Windows 10 - Antivirus

[TransformedBG]

Im just curious as to what y'all are using.. i have been using bit defender for quite some time now.. and i got about 50 days before i have to renew... So im curious as to suggestions

 

[dyckah]

On windows 7 I used Microsoft security essentials, windows 8, and windows 10 I'm just using windows defender.

 

[c627627]

It's ease of use vs. security situation.

Microsoft Security Essentials is easy to use and it's certainly "better than nothing" but its antivirus definitions have traditionally been sub-par.
Paying for Antivirus may not be necessary as many pay-for programs also have definitions which do not stack up against freeware such as Avira.

Difficult to set up, but their definitions are stellar.


Avira AntiVir Personal 15.0.8.658

Full version location is
http://install.avira-update.com/package/antivirus/win/en-us/avira_antivirus_en-us.exe

Double click on Setup.exe to install the program.

Click on Next, ignoring Avira's warnings to uninstall Comodo Firewall or similar programs which intercept phone-home attempts.


SELECT: Custom
UNCHECK: I want to improve my protection using Avira Protection Cloud
CHECK: I accept the End User License Agreement > Next > Next > STOP!!

!!! IMPORTANT !!! : UNCHECK: Windows Firewall
Otherwise Avira umbrella will integrate with Windows Firewall ON/OFF switch and will be closed even if you are using better third party Firewalls like Comodo Firewall instead of Windows Firewall.
In other words, if you don't UNCHECK: Windows Firewall, you will have to permanently keep Windows Firewall ON for Avira umbrella to be open, even if you use other, better firewalls.
After installation, C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\setup.exe controls adding/removing Avira options like Firewall.

CHECK: Confirm manually when sending suspicious files to Avira > Next > Next


Welcome to the Configuration Wizard > Next > Next > STOP!!

Allow the configuration wizard to keep the default Express Setup options. [Do NOT Select All.]
Once again: *DO NOT SELECT ALL* here.
(LEAVE UNCHECKED: Application, Games, Jokes, Programs that violate the private domain) > Next >

UNCHECK: Performs a quick systems scan after the installation > Next > Finish

Run program update, reboot if prompted. Wait for update to install.


UNINSTALL AVIRA ESSENTIALS after installation completes:
Right click on Start Button > Control Panel > Uninstall a program >
If there are two entries:
Avira
Avira Free Antivirus

Avira Essentials is the first entry called "Avira"
Uninstall "Avira" not "Avira Free Antivirus".
Ignore any error messages.

DO NOT ALLOW AVIRA TO UPDATE IMMEDIATELY AFTER UNINSTALLING THIS ENTRY or else Avira Essentials will trick you into reinstalling it.

Once again: DO NOT CLICK ON Accept and Update if prompted immediately after set up finishes. Click on X to close the window > Cancel? > Yes
[This is, again, because Avira may try to get you to reinstall Avira Essentials immediately after you uninstall Avira Essentials.]


Start Avira >
System Scanner (upper left) > Configuration (upper right) >

Always keep this UNCHECKED: Follow symbolic links (on right)

> System Scanner > Scan > Action on detection >
Set for Automatic, Primary action: Ignore [if you want to just scan folders and get a scan report without deleting files or being prompted what to do if virii/malware are found.]

> [bottom line under PC Protection] General > Security >
Disable being notified every time USB drive has an AUTORUN.INF file:
UNCHECK: Block autorun function
> General > Events > Select: Limit size to max. >
> General > Reports > Select: Limit number to max. >
> General > Warnings > UNCHECK Show notice if the virus definition file is out of date

> Apply > First click on OK then > Scheduler [on lower left] > UNCHECK everything.


Set Avira Free Antivirus to Always show in Windows Taskbar.


Also block this Avira messaging popup nag file from accessing the internet, using Comodo Firewall or similar software:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\ipmgui.exe
or
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\ipmgui.exe


To disable Notifier nag screen: Control Panel > View by Category > System and Security first > Administrative Tools [fourth from bottom] > Local Security Policy > Right click on Software Restriction Policies > New Software Restriction Policies SO THAT ADDITIONAL RULES SHOWS UP UNDERNEATH > Right click on Additional Rules > New Path Rule... > Browse... to the path of avnotify.exe default is
C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe
or
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe

> OK > Set the security level to Disallowed > OK


For Windows Home or non-Professional versions, you must reboot into Safe Mode, log in as Administrator, then
go to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe
and right click on it >
Properties > Security TAB >
[Under Group or usernames] SYSTEM > Edit button > CHECK: Deny for Read & execute > Apply > Yes > OK > OK

Make sure SYSTEM is set to Deny for Read & execute before rebooting.

[Security TAB will only show up on NTFS formatted drives, not FAT32 drives.]

To boot into Safe Mode: Start Menu > Run... > MSCONFIG > Boot TAB >
CHECK: Safe boot > OK
When you finish with Safe Mode, be sure to UNCHECK: Safe boot so you don't reboot into Safe Mode again.


To submit a suspected virus, go to
http://analysis.avira.com/samples/
to upload it.


You can scan multiple drives inside program options: Local Protection > Scanner > CHECK drives you wish to scan. The premium version also offers the option to scan multiple folders here. The free version does not.


Subscription to new virus definitions for this program is renewed automatically when you right click on Avira icon in the task bar > Start update

or download the latest key file from:
http://personal.avira-update.com/package/peclkey/win32/int/hbedv.key

and either copy it to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop
and restart or go to Help > License management > click on the blue License file link > browse to the new downloaded hbedv.key > Open.



In case of error message:

The procedure entry point ?_Xbad@tr1@std@@YAX4error_type@regex_constants@12@@Z could not be located in the dynamic link library MSVCP90.dll

download and install Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=a5c84275-3b97-4ab7-a40d-3802b2af5fc2


Manual updates can be downloaded from:
http://dl.antivir.de/down/vdf/ivdf_fusebundle_nt_en.zip
Unzip the downloaded file and copy all the contents to
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop


Using two Antivirus programs at the same time:
It is *not* a good idea to use two Antivirus programs at the same time, they will conflict with each other and most likely cause problems, unless you disable one of them from being active on the system.


Default log file location is
%PROGRAMDATA%\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\LOGFILES

%PROGRAMDATA% stands for
C:\ProgramData\

 

[TransformedBG]

Wow. .. nice instructions. I'm impressed. I'll look into that. Since my version of bitdefender is incompatable with 10 anyways. So how long did it take you to figure all that out?

 

[c627627]

When malware got through my defenses once, I saved it, then immediately installed all the antivirus software I can get my hands on, just to test which one could detect it.

Avira did, others did not. Then I watched as some others (like Norton) got the definitions for it eventually while many others did not for a while.


If malware got through Avira on my system, I would do an identical test and would switch to antivirus which could detect it.
I feel this is the only credible argument for/against antivirus software. Personal experience of one software detecting something that actually got through on your system, that is *not* a false-positive but actual malware.


Avira is very difficult to set up to work properly, but their definitions might be second only to Norton today, since Norton improved across the board.... But Norton has a bad reputation as hogware + it's pay-for and Avira is free, unless you pay for Avira Professional and then you don't need to worry about some of the instructions above.

 

[trents]

I use Avira free and am very pleased with it. My only complaint is it seems to flag essentially anything that has a .exe file in it, even legit programs so you have to be aware of that and just override it in such cases.

 

[c627627]

This may be a consequence of not following this advice, or a cosequence of another setting you adjusted:

Welcome to the Configuration Wizard > Next > Next >

Allow the configuration wizard to keep the default Express Setup options. [Do not Select All.]
Once again: *DO NOT SELECT ALL* here.
(LEAVE UNCHECKED: Application, Games, Jokes, Programs that violate the private domain) > Next

 

[Dlaw]

I've been using Avast! for the past 3 years or so, and am very pleased with it.

 

[trents]

This may be a consequence of not following this advice, or a cosequence of another setting you adjusted:

Welcome to the Configuration Wizard > Next > Next >

Allow the configuration wizard to keep the default Express Setup options. [Do not Select All.]
Once again: *DO NOT SELECT ALL* here.
(LEAVE UNCHECKED: Application, Games, Jokes, Programs that violate the private domain) > Next

Yeah, actually I did make that change recently in Avira's settings but by default those are checked I believe.

 

[c627627]

There's your reason then... You don't want to deviate or else the program will interfere too much.

I also found this out the hard way early on.

 

[trents]

No, I mean the default Avira configuration blocked all .exe files. I had to change that in order to install programs. At least that's how it installed for me by default.

 

[c627627]

Hm. I am about to launch my Windows 10 exploration now that Service Release 1, aka real Windows 10 RTM is out.

I will install from scratch and post any observations here...

 

[Janus67]

I use Nod32, updated and working on my w10 install

 

[c627627]

oooh, if I may say, over the 13 years on the forums, it's hard for me to think of a program with worse definitions than Avast... and Nod32 is one of them.

Both are in the same 'better than nothing' category along with Microsoft Essentials, so they're absolutely better than nothing but their definitions do not get updated as quickly... I would ditch Avira and use any of the other two if they had better definitions but nothing's changed in the last 10 years. Both Nod32 and Avast were behind and they haven't caught up with the top programs to this day (when it comes to definitions).

 

[Janus67]

I generally go by what various unbiased review sites say and nod32 tends to be in the upper-echelon of the group for the most part:

http://www.av-comparatives.org/dynamic-tests/

At least according to the most recent 3 PDFs results on those sites it is far above microsoft.

FWIW my definitions update multiple times per day, so I couldn't imagine them being that far behind what the rest have at any given point +/- a few hours.

 

[c627627]

Everyone should use whatever they are happy with, there are many reasons why people use one product over another.
Anti-virus products *absolutely* protect you - they *do* block, they do intercept malware, if they have definitions for it.
There is no-such-thing as "safe" browsing.

Web sites, can be andare taken over - they can and do run malicious third-party code.
Microsoft's very own web site can be hi-jacked and was taken over at least once that I know of. Proof:




But let's take a look at what you linked to. I don't know who these people are and base my opinion solely on personal experience and hanging around forums such as our forum, where it is kind of 'common knowledge' that MS Essentials is easy to use but has less than stellar definitions, and where people generally know that Avira offers better protection for free than many pay-for products do.

So looking at the site you linked to, they put TrendMicro, Kaspersky and Avira in the top five as seen in the screenshot. Those 3 show up consistently in the top 5 over the last decade "in my book"...

Why is Norton not there, am I not seeing it? Their definitions are actually excellent. Norton has a bad rep, but their definitions are great. Norton should be in the top 5.
Panda has always been ok, they have it in the top spot, so that is also something I have seen before.

I've heard good things about Bitdefender, and seeing as these things fluctuate, overall, they are correct, like I said, TrendMicro, Kaspersky and Avira have always been in the top.

Avira is free, so that's another thing to consider though.


Avast, AVG and ESET Nod32 are not in the top 5, which is consistent with my experience too.

So with the exception of the missing Norton, which should be included, you can't really go wrong with any of the Top 5 your linked site tested.

 

[Janus67]

I won't disagree that there are better options (and this coming year when nod32 asks for renewal I may decline and go to Avira. But saying eset being close to microsoft is a bit of a hyperbole.

 

[c627627]

I was always suspicious of Kaspersky.

I would start telling friends not to use Kaspersky any more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/14/us-kaspersky-rivals-idUSKCN0QJ1CR20150814

 

[bartx]

Have you checked 360 Total Security? I'm wondering if it works with Windows 10.

 

[Woomack]

Avast - it's slow and causes various issues. Especially when you work in business then you see that all the time
Nod32 - good vs viruses etc but it's not cleaning everything, also it's not low lvl soft so some viruses can turn it off
Norton - good ... really good ... but causes performance issues on many workstations, simply users are complaining
MS integrated soft ( defender or anything else what is generally the same stuff under different name ) - good enough for most users but won't protect you from everything.
Kaspersky - quite good and is getting better. Not many problems like in the past and it's not slowing down OS much
Avira - for some reason I don't trust it , I don't know why, maybe bad experience from the past
McAfee - pretty average, nothing special
AVG - not bad and works good on Win10, it's also free

There is no one, the best AV software. Every user has its preferences and many programs are similar. There is no perfect soft but you can clearly say that some are bad.
Personally I don't have any problems using even MS software. Actually the biggest problem lately is everything else than viruses like malware, spyware etc. Classic viruses are not so common so you can use any antivirus and it will be still good.