how often has your virus software worked and or failed?

philipma1957

Golden Member
Jan 8, 2012
1,714
0
76
I am not a fan of virus protection. As of today All the virus software I have ever used never really found a virus. All of the ones I used have missed a few viruses . So has anyone Had a lot of virus software success stories? Also fails. Tia
 

nemesismk2

Diamond Member
Sep 29, 2001
4,810
5
76
www.ultimatehardware.net
I try to only visit websites which shouldn't be infecting me with viruses.

I use microsoft security essentials and after going online i do a complete scan and it has never found any viruses.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I try to only visit websites which shouldn't be infecting me with viruses.

I use microsoft security essentials and after going online i do a complete scan and it has never found any viruses.


This is a bit of a misnomer. I visit all kinds of "seedy" sites w/o issue, however my wife who visits craft sites (such as quilting) is always getting viruses from them that I have to fix.
 

Bubbaleone

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2011
1,803
4
76
This is a bit of a misnomer. I visit all kinds of "seedy" sites w/o issue, however my wife who visits craft sites (such as quilting) is always getting viruses from them that I have to fix.

LOL!...^+1 my wife's a seamstress and her sewing site's keep her infected about 10 days out of the month o_O
 

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,856
321
126
I figured my virus protection is a last resort. I set up my Firefox with Noscript, Adblock and Flashblock. I don't disable adblock on anything, because even on this site there have been issues with ads and malware.

I use Avira for antivirus and i'll get a malware alert once every few months. It's caught a couple of trojan attempts in the past couple years. Other than that, no catches and I haven't had a virus/malware issue either (that I know of, lol).
 

NeoV

Diamond Member
Apr 18, 2000
9,504
2
81
I use MSE - and the built-in windows defender stuff from MS - never had an infection, a few notifications about bad web-sites, but that's about it.
 

AFurryReptile

Golden Member
Nov 5, 2006
1,998
1
76
I haven't used AV on my personal stuff in years. That said, I trust Malwarebytes more than any realtime scanner I've ever used.
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
0
0
I haven't used AV on my personal stuff in years. That said, I trust Malwarebytes more than any realtime scanner I've ever used.

It is pretty sad that MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware are much better at finding and removing malware than the bigger named, commercial alternatives.
 

Bubbaleone

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2011
1,803
4
76
I agree about MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware. I ran ESET NOD32 for years, interspersed with periods of Kaspersky products for comparison. They're both top rated AVs but in the final analysis they're both just as susceptible to getting killed by several variants of todays sophisticated rootkits as any of the other commercial AVs are. When I added in the yearly cost to license the six PCs on my home network vs the very few times (in years) that either product actually stopped a real-time attack or quarantined a genuine nasty, I changed things up.

For the last three years I've been running behind a quality router with a good hardware firewall, that's been configured for disabled DHCP, dedicated DNS nameservers, and static IPs. My PCs all run MSE, MalwareBytes Pro, and Firefox with AdBlock Plus and DNT+ as addons.

With the exception of the PUPs that my dear wife (bless her heart) insists on downloading when visiting her sewing or arts&crafts websites (yes, I've tried to explain the dangers of visiting home-brewed unsecured websites to her), my home network is more secure, and less expensive (TCO) than it was when running either ESET or Kaspersky behind an inexpensive router.


.
 
Last edited:

Skitzer

Diamond Member
Mar 20, 2000
4,414
3
81
I do not use AV or anti-malware software and haven't for almost 3 years.
I have yet to get infected with either ... actually never give it a thought :)
 

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,056
199
116
but then how do you know something didn't get by??

I do not use AV or anti-malware software and haven't for almost 3 years.
I have yet to get infected with either ... actually never give it a thought :)
 

Fardringle

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2000
9,200
765
126
but then how do you know something didn't get by??

Agreed. If you don't have a locked gate on your fence, and nobody watching the cows, how can you ever know if/when the cows get out, or the cattle rustlers get in? ;)

Even 100% "Safe" web browsing habits can still get viruses from infected ads and hacked sites.

Personally, I have seen my AV software catch many viruses while visiting what should be completely safe and clean sites. I would never consider giving Internet access to a machine without at least some antivirus software running on the computer. It takes a few minutes (at most) to install, never interferes with normal computer usage in any way (unless it's a bad application and should be replaced with something better, and saves a lot of headaches when the viruses are blocked from getting in.
 

jkroeder

Member
Dec 7, 2009
165
0
71
I use a standard user account in Windows 7 and a group policy that blocks executables from running as recommended by resident anandtech poster mechgbon

http://www.mechbgon.com/srp/

So unless some miraculous privilege escalation exploit comes along, malware wouldn't even be able to execute its payload. That's my protection so I don't use a real time anti-virus.
I have malwarebytes and superantispyware installed so I can do a manual scan every once in a while if I'm bored enough but that's it.
 

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
Wow, the crap I have seen AVG catch over the years. You all are nuts to not run an anti-virus.
 

r3dsh1ft

Member
Jul 31, 2012
56
0
0
I am not a fan of virus protection. As of today All the virus software I have ever used never really found a virus. All of the ones I used have missed a few viruses . So has anyone Had a lot of virus software success stories? Also fails. Tia

1. are you updating you definitions and software regularly? 2. It could be that you have pretty good browsing habbits and that you almost never put yourself in a position where you get a virus except when its a very clever method that you get infected.. Forinstance using no-sript+firefox and not opening executing programs in emails eliminates a ton of ways to get viruses. As for my self I use an anti virus just incase. Maybe i accidentally click something or have a lapse in judgement. maybe i let someone use my computer.. who knows. I have had my anti virus catch some things before they got on my pc. I use the free avira.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,539
13,787
126
www.anyf.ca
The issue with most AVs is they do not normally bother with spyware since it's not technically a virus. I think this is BS because I don't care what it's categorized as, it's still malware and it's still damaging my PC (well at the software level at least).

I've only had a few instances where an AV saved me, by using common sense it's rare I get to a point that I am about to open a virus infected file and don't know. Most real viruses still come by email or are on sketchy sites like keygen/serials so it's fairly easy to spot. Best is sites that require you to download a exe for something they could just display as text. Nice try. :p

All the times I did get a virus it was a drive by so it never got detected. It's only happened a few times to me though. The second I see that fake AV popup and extra icon in the task bar I know I'm done for. I usually end task the browser and then do full scan with malwarebyes and can usually rip it out that way. NEVER reboot when you get this, they usually have tons of crap added as system services and such and it will only get worse if you let that stuff execute.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,585
10,225
126
I tried installing WebRoot once on Windows 7. What a disaster. A real virus would have been nicer to the system than that AV software. It was a total piece of crap.

I installed TrendMicro on one XP machine, it didn't cripple the machine, but it wasn't very effective.

SRP alone, with no AV installed, is probably the best protection one can have.
 

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
at home I have used norton internet security (AV+FW) since the complete engine overhaul in 2009... i also use host file blocking. No problems.


At work we use macafee enterprise, and we seem to have viruses all the time.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,984
10,462
126
I always used it, but it never did much. Avira was light enough, so I kept it for insurance. That said, I don't have much faith in AV alone. I switched my mother to Ubuntu because I didn't trust her not to bumble her way into some kind of trap. I could have locked down Vista I guess, but Ubuntu was just as easy, and it gave me a performance boost also.
 

HeXen

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2009
7,837
38
91
i never really had much issue, i used to use Eset but realized i didn't need such features, so i just moved to MSE. Sometimes if i'm downloading something funky, i upload it to virus total. now i do all my browsing in Linux and feel a little better when i do my sensitive stuff like banking, shopping..etc.
 

Pardus

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2000
8,197
21
81
The problem with most anti-virus or security products is there too damn annoying. They pop-up so many false variants.

Here is my protection:
• Netgear secure router with firewall active
• SSID broadcast disabled
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro, paid version
• Super AntiSpyware Pro, paid version
• Firefox with AdBlock Plus and DNT+
• Comodo Rescue Disk whenever i reboot
• Install new apps in vmware environment to be sure there safe, even free ones.
• Keep AVG Free available if i ever need it.
• Regular offline backups.

Never had any issue so far and will never pay for yearly subscription to any product. McAfee, Norton and CA are worthless and slow down your system. Keep in mind if you take your laptop to any public wi-fi, i strongly recommend you install Comodo internet security suite or something similar and disable file and printer sharing.
 
Last edited:

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
106
Funny you mention that, today is the second time in four years that I have had to use an anti-virus. I had a stupid trojan and I just used anti-malwarebytes to remove it.