Most Recommended Virus Program is?

[thedosbox]

Newer versions than XP is what I meant to type.

The arstechnica link discussed Windows 7. Granted, standard user accounts can still run arbitrary programs, but at least they're limited in the damage they can do.

 

[ichie]

Avira GmbH and Kaspersky?

 

[Zxian]

yep, but that's freaking annoying for someone who knows what he's doing.

But yes, when you install windows 7, by default you create an administrator account. Once you have installed all your programs, create a user account and log in with that...

Why? I have UAC enabled on my primary administrative account. This still blocks all automatic events that require elevated permissions since I still have to click OK.

This also only happens once or twice per week. If you're using good software, it shouldn't need elevated permissions unless it's changing system settings.

 

[Aroundthebend]

I've used for a fair while a combo of avira, malwarebytes & spybot. Never really trusted avg personally, but many friends have.

 

[Morbus]

Why? I have UAC enabled on my primary administrative account. This still blocks all automatic events that require elevated permissions since I still have to click OK.

This also only happens once or twice per week. If you're using good software, it shouldn't need elevated permissions unless it's changing system settings.

That's all fine and dandy, but every time I've tried to give UAC a try (cause I always have it disabled), there's also something that just utterly unbearable. Last time it was RealTemp... It always asked for elevated permissions... And since I have it running on startup, it's not feasible.

Of course UAC being a default programs it COULD NOT include a "remember" checkbox... What a useless piece of crap.

I'd much rather stick to my firewall, it works better than UAC anyway.

 

[thedosbox]

Why? I have UAC enabled on my primary administrative account. This still blocks all automatic events that require elevated permissions since I still have to click OK.

Because some malware can bypass the UAC prompt.

This also only happens once or twice per week. If you're using good software, it shouldn't need elevated permissions unless it's changing system settings.

Hence, you shouldn't need to run as an administrator.

 

[ArisVer]

Any suggestions of running an av program with a boot cd? I want to check the MBR of a disk.

 

[Zxian]

That's all fine and dandy, but every time I've tried to give UAC a try (cause I always have it disabled), there's also something that just utterly unbearable. Last time it was RealTemp... It always asked for elevated permissions... And since I have it running on startup, it's not feasible.

Of course UAC being a default programs it COULD NOT include a "remember" checkbox... What a useless piece of crap.

I'd much rather stick to my firewall, it works better than UAC anyway.

Why do you always have RealTemp running? You benchmark your overclock, make sure that you're within thermal limits during stress testing, and then leave it. Unless you're concerned about wild temperature swings from summer to winter, there's no need to have temperature monitoring software running 24/7.

A firewall serves a completely different purpose than UAC.

Because some malware can bypass the UAC prompt.

I'm not saying UAC is perfect, but I'm wondering how many of those systems were updated through Windows Update. Also, that test is over four years old. I'm curious to see what results would happen with today's malware on a fully updated machine.

Hence, you shouldn't need to run as an administrator.

This is probably true, but I haven't got around to reducing the permissions on my primary account. 😛

 

[Ketchup]

Any suggestions of running an av program with a boot cd?..

Kaspersky.

 

[Morbus]

Why do you always have RealTemp running?

None of your business, none of Microsoft's business.

Seriously though, I have it always on like I would leave MSI Afterburner always on (and it too requires a UAC prompt every single time). I have it always on because it's light and allows me to check on the temps of my GPU and CPU at any time.

You benchmark your overclock, make sure that you're within thermal limits during stress testing, and then leave it. Unless you're concerned about wild temperature swings from summer to winter, there's no need to have temperature monitoring software running 24/7.

Well, I like it, and that's reason enough.

A firewall serves a completely different purpose than UAC.

It can still report on and block (and remember the option! Imagine that!) unwanted system changes from software.

 

[Zxian]

None of your business, none of Microsoft's business.

So you want your operating system to be secure, but you don't want to deal with elevated privileges. 😕

It can still report on and block (and remember the option! Imagine that!) unwanted system changes from software.

No. It doesn't. A firewall blocks network access. It has nothing to do with system settings. It may prevent the malicious code from ever reaching your system, but it does nothing to protect you if (and when) it gets through.

If you have a security suite that you're using (which happens to be bundled with a firewall), then it may protect you from malware that tries to change system settings.

I still think you're using a band-aid for a problem that doesn't need to exist. You've chosen to have your monitoring software. You're either going to have to deal with administrative prompts or run your system in a less secure fashion. Nobody is forcing you to run your system this way, and you're acting as though Microsoft owes you something for your troubles.

Why do you think administrative changes on *nix systems require you to type "sudo" (or be logged in as root) every time?

 

[Morbus]

So you want your operating system to be secure, but you don't want to deal with elevated privileges. 😕

What I want is a "remember" checkbox, nothing more, nothing less.

No. It doesn't.

Yes it does. Well, mine doesn't, but I used ZoneAlarm for many a year and it would block software from changing registry keys, changing system files, interacting with other software, launching software and whatnot. If you didn't know about this, well, now you know.

I still think you're using a band-aid for a problem that doesn't need to exist. You've chosen to have your monitoring software. You're either going to have to deal with administrative prompts or run your system in a less secure fashion. Nobody is forcing you to run your system this way, and you're acting as though Microsoft owes you something for your troubles.

I'm acting like this is 2014 (well, 2009, since I'm on Windows 7) and we've had checkboxes to remember user choices for decades and decades. I'm acting like UAC in Windows 8 or Windows 7 is the same exact annoying piece of crap software that was released in Windows Vista and that I have always turned off on principle because a) I don't feel the need for it or ever felt and b) it's annoying for no benefit whatsoever. As I said, I have given UAC a few tries over the years, but it always fails to justify its presence.

 

[AMDZen]

same here!

When I used the free version, it was light as a feather! the moment I decided to purchae a 2 year license for the Pro version, they upgraded the program version and made it super heavy and slowed down my internet!

I have on switched to Webroot SecureAnywhere AV for Gamers Edition, light as a feather and super secure especially with 0 day exploits thanks to its behavior way of detection which doesn't rely on signatures

the whole install of WSA is 900 kb!!!!

What is the firewall software like on this? Can you set it to prompt whenever something new attempts to phone home?

 

[davmat787]

Any suggestions of running an av program with a boot cd? I want to check the MBR of a disk.

A week or two ago I used Kasperky's free rescue disc to remove a virus. Worked just fine and was very simple to use.

http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk#downloads

 

[bluetartle7]

Of course UAC being a default programs it COULD NOT include a "remember" checkbox... What a useless piece of crap.

I think that adding this option would open more opportunities to exploit / bypass UAC and reduce the effectiveness of having it enabled.

 

[Morbus]

I think that adding this option would open more opportunities to exploit / bypass UAC and reduce the effectiveness of having it enabled.

Well, it works perfectly on every single Firewall and Antivirus I have EVER used, so why would it be any different?

 

[mikeymikec]

On the rare occasion that I start my system from being completely off (and Windows was shut down completely), I get a UAC prompt when I want to start SpeedFan shortly after startup. I leave it running the whole time and hibernate my system as a general rule.

I think the only other time I might routinely see a UAC prompt is when I start the command prompt with admin privs (for things like backing up customers' data with their disk connected to my machine).

MSI AfterBurner requires admin privs as well and starts on user login. It achieves that with a Task Scheduler entry. I could do the same with SpeedFan if I wanted to for the sake of avoiding a UAC prompt.

Because some malware can bypass the UAC prompt.

Fair point. I think if I saw customers' systems getting hit with malware on a regular basis that seemed likely to need elevated privs, I might advise them differently. However in my experience it seems to be about 1 in 50 infection incidents (at least) that didn't do simple things like a HKCU registry entry. I think the last time I saw an infection that required elevated privs on a newer OS than XP was a couple of years ago (Alureon rootkit), possibly even 2011.

I'm not saying my experience is definitive btw.

There's also the possibility of privilege escalation through software vulnerabilities rather than just through UAC.

 

[Towermax]

On the rare occasion that I start my system from being completely off (and Windows was shut down completely), I get a UAC prompt when I want to start SpeedFan shortly after startup.

MSI AfterBurner requires admin privs as well and starts on user login. It achieves that with a Task Scheduler entry. I could do the same with SpeedFan if I wanted to for the sake of avoiding a UAC prompt.

I use Elevated Shortcut from WinAero to automatically start Speedfan and a couple other progs that require UAC. It's easy to use and works great:

http://winaero.com/comment.php?comment.news.152