Weekend Open Forum: Do you keep antivirus protection running 24/7?

In Linux don't bother any more, not much point really if I'm honest. lol.

In Windows, I use MSE, with real-time detection always on, though if I'm honest I am pretty lazy and don't do a full scan very often.
 
nope.... i aint used an AV for over 7 years... i dont search hack sites, i dont go to spam filled sites ... jus i player .. u tube ... e bay, email... jus the usual searches an i have had one or two virus's ... i pretty much reinstal win every year ...
I honestly think if you dont fk with dirty little stupid progs ...
Or use dirty hack sites ...
there is no need for AV ......simples.....
i am a gamer and on my puter 8 hrs a day ....
 
Leeky said:
In Linux don't bother any more, not much point really if I'm honest. lol.

Haha, my thought exactly. Since I got Linux up and running I don't use an antivirus any more, it doesn't really matter.

As for Windows, I currently use the latest avast! antivirus on all Internet-connected PC's. And the second-to-latest avast! running on the non-connected. My father really got interested in Panda, and so he installed it on all of his PC's until the BSOD's started showing up, and he was forced to quit.

As for scanning the PC's, I also use the built-in functions of avast!, but Malwarebyte's is a good second from time to time.

When rendering video in video-editing software on the good-old laptop, leaving the AV off is a must, otherwise it simply crashes because it doesn't nearly have enough RAM for both operations. The CPU also has very little cache; it makes it all very painstaking...
 
I haven't used any anti-virus for atleast 2 years and have absolutely no problems (Windows 7). I really can't understand the need for one if people just don't do stupid things.
 
Nope. Using a little common sense with opening attachments, plus MSE rocks. Once a week I do scans with 3rd party scanners and clean up whatever crap-ola there is with Ccleaner. Haven't been busted with a virus in over 2 years.

It's been my experience that background anti-virus checkers are insane memory and process hogs. In most cases they are worse than a virus and often interfere with the OS. Forget it...
 
Yep,running Eset Smart Security 4 scan once a moth and always keep it running during the day.None problem so far..
 
I fix a lot of peoples computers that have 100's of viruses & "crud" I've found by the time I'm done and they all say the same thing as most the people on this forum..."I've ran without virus protection for years and never had a problem" lol. ...Yeah, That's actually how a majority of lives are handled. Instead of vigilant protection and upgrading of the protection of the things we hold dear.."I'll just wait until there's a BIG crash/problem(cuz I'm having little problems making it work)" THEN... decide to care and/or hate. It's Bred by laziness so it will never change. Good thing the troublemakers are going after/using their "good" viruses and bugs on the big companies with REAL money and only practicing with the lower community or most of these people would be Fuc**d!!lol Crying and pointing fingers :eek:) AmD 6core @4mhz with Gskill Ripgaws 2000@ 2014 and a Mushkin 120G SSD 25/7 stable...I don't know what a performance hit is!!! What is this term you speak of?? lol probably most of the same people saying computing doesn't need more that a dual core ATM. lol
Still, Yes.. I have three programs that run together 24/7 and one i scan with once a month. "Scotty watchdog"(free) is the gatekeeper for my system& checks any new program trying to infiltrate; SuperAntispyware bytes(free) is my lieutenant and McAfee total protection (off amazon 15$ a yr) is the Commander in chief for security in my system. I run Malewarebytes(free) once as month. I get tracking cookies and spyware all the time. Viruses maybe once a month. One virus up to a few won't crush your rig or even be noticeable seems to be majority experience.
 
I use ESET Smart Security 24/7 and its pretty good.I do not use any other kind of security software.Is there anything I am missing?
 
Guest said:
I keep antivirus running 24/7 (MSE 2 atm) and scan for malware using Malwarebytes about once a month. I have not had a virus, trojan, or worm in about a decade's time. I could definitely take your route, but it's a peace-of-mind tactic that I use. Plus you never know when someone who isn't an experience computer user needs to use your computer and you allow them to... it's an extra safeguard when I cannot personally be there monitoring what is happening.

+1.

I used to play pirated games - that brought with it a shipload of viruses etc, now the only source of viruses/trojans/worms etc. I encounter are the flash-drive autorun type. And MSE deals with them with ease.
 
I leave MSE on 24/7, but I disable most of the real-time protection options and only let it scan downloads as I have had issues with some games where MSE would go into infinite-lopp like behavior. Excluding the game from MSE did fix the problem, but I don't want to bother with having to add new applications to the exclusion list as I go and I don't really feel that I need the extra protection, as none of my machines have been infected for the last few years.

I do try to perform a full scan each week, just as a good habit.
 
I'm probably in the minority here, but I've used Norton AV for many years and never had a problem with it. As a gamer I'd notice if it was impacting performance and I even did a format without it once and ran benchmarks and games to see if there was a difference. There was none.
 
You'll love it when you can't even use your resources to do anything because you didn't have anything to protect you when the big ole scary virus raped your defenseless computer. Have fun getting rid of that. Also don't think I'm just some noob trying to start a fight. I'm an A+ Cert Computer Tech. I know how dangerous not having protection running is to a computer. Also, anyone here who is running more than one, Stop it right now. If those programs ever clash they may possibly lock you out of your system permanently. You don't even have to go to an unfamiliar website to catch anything, Facebook and Myspace and full of the things. Run protection, I would suggest AVG. I know it hogs resources but so far it the one that I've noticed protects best for free.
 
Lots of people are saying how they don't use AV and have no problems but do they expect malware to shout out "HELLO, VIRUS HERE!" when it's installed itself? It's just going to chunter away in the background mailing out crap & stealing your details.

It seems there's such little performance hit & hardware is always getting more powerful, it seems like hubris not to have any AV software installed at all.

I wonder how much spam is sent out from smug geeks who think they're too clever to be part of a botnet?
 
Might as well leave it going all the time, it hardly uses any RAM up and the obvious advantages of having it running are worth it.

I aint tried anything else sinse i tried Avast 4.8 Pro.
 
Main PC Win Boot: Norton IS 2011 24/7 + Win7, Linux Boot: N/A, laptops Avast latest. Used to use MSE even from v1, but recent incident on my brothers PC made me to switch from it. Don't get me wrong, MSE is great and I did lots of beta testing for Micro$oft, but I think Avast custom install with per PC settings has better protection. Of course, common sense IS the best protection.
 
when disable for games, is good or bad?

i use avast is, but i thinking at new nis or vipre.
 
uses avast for real-time protection, but i need malwarebytes too for ocassional checking. tried MSE and didnt like it.

these days i rarely get infected. most infection came from dirty friends' drives.
 
No need to have an anti-virus running all the time. Firefox with Adblock Plus, NoScript, and Flashblock is enough. If you know where and what you're downloading you'll be fine.
 
I got Avast and Avira running on my Windows XP laptop and desktop respectively. My only paid AV is Webroot Internet Security Essentials which is on my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit desktop. I know it's a bit of an overkill on the Win 7 rig but as long as there is no noticeable performance hit, I guess it's better safe than sorry.
 
The only time I disable AV, firewall, etc. is when playing games, otherwise they're running. I'm also behind a NAT firewall/router. Haven't been infected for over 5 years.
 
i have Avast! but keep it disabled, only enabling it when i'm knowingly clicking on suspicious websites.

i see antivirus software becoming less popular since the internet isn't as large as it once was in terms of people frequenting the same handful of websites over and over again. gone are the days where different information was spread out over a lot of different websites and the internet actually felt huge.

i could start a rant about the demise of the vastness the internet once showed, but not in the mood for it right now.
 
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