Comments on security setup

I am stuck on deciding on what to use for my security setup. Have been using online armor with limited rights on browser etc.with NOD antivirus. Have also tried Avira premium with DefenseWall. They both work the same on my computer. No conflicts. What would be the advantages to running one or the other? No need for a vs.b because both setups are good protection. Just looking for some comments please. Thanks in advance. Also running First Defense and Keyscrambler

 

They are both good combo's

I think you should break it down in HIPS/FW and Av and then have a look at their release calenders.

OA Paid has the option to be NOT warned when starting an UNKNOWN program, as a safety matter you can run this program as RUN SAFER. This provides LUA protection plus the OA protection of new unknown programs.
With this user friendly feature I think OA is one of the most useable HIPS/FW combo's around. It also does very well on Matousec leak tests (for what it is worth). The free version has run safer, but not this option to run unknown programs as RUN Safer.

DW containes internet facing applications and their downloaded files in a stronger than limited user environment. Besides protection against executables you also have protection against malware in downloaded files. For my mother it is her only defense (together with A2 Malware v4 free). When you can handle the thought that you might have malware on your PC, but it can do no harm because it is paralised by DefenseWall, then DW could be the sole security choice for you. The next version (problably 2.50) DW will also offer outbound protection (not as sophisticated as OA).

Avira
Has a free version with a nag screen. Paid version is one of the cheapest around. I have played with the V9 beta. It also has advanced heuristics. Avira already had great heuristics, but they even get better in V9.

NOD
One of the first AV's to compete on advanced heuristics, Was the best in retrospective until 2007, now Avira has the lead (and new heuristics are even better) see AV Comparatives and SSUpdater.

So hard to point out a winner in this case, knowing what next releases of DW (outbound) and Avira (advanced heuristics) will bring my vote would go for Avira + DW with a tiny lead over OA + NOD


NB
Would you be interested in testing a great freeware combo: try OA free together with DriveSentry free, I think it is a greaat freeware combo. Only glitch is that old virusses are not in DS data base, but their combined HIPS force (Drive Sentry adds all teh registry protection on HKU hive you will need) and run safer option/anti-executable should be strong enough to fight this old malware.

Cheers Kees

 

Thanks for the info Kees . I was kind of wondering if the OA firewall would make up for the difference in a little less AV protection. I may try DS Later as I have OA paid already.

 

When you have OA paid already, just add AVira free and save your self some money. A knwon Dutch guy Tony Klein helped them (OA) with the autostart protection, so that is as solid as a rock.

What really is a good trick for OA (I do not like anti executables, I have on my Malware Defender rules a Permit for Execution and start Process), is the fact that when you choose to be NOT warned when an unknown program starts, you can run it as RUN SAFER. This will protect you against a lot of malware

With OA and registry you can disable the startup screen and update nag screen of Avira free.

 

Thanks for the input Kees. Guess I read the forums too much on the better security setups. I have Avira premium paid,DefenseWall paid and NOD paid and OA paid and just got my free license for Returnil. I want to find the best out of these and leave the darn thing alone. I enjoy the testing but now just want too stick with something solid and let the rest go. Thanks again for your suggestions.