What's needed without AV?

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by Get, Nov 5, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. noone_particular

    noone_particular Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2008
    Posts:
    3,798
    Get,
    Have you been relying on just the uninstallers for these different security apps and packages? Quite often, uninstallers leave files and changed settings behind that can conflict with the next security app you try.

    You'd be better off using an image of your system made before you install a security package and restore to that instead of counting on uninstallers.
     
  2. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    I didn't restore an image every time. Only when everything was done. I just now opened FF with and without Avast and the difference is 1 second. Opening a folder is just as fast, so there's nothing to gain. Only if I would reinstall windows it would be benefitial, but that's not something I like to do, because of all the tweaking I did the past years which I can't recall all I guess.
     
  3. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2006
    Posts:
    5,857
    Try this on XP
    - Outpost FW + HIPS = system wide protection
    - Sandboxie Paid = all internet facing apps (in seperate sandboxes)
    - HitmanPro scan on demand
    - Norton DNS

    Also have a look at Chrome/Chromium, it is much faster than any other browser. With SBIE, GeSWall, DefenseWall guarding browsers it is irrelevant which browser you use, might as well go for the fastest available.
     
  4. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    Chrome isn't faster on my pc and that's with Firefox "fully" loaded with extensions, so I'll stick with FF. I read some about dnsservers and found Norton a bit shady concerning privacy. The others maybe also, but I have to look into that deeper. Interesting, because I never seriously considered changing my isp's dns. Could make browsing a lot faster apparantly. I'm staying with Avast probably, so only speed and privacy are of interest to me now.
     
  5. luciddream

    luciddream Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    Posts:
    2,545
    I seriously doubt that that's necessary. A single core CPU in the 1.6-2.4 Ghz range, and 1 GB of RAM is perfectly adequate for an XP setup. And with the right tweaking your box can even be lightning fast on those specs.

    I think you could benefit greatly from a reformat. Wipe that drive and start over clean... do things right this time around.

    If you don't feel 100% comfortable running without a real-time AV, and Avast has worked well for you, then go with it. Strip it down to just the File Shield, and maybe Network Shield & Behavior Blocker as well (both modules are light) if you find benefit in them. Or maybe after the reformat the VT Hash Check/Download Statusbar method will work for you?

    Whether you decide to go with a real-time AV or not, I still highly recommend Sandboxie.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2012
  6. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    This window installment is in place since april 2008... . Things were done right that time, but it's just too old I guess. Nevertheless a new install would be very hard to do, because I can't reproduce all the tweaks I guess. I won't do it the coming time. Sandboxie will be the last to leave my pc. Best software I ever used. Stripping Avast now or even stop all shields don't do much for speed.
     
  7. luciddream

    luciddream Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    Posts:
    2,545
    I'll have to disagree here. Usually no 1 tweak by itself will make any noticeable difference. It's the accumulation of many of them together that you notice the results.

    But real-time scanning components, especially, make a noticeable difference by themselves. Not to mention decrease attack surface and the potential for conflict. The Web Shields/Guards in Avast & Avira are known to cause conflicts with outbound FW's, and actually lessen your protection in the grand scheme of things. Back when I used real-time AV's I tried both products. And after trimming both down to just the File Shields/Guards (respectively), noticed an obvious difference. I think mostly on account of the "Web" components.

    Then again my system is so feather light to begin with. Windows pop up immediately. So I notice even the slightest increase in footprint. If a system is already sluggish to begin with on the other hand, there may be no difference.
     
  8. Sully

    Sully Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2005
    Posts:
    3,719
    #1 tweak - reformat the system!

    #1 hog - security tools!

    #1 application most likely to show the age of hardware or OS install - browser!

    IMO even a 1.5 - 2ghz cpu with 512+ ddr ram is S L O W with all current browsers. I should know, I have a couple dozen I maintain lol. Browsers - where did the small footprints of yesteryear go anyway o_O

    Sul.
     
  9. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    Mentally I was still in the pre-image era when a format was irreversible. Strange, because everytime I put back an image I format beforehand... . I will do a reinstall soon and when it fails in any way I can easily put back an image. Eureka! :oops:
     
  10. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    I have an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ and 1024 ddr... s l o w even after a reinstall or just not as fast as todays standard? For instance when I open firefox now with this page allready open (not a new tab, but a new page) it takes 1 sec. Opening Firefox the first time takes up to 20 sec. After closing FF the second time takes 6 sec.
     
  11. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    I'll look into that, but nowadays Outpost knows that Avast is installed and asks you to exclude some stuff which I don't do btw. Me not doing that doesn't cause any problems at first sight, but who knows I'm missing something.
     
  12. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2006
    Posts:
    5,857
    Take a plunge in special linux distro's with a relative small footprint intended for old hardware like puppy linux or damn small linux
     
  13. Sully

    Sully Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2005
    Posts:
    3,719
    That is funny. At work here I use a Gigabyte mobo with the same AMD chip, but with 2gb ram.

    That is very much slow compared to new stuff. At home I have an i7 2600k with 16gb ram and SSD. The difference between the two is very large. Not much is slow on the i7, but a lot is on the AMD 4000+.

    Take that with a grain of salt though, the AMD is not exactly slow, just not as fast. And what I meant by my statement was that 5 years ago browsers were much lighter. My AMD chip hasn't slowed down, my OS can be fresh, but current browsers are heavier, and that can be felt easily if you do the same things year in and year out. Thats how it seems to me anyway.

    Sul.
     
  14. Sully

    Sully Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2005
    Posts:
    3,719
    I took that plunge (on many occassions) and to be honest, found XP, when tweaked, was much more responsive than puppy linux. DSL might be on par with XP, hard to tell as it is so spartan.

    That suprised me. Led me down a path of many linux distro installs on that laptop. Which eventually led me to believe that linux desktops of today are really about the same as windows when it comes to responsiveness you can feel. Mind you, I don't know how to tweak linux at all, so maybe that is the difference.

    Puppy was my favorite of all the small-ish distros I tried.

    Sul.
     
  15. operamail

    operamail Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2011
    Posts:
    254
    I haven't used AV for like a year now, no 3rd party firewall either, just Sandboxie and windows firewall for the whole time. I think it's enough for me! Also I use Clonezilla to image my system in case of anything getting through, but I think the odds are so low. I mean I never recover my system because of virus problem. Most of the time I recover, because I wanna keep my system clean. And also remember, common sense is very important too.
     
  16. Get

    Get Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2009
    Posts:
    384
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    I want to use xp and not linux, so that's not gonna happen soon. I once (a long time ago, but still) tried linux which booted from cd, but I didn't feel "at home" with it. I looked at the i7 2600k, but for my use the i5 2500k would be more than enough and is very tempting. I will consider upgrading the hardware, but the investment isn't really worth the gain for me for now (have to upgrade everything then). I tried some stuff. Repair install which led to reinstalling an image and I wanted to reinstall, but when gathering the software needed to install after wininstall I was once again put of by the amount of stuff I have to install/tweak and I'm not so sure the gain will be that big to make that a good choice, because as was stated browsers (and other software) are heavier as they used to be.
    @operamail: I use internet also for banking, so that's why I want to minimize risks. Btw I think you've got to update your signature or you've changed your mind very quickly :) .
     
  17. operamail

    operamail Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2011
    Posts:
    254
    Right! I have to update my signatures.:rolleyes: I do not use OutpostFW any more, not only because it causes BSOD on my system when I have p2p programs running, but also because I think Sandboxie is sufficient enough for me. Also I think my laziness is another major factor!;)

    If you use online banking a lot, you can run your online banking browser in a separate sandbox, in which your browser is the only program that can run/execute and have access to the internet. Sandboxie is really a magic program, there are so much you can do with it. It's the program that pulls me back to Windows from Linux.

    Anyway hope you can find the best solution that meets your needs and makes you happy!:)
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2012
  18. PJC

    PJC Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2010
    Posts:
    2,959
    Location:
    Internet
    Q What's needed without AV?

    A
    -Imaging software
    -DefenseWall
    -Shadow Defender
     
  19. LoneWolf

    LoneWolf Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2006
    Posts:
    3,782
    My setup exactly. :D
     
  20. Escalader

    Escalader Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2005
    Posts:
    3,710
    Location:
    Land of the Mooses

    Without avast you could turn on OP's web control feature and harden it!

    I'm assuming you are behind a router and have up to date image backup?

    You can then do what I do and run a web based AV once/week and not burden your setup.

    Why do you have Winpatrol? What does it do for you?
     
  21. pegr

    pegr Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2008
    Posts:
    2,280
    Location:
    UK
    I don't disagree but I'd put it a little more generically like this: -

    A
    -Imaging software
    -Policy Restriction
    -Virtualization software

    That doesn't tie the recommendation to specific applications or to a 32-bit version of Windows.
     
  22. guest

    guest Guest

    Clonezilla
    Exe Radar "free version or paid"
    AVG recuse disk "to do on demand scans outside of windows"
    And a modified version of windows with as many attack areas removed as possible
     
  23. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 3, 2011
    Posts:
    6,039
    Location:
    Parallel Universe
    Sandboxie free
    MBAM free
    HitmanPro free
    Keriver 1-Click Restore free

    This is all needed for AV less setup. :)
     
  24. tomazyk

    tomazyk Guest

    I agree with this. I would only add some On-demand scanner...
     
  25. Solarlynx

    Solarlynx Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2011
    Posts:
    2,015
    1. DefenseWall or Comodo Firewall with D+ or PrivateFirewall or Online Armor
    2. a time machine (like Rollback Rx or Comodo Time Machine or Sysrestore) or Keriver 1-click restore (but not both together)
    3. if no Keriver 1-click restore then an imaging app (like Clonezilla or Terabyte etc)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.