Billolo's Security Setup

[Billolo]

This is my actual configuration.
Any suggestions on how to improve are welcome!

 

[Batzzz]

Personally mcafee isnt that good. I would run malwarebytes along with it or a free program like Avast that is more likely to offer extra protection. Mcafee has a high adware detection ratio, but i find it lacks with zero day threats and newer programs. Personal experience.

 

[ForgottenSeer 55474]

Yes, add a malware scanner or two (zemana free or Malwarebytes),perhaps hitman pro paid version

 

[Billolo]

Thanks for your reply. Well actually I'm still searching for my personal solution. Everyone has its own that suits him more than others.
I'm thinking about buying a new one, though, because

• Was pre-installed in my PC when I bought it, so I just kept it not to loose full subscription;
• "Pre-installed + Full" obviously means Temporary too, well I'm basically running outta time so I DO have to make a choice.

Honestly, since by now I've found myself comfortable with it. But still I wouldn't say I'd pay for...

 

[LabZero]

Just add an on demand scanner such as Zemana AM free or paid and please give the right importance to a good system image backup plan to ensure and safeguard the OS in case of serious problems.
Macrium Reflect free is a good choice.

 

[aragornnnn]

Thanks for sharing your config!

Get Zemana for on-demand scanning.
Install HTTPS Everywhere for chrome

Create backups with Macrium Reflect wich is very important to have

 

[jamescv7]

Well McAfee is decent from its current versions, although not aggressive but people will remain the impression due to being bundleware for laptops.

Backup is a must and add a scanner for your second opinion.

 

[Exterminator]

Consider some on demand scanners as already suggested.
Definitely consider some type of system backup solution.
Thanks for sharing your config

 

[Billolo]

Thank you for your suggestions!
I added Zemana and Malwarebytes too to perform on demand scans, the 'only' downside of free versions of them two (I said 'only' because I think that having a full subscription to McAfee there should be no need to use other paid softwares' versions, thus making other paid features not relevant - but if I'm wrong please tell me so that I update) is the impossibility to set up schedules in order to perform them automatically.
Though, I don't think will be a hard task to workaround this by setting up a custom windows script to make them actually take action by themselves.

Get Zemana for on-demand scanning.
Install HTTPS Everywhere for chrome

Create backups with Macrium Reflect wich is very important to have

I'll proceed soon adding this add-on and for that backup - since I actually have only those 250 Gbytes of SSD storage (however I'm searching for good external hdd offers) but keep in mind that I already have a "clean system" recovery partition from which to boot and reinstall in case of system issues. Obviously it lacks all my personal files and configs, so it' definitely not enough as a backup solution.
I'll get that hdd and begin a regular backup plan, keeping you updated (and my security configuration post too)

Thanks!

 

[Vasudev]

McAfee simply overloads the PC by constant writes. Hence, use it until your subscription ends and move to Windows Defender or Avast oe BD free edition. I'd recommend you take an image the entire NVMe SSD so that you get HP recovery partition and do a fresh install to get rid of bloatwares and do a fresh start.

 

[Dirk41]

Are you using an admin account ?

 

[Billolo]

McAfee simply overloads the PC by constant writes. Hence, use it until your subscription ends and move to Windows Defender or Avast oe BD free edition. I'd recommend you take an image the entire NVMe SSD so that you get HP recovery partition and do a fresh install to get rid of bloatwares and do a fresh start.

Do you think Windows Defender is enough for?
I have to admit that I've always been somewhat biased on leaving just the built-in microsoft protection, even though I saw an overall decent score among free solutions..

Are you using an admin account ?

Yes I am the administrator for this PC. If you then mean the system default-disabled admin account, then I'd rather say nope. But probably I misunderstood your question.

Anyway, do you think I could rely on a simple free antivirus instead of getting a full licence?
I've been used to to so, but I'm not still sure about this way of acting, nowadays.
Again, I could be wrong even on this point, so any discussion will surely lead to a better understanding of the situation we user are facing with.

 

[Daniel Hidalgo]

Not bad your configuration, why do not install a backup solution (Macrimium as they have suggested) for everything else looks good.
Thanks for sharing

 

[Vasudev]

Do you think Windows Defender is enough for?
I have to admit that I've always been somewhat biased on leaving just the built-in microsoft protection, even though I saw an overall decent score among free solutions..

I use Linux as well, so most of the time I'm on Linux about 60-70% and rest on windows for MS office tasks and gaming.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

Do you think Windows Defender is enough for?
I have to admit that I've always been somewhat biased on leaving just the built-in microsoft protection, even though I saw an overall decent score among free solutions..

Anyway, do you think I could rely on a simple free antivirus instead of getting a full licence?

WD also has problems with high CPU and disk writing/reading + it's mostly based on signatures without a proper behavior blocker
I personally use avast, a lot less disk usage

using a free AV is good enough if you know how to set up your PC, we all can help
My recommendation: free AV + an anti-exe

 

[Vasudev]

The problem is MPcmdRun process that constantly checks for updates, schedules scans and little telemetry, so I kill the process if it takes more than 5% CPU on idle. Otherwise its set and forget.