Stracke's Security System

Stracke

New Member
Thread author
Mar 23, 2014
2
Well, I was out of date with security system, i got a spyware and decided to study more about it, I found this forum and i loved the informations here. Keep up the good work guys!

I just got Bitdefender Internet Security PROMO, free for 9 months. Should i install this program and remove my actual Real-Time Protection?
 
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illumination

If you install Bitdefender, it will disable windows firewall and windows defender for you. You will want to leave smartscreen and UAC enabled though.
 
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Ink

Administrator
Verified
Jan 8, 2011
22,490
Is that the best option if I don't wanna pay?
IMO, using Windows 8 default security is the best, in terms of, you should have almost no problems with ghost drivers, performance issues or software conflicts.
There are other Free security products available, not all may be just an Antivirus, some security suites may use HIPS, BB (behaviour blocker) or file-based virtualisation or complete isolated environments (ie. Sandboxie).

Should I add or remove any of these?
At a minimum, I would keep ESET Online Scanner, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free) and HitmanPro (Non-activated). ESET Online Scanner, although it runs once per scan, you can use it multiple times. You can customise the scan locations and settings, and holds a quarantine if you wish to restore files from after a scan completes. It doesn't use any background resources when not in use and updates prior to scanning, so you have the latest definitions.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is another great on-demand scanner, but better offers an advantage since it's not primarily an Antivirus. The Premium version offers more protection modules in real-time, but I recommend MBAM as on-demand.
HitmanPro, if left non-activated, it will scan on start-up or during a custom scan without removing the threats. It uses multiple AV engines for detecting harmful files and can boot up on an infected PC with ransomware via KickStart. Malwarebytes also have Chameleon mode if required on an infected PC.

Is sandboxie necessary?
Sandboxie, now owned by Invincea, provides an isolated environment for your sandboxed web browser or other program(s). The paid version offers more features, but most can use the free version with zero-issues. SBIE no longer offers a lifetime license, and consequently you must pay €15 per 1 year. - http://www.sandboxie.com

What's the space offered of other programs?
OneDrive (previously SkyDrive) by Microsoft, initially offers 7GB of free storage, but you can increase that figure up by 8GB, so a total of 15GB free storage). I posted How-To Gain 8GB of OneDrive storage space. Older Hotmail account holders can have up to 25GB of free storage, but was offered for a limited time only during the launch of the new Outlook.com.
MEGA offers 50GB of free online storage and up to 10GB bandwidth. They have a desktop client, that syncs content from the cloud to your PC, and vice versa. If you use Chrome, they recommend the MEGA browser extension. - https://mega.co.nz/#info

Am I ok with these or you guys recommend more?
I use 4 of those you mentioned (AdBlock, LastPass, ZenMate and MEGA). Although, I try and keep extensions to a minimum, so when not in use I disable them (it also saves resources).

I think that CCleaner is ok for optimisation am I right?
CCleaner is used to clear out junk, temp and other files from the OS. It's good at clearing up free space, it also offers shredding in the Options, for a more secure clean. A registry cleaner, start-up manager and browser extensions list is also included within the program. For optimisation, Windows 8 can optimise the drives with it's built-in de-fragmentation & optimisation tool.

Windows 8 also has Automatic Maintenance, access via Control Panel > Action Center.
upload_2014-3-24_12-10-40.png


Should i install this program and remove my actual Real-Time Protection?
Bitdefender should be installed by user choice.
As already mentioned, Windows Defender will disable itself when another Antivirus or Suite is installed. But Windows SmartScreen and UAC should be left turned On.

Overall..
Windows Defender + SmartScreen + Firewall with UAC should be sufficient, but I'd like to suggest Unchecky - it's not an AV.
http://malwaretips.com/threads/unchecky-updated-to-version-0-2-adds-redesigned-ui.21160/
http://unchecky.com/

Hopefully there are no spelling mistakes in this 30 minute (time taken) long post. :)
 

Stracke

New Member
Thread author
Mar 23, 2014
2
Is that the best option if I don't wanna pay?
IMO, using Windows 8 default security is the best, in terms of, you should have almost no problems with ghost drivers, performance issues or software conflicts.
There are other Free security products available, not all may be just an Antivirus, some security suites may use HIPS, BB (behaviour blocker) or file-based virtualisation or complete isolated environments (ie. Sandboxie).

Should I add or remove any of these?
At a minimum, I would keep ESET Online Scanner, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free) and HitmanPro (Non-activated). ESET Online Scanner, although it runs once per scan, you can use it multiple times. You can customise the scan locations and settings, and holds a quarantine if you wish to restore files from after a scan completes. It doesn't use any background resources when not in use and updates prior to scanning, so you have the latest definitions.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is another great on-demand scanner, but better offers an advantage since it's not primarily an Antivirus. The Premium version offers more protection modules in real-time, but I recommend MBAM as on-demand.
HitmanPro, if left non-activated, it will scan on start-up or during a custom scan without removing the threats. It uses multiple AV engines for detecting harmful files and can boot up on an infected PC with ransomware via KickStart. Malwarebytes also have Chameleon mode if required on an infected PC.

Is sandboxie necessary?
Sandboxie, now owned by Invincea, provides an isolated environment for your sandboxed web browser or other program(s). The paid version offers more features, but most can use the free version with zero-issues. SBIE no longer offers a lifetime license, and consequently you must pay €15 per 1 year. - http://www.sandboxie.com

What's the space offered of other programs?
OneDrive (previously SkyDrive) by Microsoft, initially offers 7GB of free storage, but you can increase that figure up by 8GB, so a total of 15GB free storage). I posted How-To Gain 8GB of OneDrive storage space. Older Hotmail account holders can have up to 25GB of free storage, but was offered for a limited time only during the launch of the new Outlook.com.
MEGA offers 50GB of free online storage and up to 10GB bandwidth. They have a desktop client, that syncs content from the cloud to your PC, and vice versa. If you use Chrome, they recommend the MEGA browser extension. - https://mega.co.nz/#info

Am I ok with these or you guys recommend more?
I use 4 of those you mentioned (AdBlock, LastPass, ZenMate and MEGA). Although, I try and keep extensions to a minimum, so when not in use I disable them (it also saves resources).

I think that CCleaner is ok for optimisation am I right?
CCleaner is used to clear out junk, temp and other files from the OS. It's good at clearing up free space, it also offers shredding in the Options, for a more secure clean. A registry cleaner, start-up manager and browser extensions list is also included within the program. For optimisation, Windows 8 can optimise the drives with it's built-in de-fragmentation & optimisation tool.

Windows 8 also has Automatic Maintenance, access via Control Panel > Action Center.
View attachment 9163

Should i install this program and remove my actual Real-Time Protection?
Bitdefender should be installed by user choice.
As already mentioned, Windows Defender will disable itself when another Antivirus or Suite is installed. But Windows SmartScreen and UAC should be left turned On.

Overall..
Windows Defender + SmartScreen + Firewall with UAC should be sufficient, but I'd like to suggest Unchecky - it's not an AV.
http://malwaretips.com/threads/unchecky-updated-to-version-0-2-adds-redesigned-ui.21160/
http://unchecky.com/

Hopefully there are no spelling mistakes in this 30 minute (time taken) long post. :)

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Huracan! I'd like to talk to you about some questions I have, via PM?
 

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