2 is greater then 10

And if you are confident in your setups you can even turn off FF's inbuilt security which can cause bloat/slowdowns in creating a quite large "urlclassifier3.sqlite" file where FF checks websites against.

Here I delete that file which is recreated and is now sitting at 32 kb. I'm not saying anyone should do it and up to you.

I also delete the "urlclassifier2.sqlite" file.
Discussion

 

Hi Franklin,

so just clearing those checkboxes is not enough? Does that file also have to be deleted?

 

My money's on Kee's winning this bet. It's in the bag, Kees. trjam can't last 3 days with the same setup before he's changing it again. Bet he drives his wife nuts changing the TV channel every 5 minutes, too. .

Later....

 

1 is greater than 2

Firewall. That's it.

I've been using my laptop with WinXP SP2 this way for several weeks.

I'm not the first - Mrkvonic has always advocated this. Typical comment:

With Firefox or Opera and their ability to control scripting per site, web-based remote code execution exploits (drive-by attacks) are nullified. No such exploit in the wild I've seen has succeeded.

----
rich

 

All I can tell you is that I turn off those FF security features then delete both sqlite files without ill effect here.

Just make sure FF isn't running when doing so and it's really up to you if ya wanna do it.

It could even make FF snappier with less mem usage?

FF works in a blink here, both sandboxed and nonsandboxed.

 

This should be fun!

Any qualified psychologists who are members and happy to offer pro bono counselling to those with withdrawal symptoms?

Ian

 

Okay, I'll give it a try. Thanks!

 

Haha

 

What if a user keeps the same signature for several days or longer on here, but is actually changing their setups daily. You can't monitor that!

But I agree, usually any more than two security programs (eg.sandboxie and Avira) and you're merely just 'testing' other programs for their function and design, instead of relying on them to save your bacon.

 

Agreed. IMHO 2-3 apps is all you need, even if you're a high risk user.

 

As a curio - very old Wilders Poll: "How many security software do you need before you feel quite safe?"

 

Quote. I agree that people use or install too much programs, often duplicated ( three antispywares, two HIPS...) but the problem is not how many security applications to have, but how to gain a multi layer security system. That means, for me, av, fw - and router fw too naturally - HIPS and sandboxing or virtualising software.

 

I'm using NOD32 AV, OA firewall, Superantispyware real time, Malwarebytes on demand, SBie occasionally, and Shadow Defender occasionally. Does that look like overkill, or just right to you guys?

 

It depends whether you want one or 2 apps as HIPS/firewall.
I bought a lifetime licence of OSS 2009 in December, and I'm still using it because I want a good firewall. The HIPS function is activated, although I installed DefenseWall recently, because I wanted a dedicated app for that as well. Prevx, and above all Sbie might be considered superfluous on top of that, but they're very light (so is DW), and I'm used to them.

I guess it depends which apps we're talking about, and how light they are. Out of the 4 realtime protection apps on my laptop, 3 of them (DW, Prevx and Sbie) are very light, and even OSS is not that heavy, so I'm very happy with all of them

 

I don't get it. As long as you've got a powerful processor, tons of RAM, then why not? Heck, my pc is so much more powerful then I need and the cycles are there, why not use them otherwise they are just sitting there doing nothing. And what better way to use all that wasted power then with extra security, besides, all of the better security programs that I have obtained this past year have all been free. As Steve Gibson would say: It's my computer!

Acadia

 

On the other hand, if we spend all our time running scans, updating our security apps, and tweeking them when do we use our Computer for its intended purpose?

 

Damn it, ITS FUN!! One of my hobbies is pc security. Again, It's my computer! I'm not telling you how to use yours. If I want to waste my time with these neat programs then that's my problem, Sheeesh!

Acadia

 

I use only one security app + hardware router. The simpler the better.

 

Which one?

 

I used to be an AV-coholic, but for last six month I am sober. Only using SSM and Windows firewall and feeling FREE - at last.

You shold try it

 

I would like to know, from all these replies, do any of you think the general populace could also be safe with your setup?

I mean, all those button clicking, email opening peeps out 'in the wild', that don't know and don't care about learning how to use thier computer, as long as it does what they want.

These threads are interesting to see what peeps are using, it can give great ideas. But I am not so sure any of these measures are simple enough for the masses, short of some form of education on basic do's and dont's.

I also think properly choosing your tools is more important than how many you use. I like to try combinations that are both very lightweight (old school mentality drawn from 486/16mb ram days) and with as few pop-ups or complicated configurations as possible. What is the point of using a suite which consumes more resources or is more 'chatty' than 4 stand-alones that are not?

Sul.

 

Same as the one I am using.

 

Ah, hes using McAfee?

 

I don't think that question has a fit-all answer: it would depend on many factors pertinent to the individual's situation.

I've found two others who use a firewall/router only. This, with a browser properly configured, prevents web-based attacks by remote code execution. I indicated above that I'm using this setup on my laptop.

This leaves infections via downloads to deal with. For many people, trusting your source is sufficient protection.

Would I recommend this approach to the average family, the general populace? Of course not. With the constant downloading/installation of free stuff, there is too much of a danger that something bad will creep in, and without a good Anti-Virus product or something similar, the computer is open for exploitation.

Having said that, I would hope that the general populace would not see threads like this. While they may be fun for knowledgeable, experienced people to be involved in, they are of no use for someone not so knowledgeable who needs help with a security setup.

These discussions might be best in a sub-form called "Playground" or "Experiments!"

----
rich

 

You have to consider what programs work well on someone's machine and whether that person likes those programs. My basic setup on my 64-bit system always has AV, firewall, HIPS, and Prevx added for behavior blocking.