Advanced Plus Security Minimalist's PC Security Config

PC Setup Configuration Help & Showcase
47 Replies 13,325 Views
Original forum configuration · expand details
Last updated
Aug 15, 2026
Main use of this computer
For home and private use
Operating system
Windows 11
OS version and support details
N/A
On-device encryption
Not applicable
Device sign-in security
    • Windows Hello PIN or biometric sign-in (face / fingerprint / Touch ID)
Security updates
Allow security updates
Update channels
Allow stable updates only
User Account Control (UAC)
Always notify
Smart App Control
Off
Network firewall
Enabled
Router and network details
• Using wired connection
Real-time protection
• McAfee Antivirus
Device firewall
Microsoft Defender Firewall with Advanced Security
Custom security settings
• Network set to Public. File sharing and RDP disabled.
Periodic malware scanners
• HitmanPro
• SiriusLLM
Malware sample testing
I do not participate in malware testing
Environment for malware testing
N/A
Browsers and extensions
• Firefox:
- uBlock Origin
Secure DNS
• My ISP's DNS.
Desktop VPN
• using Tor browser for anonymous surfing
Password and passkey manager
• KeePass
Maintenance tools
• UCheck
• ShutUp10
• AppBuster
File and photo backups
Daily backup with Macrium Reflect + weekly manual backup to external HDD
Subscriptions
    • None
System recovery
• Macrium Reflect
• Daily system backup using Grandparent - Parent - Child backup scheme.
Usage and exposure
    • Visiting familiar websites
    • Opening email attachments
    • Downloading software and files from reputable sites
    • Sharing and receiving files and torrents
    • Streaming audio/video content from trusted sites or paid subscriptions
Computer specs
HP EliteDesk 800 G5 TWR
• Intel Core i7-9700 CPU @ 3.00GHz
• Intel UHD Graphics 630
• DDR4 32 GB @ 2667 MHz
• 2x 500 GB SSD + 4TB HDD
Feedback preference

Only essential issues, please

Szellem said:
Thank you very much for your reply. That was very detailed.
Could you show me a screenshot of what is available to you under the Scam Protection menu?
Click to expand...
I have only text scams option available though I did not set it up.

1757435254964.png
 
Minimalist said:
- scan without cleaning. Full scan will automatically clean any infection it finds. For me it found something suspicious in my 80 GB VHD file and moved the whole file to quarantine. Luckily, I had enough free space on C partition otherwise I don't know how that would end. Restore from quarantine solved the problem and VHD file was still usable.
- option to configure how to react on malware detection and let user choose what to do.
- option to add folders to exclusion list.
Click to expand...
I removed eset online scanner just because of that. It detects some program thinking it's malware and quarantines it without even asking, and it always the same file. I absolutely hate that in a security software.
 
Zero Knowledge said:
Nice and clean setup. I really like it! NOD32 is a great low resource AV/AM. Just wish ESET had cheaper licenses.
Click to expand...
Eset is one of my all time favourite products, but it is not reasonably priced in comparison to other competitors.

I've just received an offer from them.

Eset Premium 1 year for 1 device for $30.99

For the same price I could cover 20 devices for one year from other competitors.
 
Divine_Barakah said:
Do you restore a clean system backup before installing a new security product or you just uninstall and install one the same system?
Click to expand...
I just uninstall the old one and reinstall new one. Except with Bitdefender after which I had to restore an image since it quarantined some files and registry keys (false positives) which it couldn't restore to original location. With McAfee and Eset I've had no problems so far.

For now I narrowed down the problem to either hardware, drivers or combination of both and new system version (25H2). If I manage to get it create dump files I might get more information.
 
Szellem said:
What happened with ESET NOD32 that made you switch to McAfee Antivirus?
Click to expand...
I've noticed that ESET's context menu app started to cause problems with dllhost.exe, which made it hang and be closed by Windows. It's a known problem with no solution ATM.
I will wait for version 19.1 to be released. New version is supposedly going to bring some improvements to that app.
 
Minimalist said:
I've noticed that ESET's context menu app started to cause problems with dllhost.exe, which made it hang and be closed by Windows. It's a known problem with no solution ATM.
I will wait for version 19.1 to be released. New version is supposedly going to bring some improvements to that app.
Click to expand...
That's great! It's weird that there are known bugs like this and they're still working on fixing them. These are the kinds of things that should be fixed quickly.
I use Eset too, but I'm starting to get tired of it. There are Live Grid connection issues every week, etc.
 

Recently browsing

Members who viewed this thread in the last 5 minutes

You may also like...

Continue exploring the conversation.

Back
Top