Dumping MSE, unsure of its replacement.

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by Carbonyl, Jan 27, 2014.

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  1. Carbonyl

    Carbonyl Registered Member

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    Recent reports of MSE's effectiveness have left me feeling worried and paranoid about the safety of my system. I'm planning on dumping it for a more effective replacement. Paid options are viable.

    My current thought is to go with ESET NOD32, as it was my preferred A/V before I went with MSE. I'm concerned about a few things, though.

    1.) Removal of MSE: How can I accomplish this so that future conflicts will be minimized? In my experience, "uninstalling" any antivirus software is ineffectual. It always causes future conflicts.

    2.) My current computer runs Sandboxie. Sandboxie is configured in a way that I'd prefer not to have to reinstall it. I've heard that some A/V suites don't play well with Sandboxie, particularly the system level driver. What A/V options exist that would work well with Sandboxie? Is NOD one of these options?

    3.) I'm concerned about system drag. Some A/V suites are notoriously heavy on resources, and I've heard NOD is getting that way. Can anyone confirm or deny the drain on a system with the latest version of NOD?

    Overall, I use my system for heavy gaming and video editing (Premiere/After Effects). Most web-facing applications are sandboxed (with the exception of Steam). I'm currently on Win 7 x64 SP1, without intent of moving to windows 8.

    Any help on whether or not NOD would be a good choice, and/or alternatives, would be much appreciated. Thanks.
     
  2. Spiral123

    Spiral123 Registered Member

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    What reports of MSE ineffectiveness are you referring to?
     
  3. The Hammer

    The Hammer Registered Member

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    He could be referring to test site results. AVC would be one such example.
     
  4. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Folks be careful not to turn this into an A Vs B. you know what happens then.

    Pete
     
  5. Carbonyl

    Carbonyl Registered Member

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    Recently a site that I frequent was hit with a driveby. Luckily I managed to avoid it, but consulting some security blogs about the breach lead to some results - Wherein MSE was one of the only suites to miss the payload even days after it had been discovered.

    Similarly, having to clean family PCs that I had set up with MSE, and seeing a general sentiment of MSE's detection rate on the decline has inspired me. I don't find it terribly surprising, nor do I consider it a slam against MSE. They're so popular, that I'm sure malware authors consider them the first thing to evade.

    I'm not trying to incite an argument about MSE's quality, so much as inquire about the above questions, though.
     
  6. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    1) I have never had problems after removing MSE.
    2) Never had a problem with Sandboxie and NOD32.
    3) NOD32 is heavier than it was years ago, but not massively worse than any other product.
    Overall it is a suitable replacement for MSE. I will not go into other products to avoid the A vs. B situation. That said I don't think NOD32 would leave you any less happy than any other mainstream product.
     
  7. SweX

    SweX Registered Member

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    Using ESET on a 10yr old system works fine and if that's not enough info to kill this rumor then I don't know what is. :)

    I have also heard that ESET is going downhill and that the detection and protection is worse than ever. :doubt:
    People eat to much FUDge these days ;)
     
  8. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    A year or two ago I may have agreed with those folks but at the current time the detection rate is among the best. Which sucks because now I have to renew it again. :D
     
  9. woodsy7909

    woodsy7909 Registered Member

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    Uninstalling MSE should be a pretty straight forward affair. Its one of the few that seems to actually uninstall pretty cleanly in my experience. You should just be able to uninstall it through Add/Remove Programs in Windows 7, and then reboot to finish the uninstall.

    NOD32 has been a good product for many years, I wouldn't think you would have any issues running it with Sandboxie.

    As for alternatives, that really comes down to personal preference. I suggest downloading a trial and install them and test them out. See which one you like the best and go from there. Since you already have Sandboxie, your anti-virus is just one part of a layered defense. When running multiple products, thats why i always reccommened you trail a few first and see which ones play nice together.

    I hope this helps
     
  10. webyourbusiness

    webyourbusiness Registered Member

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    ESET would be fine on an older machine as it's pretty light - hit me up via PM and I'll get you a 90 day trial.
     
  11. AVusah

    AVusah Registered Member

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    Try out Qihoo 360. Free, extremely light and effective, and it even has an integrated Sandbox.
     
  12. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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