Advanced Plus Security Moonhorse 2026 windows config

[Pat MacKnife]

I wonder if the free version is also updated to latest . . .

 

[Moonhorse]

I wonder if the free version is also updated to latest . . .

Yes it seems that free version is updated to 2024.3 too, since its mentioned in post.

Here you can find release notes: https://support.home.sophos.com/hc/en-us/sections/360000192343-Release-Notes

 

[Moonhorse]

25.7.2025

Did not want to post this earlier but i enabled smart app controll earlier this week

Previously it was running fine untill armoury crate was messing it up, this was months ago. It seems they have fixed the problem as it doesnt interfere with the SAC anymore

 

[Bot]

This is my 2024 config. I used f-secure Total previously , but the disconnecting problems of VPN drive me crazy.

Current config:

Microsoft defender , configuredefender on MAX, WHHLight everything enabled

Microsoft edge
- bitwarden

adguard desktop & cloudflare malware blocking dns

Your configuration looks very solid overall. You're using full‑disk encryption, biometrics for log‑in, and a strong real‑time protection stack (Sophos Home Premium with AdGuard and Microsoft Defender Firewall), which gives you multiple layers against malware and phishing. Having UAC set to "Always notify," Smart App Control on, and Cloudflare DNS adds even more hardening, and Bitwarden helps you manage unique passwords across accounts.

A few suggestions to consider:

• Make sure your Windows account has a long, unique password even though you primarily log in with biometrics — the password is still your fallback.
• Enable multi‑factor authentication on important online accounts (email, banking, cloud services) and consider a hardware security key for extra assurance.
• Keep testing your backup strategy: creating periodic system images (AOMEI or another tool) and restoring them ensures recovery works when you need it.
• If you ever connect to untrusted networks, a reputable VPN can help protect traffic; otherwise Cloudflare's DNS and HTTPS are sufficient.

Overall, it's a well‑rounded setup for home use. Keep software up‑to‑date and maintain good browsing habits, and you should be well protected.

 

[Moonhorse]

26.7.2025
> Did clean install
> refunded sophos home premium as it had 30 days money back guarantee ( not specific reason, but i did not like the dashboard that much, also scans were very slow, phishing protection wasnt that good when i went throught and compared it to extension like osprey, ram usage was high compared to competitors etc.)

What i have been thinking is that i moved to grapheneOS on android and i was thinking about little bit of de-googling my life even i firstly thought i would not do that, but since im windows user forever due gaming. Im moving my digital life to microsoft instead of google from now

Since i have gotten rid of social media, using less apps than before on android/windows im trying to keep it minimal from now. Also think bit of my privacy too
As someone had said less is more, it probably is true

Current setup:
Microsoft edge with ublock origin lite + bitwarden ( got rid of adguard probably not needed i can live without it)
Microsoft defender with default settings
Enabled SAC ( smart app control)
I had something to enable on core isolation settings so i enabled everything from there

Im not planning to use any third party tools, just keep it original. My sophos life lasted for 25 days and well seel how long microsoft life lasts, but im planning to forever

 

[Moonhorse]

6.8.2025

Tried out kaspersky lately, as i have 1 year of license left and decided to ditch it
Tried out Mcafee but i just dont feel comfortable enough on windows/android with it

Longest time i have used antivirus is probably year ago when i stacked trend micro licenses and got 8 years of licenses , was happy with that setup so i wanted to go back to that.

New config:

- Google chrome as browser
- Adguard for windows as adblocker
- cloudflare ( encrypted hello client enabled) as dns
- Trend micro as antivirus ( hypersensitive mode enabled )

Currently im feeling id stay with this, but time will tell..i tend to change often my setup and i got few years old laptop from my sister so i will use that as test machine ( not testing antivirus against malware) but how antiviruses behave ( if i like to try some antivirus out) currently there is none im feeling trying out

 

[Trident]

6.8.2025

Tried out kaspersky lately, as i have 1 year of license left and decided to ditch it
Tried out Mcafee but i just dont feel comfortable enough on windows/android with it

Longest time i have used antivirus is probably year ago when i stacked trend micro licenses and got 8 years of licenses , was happy with that setup so i wanted to go back to that.

New config:

- Google chrome as browser
- Adguard for windows as adblocker
- cloudflare ( encrypted hello client enabled) as dns
- Trend micro as antivirus ( hypersensitive mode enabled )

Currently im feeling id stay with this, but time will tell..i tend to change often my setup and i got few years old laptop from my sister so i will use that as test machine ( not testing antivirus against malware) but how antiviruses behave ( if i like to try some antivirus out) currently there is none im feeling trying out

Trend is better than Sophos.

The Trend Micro engine provides broader coverage than the Sophos one.

Trend Micro also performs static analysis on scripts and office files (though this static analysis is not always effective). Sophos just intercepts fileless attacks in real time.

The Sophos AV engine is very average.

The development is also very slow.

 

[Moonhorse]

Trend is better than Sophos.

The Trend Micro engine provides broader coverage than the Sophos one.

Trend Micro also performs static analysis on scripts and office files (though this static analysis is not always effective). Sophos just intercepts fileless attacks in real time.

The Sophos AV engine is very average.

The development is also very slow.

Yeah sophos was kinda mediocore, trend is much better

I went with trend micro because i like to use same setup all on my devices + family devices and since im using antivirus on android because of my mother is average user. Personally i like Trend micro over Mcafee on android because it works somehow better than Mcafee, but on desktop i like Mcafee more than trend micro.

Personally i havent seen malware on my devices/ family devices since i was teenager like 15-20 years ago. I used to download music with limewire and stuff like that back then. Nowadays i just use streaming services and im more interested about internet security than back then

Do you know if zonealarm next gen has improved since i bought license year ago and just got renew message few days ago
https://www.zonealarm.com/software/extreme-security-nextgen/release-history
This changelog doesnt update in realtime i guess

 

[Trident]

Yeah sophos was kinda mediocore, trend is much better

I went with trend micro because i like to use same setup all on my devices + family devices and since im using antivirus on android because of my mother is average user. Personally i like Trend micro over Mcafee on android because it works somehow better than Mcafee, but on desktop i like Mcafee more than trend micro.

Personally i havent seen malware on my devices/ family devices since i was teenager like 15-20 years ago. I used to download music with limewire and stuff like that back then. Nowadays i just use streaming services and im more interested about internet security than back then

Do you know if zonealarm next gen has improved since i bought license year ago and just got renew message few days ago
https://www.zonealarm.com/software/extreme-security-nextgen/release-history
This changelog doesnt update in realtime i guess

Sadly as of now there’s been no update to ZA, I hope when it comes it’s a massive one. That was the last version unless they’ve updated the beta.

CP Harmony has had billions of improvements now, none of that is in ZoneAlarm.
Though detection is better than Trend, performance wise it’s a disaster.

Anyway, McAfee is good on every platform.

 

[simmerskool]

Anyway, McAfee is good on every platform.

@Trident are you running McAfee on your macOS?

 

[Trident]

@Trident are you running McAfee on your macOS?

Just tested it, I’m not running anything there.

 

[simmerskool]

Just tested it, I’m not running anything there.

thanks! me either yet, but chatgpt seems to be pushing Objective-See app, eg, KnockKnock... which I ran on my 2018 mini.

 

[Moonhorse]

Sorry for the spam, i update mobile config later but i dont want to spam forum but its same config as i have on windows

8.8.2025

Did read the mcafee thread more closely and decided to move from trend micro to mcafee, due better web protection ( thinking about my mothers devices)

So current setup pretty much is:
- Mcafee total security
- adguard for desktop
- Firefox with bitwarden
- SAC enabled
- Some core isolation things i enabled after saw they were disabled.

Did this change fast ( clean install ) because i wanted to get rid of one game client ( i dont trust uninstallers to remove all remnants since my ocd) so i always do clean install when installing new antivirus, so i did the swap because of two things

 

[Sorrento]

Sorry for the spam, i update mobile config later but i dont want to spam forum but its same config as i have on windows

8.8.2025

Did read the mcafee thread more closely and decided to move from trend micro to mcafee, due better web protection ( thinking about my mothers devices)

So current setup pretty much is:
- Mcafee total security
- adguard for desktop
- Firefox with bitwarden
- SAC enabled
- Some core isolation things i enabled after saw they were disabled.

Did this change fast ( clean install ) because i wanted to get rid of one game client ( i dont trust uninstallers to remove all remnants since my ocd) so i always do clean install when installing new antivirus, so i did the swap because of two things

Similar to my setup, pretty simple, then things you want to work do work

 

[Moonhorse]

I removed mcafee because i wanted to use vpn, and mcafee vpn was kinda slow

Back to roots.

New setup is

+ Microsoft defender as antivirus
+ cloud level protection - Zero tolerance
+ all core isolation modules enabled
+ SAC enabled

+ Microsoft edge as browser
+ Bitwarden as extension
+ Duckduckgo as search engine

+ Adguard for windows as adblocker
+ Adguard VPN
+ Adguard paid DNS ( newly registered domains blocked enabled + OISD big list enabled, + hagezi most abused tlds enabled)

Some pictures

Cloud leve set to zero tolerance ( gpo )

Smart app control on

blocklists on adguard dns

Feel free to suggest something, but this is config from now

 

[Parkinsond]

Duckduckgo as search engine

Give Ecosia search engine a try for one day; it is Google search but more refined.

OISD big list enabled

I find Hagezi ultimate more thorough, with slightly more false positive blocks.

 

[Moonhorse]

Give Ecosia search engine a try for one day; it is Google search but more refined.

I find Hagezi ultimate more thorough, with slightly more false positive blocks.

i have tried ecosia in the past, but i can give it another try.

I was choosing between hagezi and oisd, but choosed oisd because they have adguard as sponsor

 

[Moonhorse]

14.8.2025

Did not enjoy the adguard vpn that much, slow speeds etc.

- Removed adguard vpn
- removed adguard for windows
- removed adguard dns

+ added ublock origin lite to edge

Free, simple and working config, nothing extra needed to be honest
Ublock origin lite has improved, not single ads , even on twitch.tv it blocks ads that it did not do before

 

[piquiteco]

Free, simple and working config, nothing extra needed to be honest
Ublock origin lite has improved, not single ads , even on twitch.tv it blocks ads that it did not do before

Interesting, I was reading your settings over time, you changed third-party AVs several times and in the end you ended up returning to Microsoft Defender.

 

[Moonhorse]

Interesting, I was reading your settings over time, you changed third-party AVs several times and in the end you ended up returning to Microsoft Defender.

Yeah im running it for now on my main pc, but i have McAfee running on laptop and trend micro on my sisters computer wich i take care of

Feels like Mcafee is way to go, with adguard desktop + adguard vpn and firefox as browser but i havent changed yet

Was about to buy surfshark for vpn but adguard is too useful on android so should stick to adguards vpn, its not speediest but it doesnt get detected as easy as kasperskys wich is much better speedwise and mcafees vpn is pretty limited settings wise