec 17, 13:50

Microsoft currently spend vast amounts each year on protecting their customers from viruses. It is virtually certain that this is far more than any AV company does.

Their only conditions are that you keep automatic updates and their security software enabled. These aren't harsh preconditions.

I do find it irritating when my gaming machine decides to reboot itself, but it hasn't done that for a while.

All that Windows needs now is an equivalent to the Macs Time Machine backup system and they'll be on par security wise.

Apple doesn't have Microsoft's great Virus protection system, but their OS design means their system needs it less... for now
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Post by pjknibbs » Fri, 29. Dec 17, 18:56

mrbadger wrote: All that Windows needs now is an equivalent to the Macs Time Machine backup system and they'll be on par security wise.
If you download and install the free SyncToy app from Microsoft then that gives you a nice easy backup solution--you have to configure it manually and set up a scheduled task to run it, but once you've done that it will keep a copy of whatever you tell it to on an external drive or something like that. It's clever enough to only back up files that have changed, too, so it's not having to copy over 800Gb of data every time it runs. Obviously, just like Time Machine this isn't useful for archival backup, but it's a lot better than sweet FA.

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Post by mrbadger » Fri, 29. Dec 17, 19:59

I'll try this, thanks.

I don't need a full file data backup solution, I have one of those. What I'd really like is something that can be used, much like Apple provides, to speed re-installs.
That's all I've ever used Time Machine to do. I know it can do more, but for me it's just a re installation simplification tool

I'll see what this app provides.
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Post by felter » Fri, 29. Dec 17, 21:17

The main problem I have with that SyncToy is that it was released 8 years ago and it doesn't look like it has been updated since, so I wouldn't trust it, but then I'm not a microsoft fan. There are plenty of other apps out there that do the same job but look to have some more TLC behind them, for example FreeFileSync*.

As for an AV software. While defender may do the job, it is most certainly is not the best but it is better than it used to be. It seems to have up and down months, where some months it is better at the job than others and it will occasionally miss zero day viruses that others pickup, but it should be fine for protection. Just remember to do malware scans every so often with something like MalwarehBytes, as that looks for different kind of nasties that may slip past AV software.

A good site to look at for the best AV software is av-test.org. Unlike a lot of other sites, they don't make money from selling the software, so they have no monetary incentive to give some software a higher score.

*not endorsing it as I have never tried it, just using it as an example of a more up to date software.
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Post by kohlrak » Thu, 4. Jan 18, 03:48

mrbadger wrote:Microsoft currently spend vast amounts each year on protecting their customers from viruses. It is virtually certain that this is far more than any AV company does.

Their only conditions are that you keep automatic updates and their security software enabled. These aren't harsh preconditions.

I do find it irritating when my gaming machine decides to reboot itself, but it hasn't done that for a while.

All that Windows needs now is an equivalent to the Macs Time Machine backup system and they'll be on par security wise.

Apple doesn't have Microsoft's great Virus protection system, but their OS design means their system needs it less... for now
MS's methods of security spending are not only morally questionable, but also legally questionable: see here for more details.

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