Note: If you do not agree with not having an AV, you're welcome to provide constructive feedback.
If you feel the need to simply flame please move on.
To those who currently do not use an AV...I want to share my practices and see what others do.
Up until Windows XP, I was not able to last too long without an AV before I'd get infected with something that would cause me trouble.
I suspect that had to do with lack of experience and not following better practices.
Starting with Vista SP1, I decided to give it a try again and not use an AV because I always felt I had yet another layer of software installed on my machine consuming some resources.
Since that point I have not experienced an infection and saved some $$$ too.
Here are all, or most, the things I do for my workstations. I currently manage 3 Windows 7 machines. One is a laptop, another is a testbench and the last one is a workstation.
* Patch Windows during Patch Tuesday or latest by next day.
* Scan the machines with Secunia PSI once a month to make sure everything is properly patched and I did not miss anything.
* I recently also started using the FileHippo updater which runs at startup and checks some of my installs against their database and lets me know if something is not up to date. If everything is patched, it shuts down by itself, if not then it lets me know what I need to upgrade.
* All routers have a NAT firewall and all machines use Windows Firewall.
* All my routers are using OpenDNS. I use the medium level as a baseline and remove gambling and alcohol from the categories.
* My main browsers are FF5 and IE9. I mostly use FF and it always runs No-Script and Ad-Block.
* About once every two weeks, and sometimes weekly, I scan the workstations with one malware\av removal application. I rotate with Eset Online Scanner, MBAM, HouseCall and a couple of LiveCDs.
* I don't visit any unusual websites and nor open emails I do not recognize, or expect, even if from relatives. One can easily figure out that an email is a mass forward.
I have yet to encounter an infection on these machines and it has been at least 2 years with 7 and another with Vista or around those time frames.
Well although this has worked out well so far, I am curious to hear from other people that do the same. What works for you?
Thanks!
If you feel the need to simply flame please move on.
To those who currently do not use an AV...I want to share my practices and see what others do.
Up until Windows XP, I was not able to last too long without an AV before I'd get infected with something that would cause me trouble.
I suspect that had to do with lack of experience and not following better practices.
Starting with Vista SP1, I decided to give it a try again and not use an AV because I always felt I had yet another layer of software installed on my machine consuming some resources.
Since that point I have not experienced an infection and saved some $$$ too.
Here are all, or most, the things I do for my workstations. I currently manage 3 Windows 7 machines. One is a laptop, another is a testbench and the last one is a workstation.
* Patch Windows during Patch Tuesday or latest by next day.
* Scan the machines with Secunia PSI once a month to make sure everything is properly patched and I did not miss anything.
* I recently also started using the FileHippo updater which runs at startup and checks some of my installs against their database and lets me know if something is not up to date. If everything is patched, it shuts down by itself, if not then it lets me know what I need to upgrade.
* All routers have a NAT firewall and all machines use Windows Firewall.
* All my routers are using OpenDNS. I use the medium level as a baseline and remove gambling and alcohol from the categories.
* My main browsers are FF5 and IE9. I mostly use FF and it always runs No-Script and Ad-Block.
* About once every two weeks, and sometimes weekly, I scan the workstations with one malware\av removal application. I rotate with Eset Online Scanner, MBAM, HouseCall and a couple of LiveCDs.
* I don't visit any unusual websites and nor open emails I do not recognize, or expect, even if from relatives. One can easily figure out that an email is a mass forward.
I have yet to encounter an infection on these machines and it has been at least 2 years with 7 and another with Vista or around those time frames.
Well although this has worked out well so far, I am curious to hear from other people that do the same. What works for you?
Thanks!
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