Can I use ESET Smart Security 8 and Emsisoft Anti-Malware together?

[soccer97]

This may seem like a simple question, but can you use ESET Smart Security 8 and Emsisoft Anti-Malware at the same time or are they contraindicated (2 real-time AV's at once). It appears that EAM is the equivalent of an antivirus without the firewall, but I could also perceive it being an addition to your current Security suite (such as Webroot or HitmanPro).

I am a bit unclear on EAM despite looking at their site and Google. I also searched the forums before I posted this.

 

[Alexstrasza]

Yes, you can. Emsisoft Anti-Malware provides both AV & AM protection, and is compatible with all AVs currently known on the market.

 

[soccer97]

Yes, you can. Emsisoft Anti-Malware provides both AV & AM protection, and is compatible with all AVs currently known on the market.

Thanks for the reply!

Great. To clarify, I want to keep full protection of ESET Smart Security 8 (not changing/disabling settings). So I should just use a default installation of Emsisoft Anti-Malware and keep the settings default on that as well?

I am guessing that ESS 8 + EAM 9 + HitmanPro.Alert should provide protection for almost anything (I realize 100% is unrealistic but in general it should be excellent short of an exception of a random just released 0-day).

1.) Will it reduce the overall protection by combining ESS 8 and EAM

2.) What is the standard amount of RAM for a Windows 7 Pro 64-but Laptop or PC these days? Mine came with 4GB DDR3 of RAM.

 

[Alexstrasza]

Thanks for the reply!
Great. To clarify, I want to keep full protection of ESET Smart Security 8 (not changing/disabling settings). So I should just use a default installation of Emsisoft Anti-Malware and keep the settings default on that as well?

There is no need to tweak anything - EAM's standard settings are perfectly fine for use with other AVs and AMs. You can add them to each other's exclusions if you like, but generally there aren't any problems if you don't do that.

1.) Will it reduce the overall protection by combining ESS 8 and EAM

No, in fact it will increase your protection as EAM's dual engines will cover your back alongside the ESET engine.

2.) What is the standard amount of RAM for a Windows 7 Pro 64-but Laptop or PC these days? Mine came with 4GB DDR3 of RAM.

4/6/8GB of RAM seems to be the norm these days. Mine came with 4GB, but I upgraded to 8GB.

 

[hjlbx]

Hello soccer97,

I have a slightly different opinion than Alex's...

You could compatibility-wise, but why would you want to?

It's a waste of resources.

It's a configuration challenge.

EAM's behavior blocker and ESET's HIPS will produce duplicate alerts... so you'll probably want to disable ESET's HIPS.

Then, you may have to tweak both EAM's and ESET's real-time protections so as not to have them both detect files at the same time (duplicate, simultaneous alerts). Remember, you will have to file guards running at the same time. I would set one to "On-Access\Read" and the other "Upon Execution\Modification."

On your specific system, you might have to exclude EAM and ESET from monitoring each other... there's always a possible conflict.

 

[soccer97]

Hello soccer97,

You could compatibility-wise, but why would you want to?

It's a waste of resources.

It's a configuration challenge.

EAM's behavior blocker and ESET's HIPS will produce duplicate alerts... so you'll probably want to disable ESET's HIPS.

Then, you'll have to tweak both EAM's and ESET's real-time protections so as not to have them both detect files at the same time.

On your specific system, you might have to exclude EAM and ESET from monitoring each other... there's always a possible conflict.

Hey hjlbx,

Thanks for the response and the insight. I suppose I could tweak EAM's settings vs. ESET's if possible. I can see the resource usage potentially being an issue. It's a 50/50 shot. I do appreciate your experience with Emsisoft.

The purpose: I frequently have to use public Wi-fi. This includes a Wireless (but secured) network with up to 10,000 users - mostly students - on a university campus. I am usually on the go. In addition, I plan to start Malware Testing in the next few months (after adding some RAM). I don't want CryptoWall or anything escaping and disabling my only PC. I also plan on starting my own website and maybe using WordPress. This would put my PC at moderate risk

*In addition, I am trying to convince my parents to toss their Windows XP SP3 PC. They are reluctant, but once Windows 10 is RTM, I will try to help them find a good PC and secure it. My parents are great people and I say this with all due respect, but they are older and not technically savvy (they click the links in the email, etc.....). They also do not see the purpose of patching and are convinced that if it isn't broken then don't fix it (they see updates/patches as disruptive and likely to 'break things'). I am just trying to put things into context. This may be a good config for them in the near future.

I am not hard set on this solution. I am just trying to tweak my system with better than average protection without using 2 GB of RAM.

Thanks again!

 

[Alexstrasza]

Hello soccer97,
You could compatibility-wise, but why would you want to?

It's a waste of resources.

It's a configuration challenge.

I know a Microsoft MVP that has ESET NOD32, EAM and MBAM Premium all on the same machine, and there is no conflict at all. And I know whose opinion I will follow.

EAM is designed to be compatible with other AVs, and it has a pretty low overhead - so why would you say it's a waste of resource is beyond me. It can be run alone yeah, but it is also meant to compliment other AVs and AMs in a manner similar to MBAM.

The Emsisoft behavior blocker produces fairly few alerts if you choose to join the AMN (mainly "application has been changed" and so). You can choose to leave ESET's HIPS on or turn it off.

Emsisoft's standard scanning mode is On Modification (I don't know about ESET), so change ESET settings accordingly.

Hey hjlbx,
*In addition, I am trying to convince my parents to toss their Windows XP SP3 PC. They are reluctant, but once Windows 10 is RTM, I will try to help them find a good PC and secure it. My parents are great people and I say this with all due respect, but they are older and not technically savvy (they click the links in the email, etc.....). They also do not see the purpose of patching and are convinced that if it isn't broken then don't fix it (they see updates/patches as disruptive and likely to 'break things'). I am just trying to put things into context. This may be a good config for them in the near future.

It's Microsoft's fault - until they get their patching system in order then we'll just have to manage.

Good for you trying to get your parents to upgrade through - if you need anything, feel free to ask.

 

[Deleted member 21043]

Hi,

EAM is designed to be compatible with other AVs, and it has a pretty low overhead - so why would you say it's a waste of resource is beyond me.

I think that @hjlbx was trying to say is it's a waste of resources because only one is necessary to protect the user. Using both may also toggle the performance of the system. There will be an increase in RAM and CPU usage, also.

The following is quoted from the Emsisoft website:

Yes. Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a complete antivirus solution that provides protection against all manner of threats that are lurking on the internet.

Which brings me to quote why they call themselves "Anti-Malware" over "Antivirus":

Our analysis lab has determined that classic viruses only make up less than 0.5% of total threats (in 2012). Referring to our product as an "Antivirus" would therefore be wrong by definition. We're perfectionists so we have elected to use the broader term "Malware" when naming our product. "Malware" includes all types of threats, such as viruses (0.5%), rogue security software (0.5%), rootkits (1.0%), adware (2.7%), possible malicious applications (4.1%), worms (4.6%), financial malware & password stealers (5.3%), online gaming password stealers (6.9%), backdoors (13.3%) and trojans (61.3%). Please note that not all "Anti-Malware" products on the market include the same functionality and protection level.

Point being, both products are good and only one is necessary out of the two. If someone wants to use both then they can, however it would mean duplication of scanning files (if the real-time is enabled on both), and potentially many HIPS alerts depending on the configuration to them both. An alternative is demonstrated with what I have written below:

I recommend using either ESET or Emsisoft, and then using on-demand scanners. For example, you could use ESET products and then use Emsisoft Emergency Kit on-demand, or the other way round and using ESET Online Scanner.

Everyone's opinions differ. Of course if you want to use both you can. Some may experience issues, some may not.

Cheers.

 

[Alexstrasza]

Obviously the solution of using one in real time and the other on demand works, but then running both as the same time won't hurt.

I think that @@hjlbx was trying to say is it's a waste of resources because only one is necessary to protect the user. Using both may also toggle the performance of the system. There will be an increase in RAM and CPU usage, also.

Depends on the solution - you might want to take a look at the example I said above. If you like, I can link you to him

No antivirus is perfect. That's why I like EAM - it grants you the protection of two engines while having good compability with the existing AV, thus granting overlapping protection from 3 different engines without them trying to kill each other.

If you have any doubts, I recommend that you post on the Emsisoft forum. I am sure someone from support will be happy to assist you on that

(I have EIS and MBAM Premium. No noticeable decrease in performance, and I didn't tweak anything apart from adding them to each other's exceptions.)

 

[jamescv7]

EAM is been really known that can be used as standalone or companion, which some experience users installed without issues; well it depends but in such picture its minimal additional protection and sometimes other components will just make cause a bit error where one made a detection and applied the action.

For such concern, you may install a tiny tool to enhance Windows Firewall or play with ESET Firewall in such interactive mode to add rules and apply them.

 

[Stas]

ESS 8 + EAM 9 + HitmanPro.Alert3
This is the same config that i use and very happy with it. You can always disable EAM then you need more performance like play games. ESS is a good AV but no AV have 100% protection, that's where EAM comes as a backup second layer protection. I set EAM File Guard scan level to fast (scan programs when they are started), also disabled captcha protection at program shutdown for quick shutdown when needed and dont forget to disable File Guard protection before shutdown EAM otherwise it will be active in background.

 

[Exterminator]

Personally I would just use ESS 8 for real time protection and Emsisoft Emergency Kit as an on demand scanner.I have tried various combinations with ESS 8 such as ESS & WSA as well as ESS & EAM. I really didnt find any advantage to running them alongside each other.
You can always give it a try and as @Stas explained you can disable EAM when you need more performance

 

[Azure]

I took the liberty of asking if EAM 10 would still be compatible with other AV product.

Here's the response:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/emsisoft-anti-malware.372265/page-5#post-2476708
"Compatibility will not change in version 10."

 

[soccer97]

@Azure Phoenix,
Thanks for reaching out to them. I appreciate it. Yes, EAM v10 should be compatible with other AV's.

@exterminator20 and @Stas
Thank you for the advice. I have tried both. I like the idea of using the main Security product as ESS 8. I am playing around with EAM, but I do notice about a minute added to boot time, and some minor lags with web browsers. I never thought of their Emergency Kit. I saw an advantage that it doesn't require installation.

@kram7750 and hjlbx
These are good points. I think I am going to stick with running ESS 8 and using Emsisoft Emergency Kit or the like as an on demand scanner only. I didn't think about alert fatigue and default file scanning. I agree with both of your opinions, the resources are the most likely to be affected.

@Alexstrasza
Thanks for the advice. I tested it out for a few days. It would provide more protection but if I am running a VM plus 1 or 2 browser sessions, it could get resource intensive. I am currently testing it out.

Thanks to everyone!

 

[King Alpha]

You can use both although I would recommend you to use ESS alone, and EAM as an on-demand scanner.

 

[Azure]

You can use both although I would recommend you to use ESS alone, and EAM as an on-demand scanner.

That might be for the best, especially if he finds that his computer's performance is slower cause it can't handle those two at the same time.
However at that point he might as well use emsisoft emergency kit instead.

 

[King Alpha]

That might be for the best, especially if he finds that his computer's performance is slower cause it can't handle those two at the same time.
However at that point he might as well use emsisoft emergency kit instead.

Yeah, I forgot EEK.