Advanced Plus Security Moonhorse 2024 windows config

Last updated
Oct 5, 2024
How it's used?
For home and private use
Operating system
macOS 15 Sequoia
On-device encryption
BitLocker Device Encryption for Windows
Log-in security
    • Biometrics (Windows Hello PIN, TouchID, Face, Iris, Fingerprint)
    • Basic account password (insecure)
Security updates
Allow security updates and latest features
Update channels
Allow stable updates only
User Access Control
Always notify
Smart App Control
Off
Network firewall
Enabled
About WiFi router
ZTE MC888 PRO
Real-time security
Microsoft defender
Adguard
Firewall security
Microsoft Defender Firewall
About custom security
None
Periodic malware scanners
Norton power eraser
Adwcleaner
Malware sample testing
I do not participate in malware testing
Environment for malware testing
None
Browser(s) and extensions
Microsoft edge
- Bitwarden
Secure DNS
Cloudflare dns encrypted hello client enabled
Desktop VPN
None
Password manager
Bitwarden
Maintenance tools
None
File and Photo backup
Google drive, Onedrive, external hdd
Subscriptions
    • None
System recovery
USB, aomei backup
Risk factors
    • Browsing to popular websites
    • Working from home
    • Opening email attachments
    • Buying from online stores, entering banks card details
    • Logging into my bank account
    • Downloading software and files from reputable sites
    • Gaming
    • Streaming audio/video content from trusted sites or paid subscriptions
Computer specs
Geforce RTX 4070 Super
AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 CL36 DC - 32GB
Notable changes
Back to Microsoft defender > F-secure Total > Mcafee Total protection
What I'm looking for?

Looking for minimum feedback.

Moonhorse

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May 29, 2018
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21.7.2024

+ installed kaspersky premium ( bought 2 year license for 3 devices, 20$ or something from amazon )
+ Adguard desktop ( cloudflare family dns , with ESNI )
+ Firefox
- bitwarden
- kaspersky extension
- adguard extension

+ Kaspersky VPN ( only used for netflix to get more content visible, i dont use VPN for anything else )


TLDR: Wanted to go big, checked that kaspersky is cheaper than f-secure and much better protection wise, i decided to buy 2 years license for kaspersky premium, couldve saved 5$ since i dont need vpn or dark web monitoring, but still went with premium version.

So far everything is fine, im going with default settings and when i have time i take a closer look at the settings.

Tried VPN on android but it drained my battery like 20% overnight, the antivirus itself doesnt drain battery at all. But since im adguard user i have vpn slot already in use for adguard instead of kaspersky VPN

And its been years since i last time touched kaspersky, adguard + kaspersky still does seem to work well together..
 

Moonhorse

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May 29, 2018
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5.8.2024

- removed kaspersky

Current setup:

- McAfee total security ( bought license 2 years 5 devices around 11 eur )
- Adguard desktop
- Firefox:
- Bitwarden
- McAfee Webadvisor
- McAfee safeconnect VPN

So i bought license few days ago since i got interested of this new version of McAfee, i tried to trial but then i would have to put my card details in there ( wich i dont have) So i went and bought license 2 years 5 devices for like 11 eur.

I kinda like the android version of McAfee over kaspersky since it supports firefox browser and kaspersky does not.

Vpn seems to be faster than kaspersky had, also kaspersky were blocked by some game vendors and prevented me to play game i wanted, Mcafee isnt blocked by them.

My speedtest results on 100mbs connection
1722851571159.png

McAfee is as light as kaspersky or even lighter?

1722851680678.png

According to AVtests browsing speed should be faster with McAfee than with kaspersky

I bought 2 licenses , both were 1 year , 5 devices from kinguin, and licenses indeed do stack
1722851739206.png


Someone would say im insane going from kaspersky to McAfee but it seems McAfee has improved since i tried it many years ago..
 

Moonhorse

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Any incompatibility issues between Adguard and McAfee?

In my case using Adguard with Avast/AVG caused network connection issues.
None at all. i dont know how the webfilter works anyways since you need to install WebAdvisor for web protection. I had adguard installed with avg on my sisters laptop and they did not work together indeed.
 

Divine_Barakah

Level 33
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May 10, 2019
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None at all. i dont know how the webfilter works anyways since you need to install WebAdvisor for web protection. I had adguard installed with avg on my sisters laptop and they did not work together indeed.
How is McAffe protection nowadays? I can find keys for dirt cheap and for unlimited devices.

Regarding Adguard and AVG it was a hassle to get them working together and I also do not like Adguard https filtering. Disabling that defeats the purpose of using Adguard Desktop in the first place.
 

Moonhorse

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How is McAffe protection nowadays? I can find keys for dirt cheap and for unlimited devices.

Regarding Adguard and AVG it was a hassle to get them working together and I also do not like Adguard https filtering. Disabling that defeats the purpose of using Adguard Desktop in the first place.
I guess McAfee is average, havent tested it against any malware yet. Against malware/phishing urls it really shines its on par with kaspersky.

I really dont download anything after i have set up my computer ready, so i just focus on strong web protection and McAfee has that

You can check shadowra test results here App Review - McAfee Total Protection 2024

You can see performance of McAfee here , first place on performance test Performance Test April 2024

You can see good performance on Remediation time here Recent Results » AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation

There is no settings to configurate at all , its ready out of box wich is fine to me...not sure if you can pair it with some other security tool but that will probably deny the purpose of being light setup
 

Divine_Barakah

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I guess McAfee is average, havent tested it against any malware yet. Against malware/phishing urls it really shines its on par with kaspersky.

I really dont download anything after i have set up my computer ready, so i just focus on strong web protection and McAfee has that

You can check shadowra test results here App Review - McAfee Total Protection 2024

You can see performance of McAfee here , first place on performance test Performance Test April 2024

You can see good performance on Remediation time here Recent Results » AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation

There is no settings to configurate at all , its ready out of box wich is fine to me...not sure if you can pair it with some other security tool but that will probably deny the purpose of being light setup
I'm well-aware that McAfee provides decent phishing protection.

What I find interesting is that I can find keys for unlimited devices for less than $20 here in Egypt
 

Moonhorse

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I'm well-aware that McAfee provides decent phishing protection.

What I find interesting is that I can find keys for unlimited devices for less than $20 here in Egypt
I bought my 1 year 5 device licenses $6 each and i can find unlimited devices for $15 aswell

I currently have tried f-secure, kaspersky, trend micro, avg and zonealarm recently and McAfee suits best for me of them all

Did not mention but the id protection of McAfee is also great, better than rivals have i guess. Currently im running SAC enabled and the Vpn driver had somekind of error with McAfee but im getting new pc this/next week so im planning to run it without SAC

Maybe @Trident have idea of what kind of behaviour blocker , machine learning etc McAfee has so one could harden windows against scripts, specific files etc where McAfee is lacking
 

Divine_Barakah

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I bought my 1 year 5 device licenses $6 each and i can find unlimited devices for $15 aswell

I currently have tried f-secure, kaspersky, trend micro, avg and zonealarm recently and McAfee suits best for me of them all

Did not mention but the id protection of McAfee is also great, better than rivals have i guess. Currently im running SAC enabled and the Vpn driver had somekind of error with McAfee but im getting new pc this/next week so im planning to run it without SAC

Maybe @Trident have idea of what kind of behaviour blocker , machine learning etc McAfee has so one could harden windows against scripts, specific files etc where McAfee is lacking
Of the products you listed, AVG and Trend Micro never failed me on family devices. In AVG I have Hardened Mode enabled and in Trend Micro I had Hypersensitive protection setting toggled on.

Regarding VPNs, I prefer standalone products not the ones bundled with security products. The same goes to password managers.
 

Moonhorse

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Of the products you listed, AVG and Trend Micro never failed me on family devices. In AVG I have Hardened Mode enabled and in Trend Micro I had Hypersensitive protection setting toggled on.

Regarding VPNs, I prefer standalone products not the ones bundled with security products. The same goes to password managers.
I like both AVG and trend micro, but adguard doesnt work with AVG and with trend micro i had to use google chrome to get web filter work on android.

I dont use VPN 24/7 so i really dont need one, but i prefer also standalone product over bundle, usually better settings...mcafee really dont have any settings on their VPN , like run on startup etc.

I havent see any virus related pop-up on my family pcs in the last 15 years, not even single false positive. Currently McAfee feels about right choice but im monitoring battery usage and overall performance over my devices
 

Moonhorse

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I recently installed McAfee WebAdviser extension on Microsoft Edge browser, and I'm impressed with its protection and performance, it catches almost everything, and it is lighter than Bitdefender TrafficLight.
Yeah its quite good, also the ui is pretty too. Also you have download protection of McAfee now.

I was about to go with defender + defenderUI + SAC enabled + edge + McAfee webAdvisor.....but i wanted to install McAfee on my moms phone since it will scan for malicious SMS urls ( she has recently had few spam messages about coming post, but shes very cautious with them) so extra security doesnt hurt. So i decided to try full suite myself too.

McAfee isnt bad opinion, if you want light antivirus, with good web protection and simple ui. Not the best malware protection engine, but gets job done.
 

lokamoka820

Level 24
Mar 1, 2024
1,321
Does it more as MS Smart Screen or Google Safe Browsing?
You can rely on MS Smart Screen and Google Safe Browsing if you prefer minimal setup, but for added security (specially for phishing protection) you can add a security extension like McAfee WebAdviser for Microsoft Edge browser or Bitdefender TrafficLight for Chromium based browsers, by the way I use this setup for a browser which I use for my online accounts, for daily use browser (Firefox) I just use uBlock Origin, it is sufficient.
 

Moonhorse

Level 38
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May 29, 2018
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12.8.2024

- Got my new pc -
- bought windows pro -

Current setup:

Microsoft defender on default settings
SAC enabled
Microsoft edge:
- Ublock lite
- Bitwarden

Quad9 as DNS

Going with this simple setup, same with the android
 

Moonhorse

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May 29, 2018
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20-8-2024

+ installed f-secure total ( since i have over year of the license left)
+ installed google chrome
- bitwarden
- f-secure extension
+ adguard ( could not live with the ublock lite tbh )
- smart app control turned off - due messing up with asus armoury crate

Im not using vpn at all, since i have f-secure on android also and adguard is taking the spot of vpn.

Ram wise its not that light, but there is no cpu spikes

1724154130838.png

1724154149647.png


Anyways im going to stay on android atleast with f-secure since my mother prefers finnish language alerts , and when malicious page is blocked there is no way to skip it so i like f-secure on android since that. On desktop i coulda give a go with zonealarm next-gen once again but for now im staying with f-secure

on shadowra test cobaltstrike was able to pass the system, could i add hard configurator or something for additional defense or stay like this?
 

Moonhorse

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May 29, 2018
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30.8.2024

- removed f-secure, banking protection has some problems and i did not like it somehow...

+ added new router ZTE MC888 PRO
+ added Mcafee Total Protection
+ added Firefox
- Bitwarden
- McAfee webadvisor
+ adguard
- cloudflare dns

guess this is the best setup as the web filtering is top notch & its lightest antivirus out there
 

Moonhorse

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May 29, 2018
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2.9.2024

Due getting better internet connection i wanted to get rid of adguard as it slows down browsing speed
- Removed adguard

+ Installed Ublock origin on Firefox

McAfee still doing great, not planning to change
 

Moonhorse

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2.9.2024 second update

I was bored and was surfing zonealarm website, edge offered 75% off coupon so i did clean install and trialed zonealarm Next Gen, everything worked like charm ( last time whole process was disaster)

So i bought 1 year license for my desktop, mobile phone and mothers mobile phone for 15 eur

Current setup

Antivirus: Zonealarm Next Gen
Browser: Brave
DNS: Quad9

SImple setup, and if it works im planning to run whole year with this :whistle:

below ram usage, yeah its huge for now, but maybe it settles down, im running new rig so not a problem.

1725292132074.png

1725292156615.png
 

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