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Help on choice of Security program to go with Malwarebytes


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Just purchased the PRO version of Malwarebytes. Had an infection on my computer that only Malwarebytes found and fixed and this after having McAffee on my system and then removing that and running Bitdefender. Nothing worked except Mawarebytes and I was sold. Now, I need help on choosing an antivirus or other security program that can run with Malwarebytes (I have enabled the real-time protection). What security suite is best? Spent a long time on reviews on very confusing. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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If you're looking for one of the freebie AV's, then I'd either go with Avira (best of freebies) or Avast (also good, but not quite as good as Avira), and if you're looking for a paid one, I'd use either Kaspersky or NOD32 (or even Avira Premium as it's pretty good as well). All of the above are very light on resources so they won't eat up all your ram and they have very good detection rates against viruses and malware. A good added layer would be Spybot Search & Destroy (use the immunize function, just don't use TeaTimer as it could conflict with Malwarebytes') as well as Spywareblaster (works similar to Spybot's immunization feature). Both of those will help to block malicious websites and malicious activeX controls when using firefox and internet explorer.

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Many thanks! Am I correct that I can leave Malwarebytes real-time protection on with your suggested virus scanners including Spybot (with TeaTimer off)? And why is it that many of these vaunted programs such as BiotBefender 2009 or McAffee didn't detect the trojan virus (it was iamfamous) while Malwarebytes did (kie I said sold me on purchasing it)?

Thanks :P !

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Many thanks! Am I correct that I can leave Malwarebytes real-time protection on with your suggested virus scanners including Spybot (with TeaTimer off)? And why is it that many of these vaunted programs such as BiotBefender 2009 or McAffee didn't detect the trojan virus (it was iamfamous) while Malwarebytes did (kie I said sold me on purchasing it)?

Thanks :P !

Absolutely, Malwarebytes' is designed to run in realtime alongside your active antivirus without conflicting, and the reason your AV didn't detect it is the very reason that Malwarebytes' did. Malwarebytes' was created to catch the vicious and frequently updated threats that most antivirus softwares miss, such as rogues, trojans and rootkits (more than that, but you get the idea). The trouble with these types of threats is that they are modified so frequently to bypass detection by most security software companies, and this is where Malwarebytes' comes in. The developers try to keep up with these threats constantly both by helping users in the forum and collecting samples of malware from them as well as monitoring websites that are known to infect PC's with these malicious threats. It's a specialized tool, and if it were a full blown antivirus it would probably be less effective because that would be like 10 times more threats they would have to keep up with (which is why antivirus vendors tend to miss them because they're always so far behind). If an antivirus does detect one of the infections that Malwarebytes' does it's probably a very old variant of that infection.

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Absolutely, Malwarebytes' is designed to run in realtime alongside your active antivirus without conflicting, and the reason your AV didn't detect it is the very reason that Malwarebytes' did. Malwarebytes' was created to catch the vicious and frequently updated threats that most antivirus softwares miss, such as rogues, trojans and rootkits (more than that, but you get the idea). The trouble with these types of threats is that they are modified so frequently to bypass detection by most security software companies, and this is where Malwarebytes' comes in. The developers try to keep up with these threats constantly both by helping users in the forum and collecting samples of malware from them as well as monitoring websites that are known to infect PC's with these malicious threats. It's a specialized tool, and if it were a full blown antivirus it would probably be less effective because that would be like 10 times more threats they would have to keep up with (which is why antivirus vendors tend to miss them because they're always so far behind). If an antivirus does detect one of the infections that Malwarebytes' does it's probably a very old variant of that infection.

it would be great if malwarebytes real time protection can include real time disinfection and would stop malware from making changes in the registry and folders

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it would be great if malwarebytes real time protection can include real time disinfection and would stop malware from making changes in the registry and folders

I somewhat agree, but at the same time it probably wouldn't be as light on resources then and would have more chance of causing conflicts with antivirus softwares and internet security suites.

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neuro1, here's my recommended list of security protections for you. I hope you'll like it:

Main security program:

1. Kaspersky, ESET NOD32/Smart Security, Avira Premium and G Data (if you're asking for paid security)

2. Avira, Avast or Comodo Internet Security (if you're asking for free security)

Sidekick:

1. MalwareBytes

2. SUPERAntispyware

3. A Squared Free v4

4. Ashampoo Antispyware (not free)

Passive Protection:

1. Spyware Blaster

2. The spyware protection module in Iobit Advanced SystemCare

behavioral protection:

1. Drive Sentry

2. PC Tools ThreatFire

Anti-Vulnerability:

1. Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)

Additional Security (if you asked for even more):

1. Zemana Antilogger (if you do online purchases & transactions)

2. Norton Antibot (Exile360 recommended this to me)

3. Returnil Virtual System Personal Edition (virtual environment for safe online surfing which really works, might be a bit complicated)

Security protection i do NOT recommend:

1. Ad-Aware (this security software is seriously lagging behind in protection)

2. AVG (very popular but missed more trojans than any other antivirus i used)

3. Norton (this antivirus has serious stability issues)

4. Webroot SpySweeper (mediocre removal and a big time resource hog)

I hope i'm being helpful. Please tell me what you think... :P

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Security protection i do NOT recommend:

1. Ad-Aware (this security software is seriously lagging behind in protection)

2. AVG (very popular but missed more trojans than any other antivirus i used)

3. Norton (this antivirus has serious stability issues)

4. Webroot SpySweeper (mediocre removal and a big time resource hog)

I recommend adding "Anything from McAfee" to that list. :P

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AGREED! This is coming from a former McAfee user.

macafee site advisor is not bad- that is about the only mcafee product decent out there

also add to this list:

Security protection i do NOT recommend:

1. Ad-Aware (this security software is seriously lagging behind in protection)

2. AVG (very popular but missed more trojans than any other antivirus i used)

3. Norton (this antivirus has serious stability issues)

4. Webroot SpySweeper (mediocre removal and a big time resource hog)

5. Spywaredoctor (many of my clients got so many f/ps and it slowed down their computer to a crawl

robin

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I recommend adding "Anything from McAfee" to that list. :)

Uh oh...really?

Crap...guess I should start shopping for a new AV :D

Just out of curiosity, why? Is it because it is relatively behind on catching current threats? Is it the overhead involved with it's suite? Or perhaps both?

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Uh oh...really?

Crap...guess I should start shopping for a new AV :D

Just out of curiosity, why? Is it because it is relatively behind on catching current threats? Is it the overhead involved with it's suite? Or perhaps both?

For me it's both (I'm a former long time McAfee user). I ditched em' after version 11 came out.

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Thanks for the quick reply there, exile.

Yeah...I'm currently using McAfee but only the antivirus as the whole suite (to include the firewall) was causing long delays with my rig booting up.

Question then, if I were to get a premium version of Avira or Kaspersky, how much overhead is involved with their products compared to McAfee's? Is background resource usage lower as well as better boot times? Thanks again and in advance.

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They are both very light. I've been using Kaspersky for about 2 years now and have had great success with it. Boots quickly and background usage is really light, with one crucial exception, when installing a new piece of software or running a program for the first time Kaspersky analyzes what the application will do before it lets it run and uses both it's actual definitions and heuristics to determine whether or not the program is malicious. With large files or programs it can take a while and quite a lot of CPU, but it's fine once it's done. Kaspersky Labs is working on making it quicker, but I'd rather have the protection as not. Heck, it even warned me about a DRM rootkit in one of the games I had just purchased when it tried to install a hidden driver. Though the driver isn't malicious and is used for copy protection, it's still nice to be aware that it's there. Besides, if you KNOW that the program is safe that you're installing, you can just right click Kaspersky's tray icon and click either Pause Protection, or Exit and it won't block anything. And when you exit Kaspersky, it really does exit completely unlike many other AV's (including McAfee).

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Just out of curiosity, why? Is it because it is relatively behind on catching current threats? Is it the overhead involved with it's suite? Or perhaps both?

McAfee has been lagging behind for many years. They are also the most bloated, causing the worst system slowdowns.

We always recommend AntiVir from Avira. The free edition is good, and beats most of the paid solutions (and it's detection rates beat all of the other free AV software).

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I have a question about anti-virus programs. Right now I'm using AVG, but after reading this thread, it looks like Avira is probably a much better program.

Can I run two different anti-virus programs - AVG and Avira? Or will they conflict? If they conflict, should I un-install AVG first and then install Avira?

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Can I run two different anti-virus programs - AVG and Avira? Or will they conflict? If they conflict, should I un-install AVG first and then install Avira?

Yes they will conflict, but it is possible (at least with AntiVir, and most others) to disable the real-time protection so that this is not an issue.

If you wish to do it the easy way, you can install AntiVir, but choose not to install it's 'Guard'. This will allow you to use it as just a manual scanner when you feel like scanning for malware, and the issue with conflicts will be minimized.

Our recommendation is to remove AVG, and use AntiVir as your real-time protection instead. It is much more capable.

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Yes they will conflict, but it is possible (at least with AntiVir, and most others) to disable the real-time protection so that this is not an issue.

If you wish to do it the easy way, you can install AntiVir, but choose not to install it's 'Guard'. This will allow you to use it as just a manual scanner when you feel like scanning for malware, and the issue with conflicts will be minimized.

Our recommendation is to remove AVG, and use AntiVir as your real-time protection instead. It is much more capable.

GT500............thanks so much for your quick and detailed response. :)

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What are your thoughts regarding AV stuff for Vista 64 bit OS? Next week I should receive my new laptop with Vista 64 bit. I want the 64 bit for the >3GB of memory support. Suggestions?

I plan to max out the laptop with 8GB of real memory, two 350 GB HDs and then run several virtual machines on it, unless the 64bit will allow me to run everything under one installation. Hopefully later this year I'll build a new server/desktop and it will have a 12TB RAID 6 array. I run the MS office (2007) suite along with a ton of other applications and it is not uncommon for me to have 20-50 or more windows open at the same time. With WinXP Pro I hit the wall and at some point I notice applications are not quite right and it is time for a reboot. Hopefully Vista 64 will eliminate this problem for me. Suggestions?

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For AV, Avira functions very well on Vista x64. Spybot Search & Destroy's Immunize function works with it as well as Spywareblaster (both are useful for passive protection against malware). Comodo Boclean works in x64 and is light on resources and MBAM works well as an on demand scanner (the realtime protection for MBAM doesn't yet work with x64).

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  • 1 year later...
For AV, Avira functions very well on Vista x64. Spybot Search & Destroy's Immunize function works with it as well as Spywareblaster (both are useful for passive protection against malware). Comodo Boclean works in x64 and is light on resources and MBAM works well as an on demand scanner (the realtime protection for MBAM doesn't yet work with x64).

Hi,

I am a PC repair tech. I put malwarebytes on all my customers' PCs because it is so good at finding things that other programs don't and it installs, updates and runs so fast. I do occasionally find that it doesn't find everything, particularly win32.agent and I need to run Combofix, Spybot and Superantispyware to completely clear a badly infected machine.

My main question is what main antivirus program to install with it. I always encourage my customers to ditch Norton and Macafee and for the last couple of years I have replaced these with AVG Free. I have read with interest your opinions in this thread that Avira is better than AVG. I have no experience of Avira. I do however, have experience with Avast and Kaspersky. Avast is usually fine except that most of my customers can't get their heads around annually re-registering so they let it lapse and then get into trouble. I have also once seen it conflict with other software such that a blue screen always occurred on startup. Kaspersky is good at finding stuff but seems to have a lot of trouble with modules becoming corrupt and using up 100% cpu - rather like Norton. Also updating Kaspersky is often a total nightmare. The big advantage that AVG has is that once its on a machine you never have to re-register and it rarely goes mental during an update. However I am a little concerned that it has become a bit crap at finding things recently. Consequently I would like to ask if you continue to recommend Avira over AVG in May 2010.

Thanks,

Adam @ Finch Computers, Wokingham, UK

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Greetings :D

I personally do, yes. Avira generally has better detection rates in my experience and is lighter on resources. Another that I've personally been recommending for a good, free, set it and forget it type of antivirus is Microsoft Security Essentials (free for home use) The official support forum for this product can be found here

Just make sure that if your clients are using the Pro version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware with MSE, that the following files and locations are excluded in the Excluded files & locations section as well as the Excluded processes section in MSE:

For Windows XP:

  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\zlib.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys

For Windows Vista or Windows 7:

  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\zlib.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  • C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys

For 64 bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7:

  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\zlib.dll
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  • C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  • C:\Windows\SysWoW64\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys

A good guide on doing so can be found here.

As for paid protection, I still personally recommend Kaspersky and Eset NOD32 as they are both excellent AV's in my opinion. I concur with regards to upgrading Kaspersky versions though, it can at times have issues but their uninstall tool usually resolves the issues.

Also note, just in case you weren't aware, that at the time I posted the info you quote above, that Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware's realtime protection was incompatible with 64 bit versions of Windows, but that has now changed and it is now fully compatible :).

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I completely agree with exile 360. Avira and MSE are excellent free AV products. Personally, I prefer to put MSE on my customers computers because it is completely free and doesn't flash up any nag screens etc.

For paid protection, I also recommend ESET NOD32 for slower computers and Kaspersky for the modern faster computers.

I an not keen on AVG because it doesn't pass all the Spycar tests. So, whilst it may be a sort of OK antivirus program, it's not going to be very effective if some 'Rogue' AV/AS product tries to take over your computer.

Obviously I also recommend MBAM realtime protection in addition to an antivirus program for the best level of protection.

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