What's needed without AV?

I want to ditch my AV, because I'm annoyed by the impact it has on the speed. With that said I'm also pleased with it, because sometimes it warns me of a dodgy site. I'm now using Avast free, Sandboxie paid, Outpost firewall pro and Winpatrol plus. Is SB waterproof (as far as possible of course) enough to make the AV redundant? Tips will be highly appreciated.

 

Why don't you try a new one then?
There are more heavy ones, and there are feather light ones.

EDIT:

There are DNS services that can block access to know bad sites too, but they won't actually scan the content of the sites as the Avast Web/Network/Script shields will do for example.

 

I would say drop all internet facing apps (like web browsers, email clients etc.) to Sandboxie and you're done.
You can also add EMET to your setup - it cost you nothing (also on resources) and it gives you extra layer of protection.

 

Just use sbie and outpost fw. Add hitmanpro, mbam and norton dns. And you're good to go av free.

 

what is your operating system and is it 32 or 64 bit? also, which internet browser do you normally use?

 

XP (more or less finetuned) and Firefox. Installed EMET, but have to look into it further. Looks interesting however. Tried VT Hash Check/Download Statusbar, but had some quircks with it and wasn't charmed by it.

 

Name them please..

 

Now not to go A vs B vs C.......

But since you asked, and just so you know I don't measure lightness based on RAM usage.

The lightest for me running on a PC with XP SP3 and only 512MB of RAM is Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus or ESET NOD32 / Smart Security.

Try both one at the time and see what you think.

Also FYI see:http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/performance-tests

 

Have you tried 'Download Statusbar' combined with a program like Hitmanpro instead of VT?

 

Take a pick. As pointed out no A v B type threads allowed hence removal of ot posts
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=295399

 

If you use SBIE all the time, you can get rid of the real time antivirus. I stopped using one in Dec 2010 and haven't had any problems. Just make sure that you sandbox all programs and files that you open and be extra carefull with new installations. Installing the wrong program can get you infected.

Bo

 

you can go with SBIE and MSE. Unlike other AVs MSE is much lighter on resources. Comparing system slowdown MSE is easier on resources than MBAM.

 

This is actually worth looking at, but it all does depend on the specifications of your system and what else you have installed on it that's running at the same time.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I could try MSE, but am a little unsure, because it caused trouble on another pc with xp. Will look into it as into others. EMET is gone btw. It's not really what I need.

 

No1 for x32 is DefenseWall. However it won't migrate to x64. No hands-on, all seamless working in background.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/search.php?searchid=4858192

Personally, I find SBoxie a bit of hassle looking after 'everything' in the house.

My favorite at the moment is Appguard.
http://www.blueridge.com/index.php/products/appguard/consumer

As for AV, my normal setup is NOT Kaspersky (see signature below) but AVAST FREE stripped down to the file shield. I'd be surprised if you could detect any 'drag' on a x32 XP with 2Gb RAM.

 

What quirks? It works fine for me.

Also, MSE's footprint is nearly invisible on Vista/7, but it doesn't run nearly as well on XP. Same with EMET.

I don't recommend to other people to run without an AV. If you know how to harden your system/browser, and use other measures, you can certainly live just fine without one, even thrive. But I don't know what type of end user you are.

Avira always ran light for me on XP. So did Nod32, but that was back in the 2.7 days. I don't know what it's like now.

 

My God, I'm getting old (and tired probably), because I can't remember the quirck. Have done a lot and a lot went "wrong". Maybe will remember tomorrow or will repeat it. Will get back on that one. Appguard didn't start. It was dead. Uninstalling didn't finish. Repeating did the trick, but now installing isn't possible because the driver can't install. A lot of stuff is left behind which I don't know if it's ok to leave (probably it is of course). It didn't work with sandboxie and perhaps that't the reason that it was dead. Didn't look at the gui before opening sandboxed FF (which didn't open sandboxed btw because of appguard. I know how to fix that, but it doesn't get along with my pc apparantly). Hitman pro with download statusbar also had quirck which I couldn't get rid of, but maybe just click hide will do the trick. Read that somewhere, but don't know if HMP will work ok then.


http://i45.tinypic.com/33xv4vp.jpg

 

My pc is pretty safe without an AV I guess, but I hoped there would be a 100% (...) safe replacement without speedloss. Maybe I will accept the speedloss (which isn't enormous, but the pc isn't very quick so everything makes a difference) of Avast which is one of the lightest out there (and one of the best if I may add). I'm pretty knowledgeable, but I'm not really up to date as I used to be (pc was finished, so I stopped tweaking).

 

No. MSE uses far more memory/cpu/i-o. Make sure to click show all users on task manager. Otherwise, you are likely citing its gui/tray usage.

Pro-version...tested several machines. MSE is crap on resources and even worse on detection. Why you would suggest it aside from being free over MBAM is beyond me.

 

Get, you can go without a real-time AV if you figure out where the vulnerabilities are in how you use the computer. Sandboxie keeps my computer safe from any mistake I make when browsing and downloading. Downloads are scanned manually in a sandboxed download folder before taking them out. I've managed to stay safe for quite a while with a few basics: Sandboxie, safe browsing habits, and a couple of good scanning engines. A secure system image back-up plan lets me to relax about the possibility that those basics might be a little too basic. It's a fine line that makes security such an interesting hobby.

 

Same here, I have not used AV, firewall or any other security software for years without problems and I can still visit any webpage or anything, no limitations.

If you still want an AV, try Panda Cloud or Avira, they seem light enough.

Without AV: 64-bit version of the OS is the basic. Vista/7/8 with UAC at max. Disable unnecessary/vulnerable services. Use a safer DNS. Set a browser to clean all browsing data at exit (except cookies) or run CCleaner at shutdown. Read emails in txt, almost like Gmail does. Keep Windows and all the software updated (KCSumo/PSI Secunia).

 

One quirck :

http://i48.tinypic.com/991m9s.jpg

And then :
http://i45.tinypic.com/34h7295.jpg

Which stands for "Function not implemented"

....but then after I didn't do anything about it it just worked with the next download. I just looked at the event viewer of Outpost and that apparantly was enough .

Ok, so HMP/statusbar works and works well so it seems.

Next thing to look at is if a sandboxed browser (FF, Opera, IE and Chrome of which I use FF most of the time) is enough to replace the "badwebsitewarning" Avast sometimes gives... I think so, but is it...?

 

I will keep on using a hardened XP with services tweaked. DNS is of my provider so I guess safe (?). I use sandboxie so my browser always ends up clean (and I also have all data cleaned at exit (also cookies btw)). Read email in text? Text only you mean? I can't really get infected through mail I guess, because I recognize spam/nonsense emails. No good looking woman in her right mind will mail me . I'm not really fast on updating windows/software to use a big understatement. Without AV that's a good thing to watch.

 

sandboxie and a firewall. but mind you sandboxie is not for everyone,if you know how to use it you will never need an av.

 

@arsenaloyal: I guess I can use it well enough, but there were some developments.
I did some more testing. Tried uninstalling Avast, but it didn't do as much as I expected (and as I noticed some time ago). "Maybe" the pc is just slow. Tried reinstalling real time defender and that didn't give problems the short time it was installed. Then I started a trial of MBAM, but that really screwed up the pc. Lots of freezing. Incompatible with Outpost. Maybe with some tweaking it could get right, but it feels slower than Avast so a no go area. Because of the many troubles I had I put back an image with avast, outpost, winpatrol and sandboxie. I think I can't get it faster. Not more than a second in opening Firefox for instance, so I guess I'll have to endure it untill I buy a new pc. Thanks for all the help, but my old horse just can't run no more and as a vegetarian I will let it live..for now .