changing settings

I would like to hear what someone from ESET has to say about my comments.
This is intended as a constructive inquiry.

I earned my living as a programmer on mainframes and have been playing with PCs for 15 years. A program like ESET and others I have are very complicated and IMHO I certainly don't have the knowledge to change ESETs settings when I get a new version. I have the greatest respect for ESET or I wouldn't be using it.

My question is: why do companies like ESET expect their users to make changes without detailed instructions as to what might happen due to their changes. That's one thing that programming has taught me, make any change then TEST, don't assume. About the only thing I change when I get a new ESET package is their advanced settings. Most users IMHO should never change these settings. Maybe that's why a lot of people are having trouble with ESET and I never do. I would think this would hurt ESET and I don't want it to go away. God help me if had to get Symantec or McCafee.
Or maybe everyone else is a genius and I am to stupid to use a puter.

 

I can only post about my own observations... I claim to be neither an expert nor affiliated with ESET...

Most Anti-virus systems and Firewalls come set with a base configuration that covers generic usage on a PC... Some packages like ESET provide the ability for you to use ADVANCED options for higher base settings...

But... not all computers are set up alike... in fact... DELL will have different drivers and update processes than ASUS which has different drivers and update processes from GATEWAY which will have different drivers and update processes from HP which will have... well... you get the picture... thus, you need to create rules that allow for those drivers and processes to function in order to keep your laptop at the top of its game... Of course, you don't HAVE to, but sometimes it is a good idea...

Then you have the programs and usage of the computer... Different people add different programs and depending on the actions of these programs, some functionality may be required on the part of the firewall or you may need the anti-virus to ignore the program because it allows you to kill run away or hung processes on your computer and thus has a signature of malware...

If everyone had the exact same configuration of software and hardware on their computers, then anti-virus companies and firewall companies would be in hog heaven because they wouldn't have a moving target to support... and they could provide an exact configuration required to make your computer sing without encountering nastys...

But obviously, each person has their own tastes... and some even like to live on the wild side and surf areas of the net that are less than savory and contain all sorts of spyware, malware, trojans and virus... thus they need a little harder protection to keep their computer safe... maybe even additional software...

So... it sounds like you use a base configuration with few surprises tossed in the mix, so a base protection scheme fits you perfectly... whereas I like to run a few extra programs on my systems as well as some online gaming, putty for connecting to various Linux/Unix/Solaris systems and even Reflections for connecting to VMS systems... which usually means I have to fire up VPN software now and then... thus I have a few different rules that I have to allow for...

Regards -
-Bob

 

Hi Vizhip,
You make some very good points.
What you say is definitely true, so ESET then would have to have a tutorial on every
advanced item. Otherwise how are the newbies out there going to make the proper decision to change something? Me included. That is precisely why I don't change much from the original settings. I handle Ccleaner the same way.

 

Hi Ronjor,
Noted and Website saved.
I thank ESET for their efforts.
I would like to make a suggestion.

I sure all of you have had the pleasure of wading through 10,000 items in a FAC and
hours later finding nothing. FACs are fine but an extensive index is needed and it needs
to be kept up to date. Usually when I see something like this I stop, go to Jeeves
and look it up that way. Actually what's needed is a FAC librarian to put these things
in some kind of findable order. Not just ESET but everybody else.
Haven't read the item suggested but I assume a description of every advanced item
is not there yet.