Got a new i3 laptop :) is avast and malwarebytes enough for protection?

sunni

Hello everyone

Oh I'm so excited I've got a new Toshiba i3 laptop and it's just great. Have just downloaded Avast and Malwarebytes and wondering is this enough protection or do I need anything else?

In Avast I can schedule it to scan daily/weekly/monthly - what should I select or should I run it manually?

Thanks

sunni

shaun_from_Africa

That's the same setup I have on both my PC and laptop and have never had problems.
I very rarely run AV scans, but I do have Avast set to the maximum protection with all the shields active.

As to malwarebytes. I run a scan using this program about once a week, and it's probably only picked up 2 or 3 problems in the past 6 months.

sunni

Thanks Shaun, was looking at the Avast settings there and couldn't see the maximum protection - maybe you'd let me know where about the setting is? Cheers

sunni

Just noticed there's Windows Defender on, is it ok to keep it along with Avast and Malwarebytes?

How do I know if Windows Firewall is installed?

RussJK

It's a good setup. I'd set Avast to do a weekly scan at most. If you have the licenced version of Malwarebytes, I'd schedule it to update several times a day and to quietly do a number of quick scans each day - on a new computer you won't even notice it running.

There are some tips in this post that might help, but only do what makes sense:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/42663320#Comment_42663320

You can get 20% off the lifetime subscription to Malwarebytes:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/42781066#Comment_42781066

Personally I would turn Windows Defender off with both Avast and MBAM running. Start > Control Panel to check Windows Firewall.

jayme1

sunni wrote: »

Just noticed there's Windows Defender on, is it ok to keep it along with Avast and Malwarebytes?

How do I know if Windows Firewall is installed?

yep perfectly fine to keep that running,

to check firewall is turned on click 'start' and start typing 'action center' and select 'action center' expand the 'security' section and at the top it will say if firewall is on.

you can also get to action center using the little 'flag' in the notifications area (next to the clock) if it has a red 'x' then click the flag to see what is wrong and to fix it.

teffers

Avast and Malwarebytes is a great setup.

Used in conjunction with Firefox and some common sense you'll be fine.

Software firewall (like Agnitum or similar) maybe, but not essential as Windows built in one will do a half decent job.

sunni

Thanks everyone for the advice Yeah Windows Firewall is turned on. Just a little confused re the Windows Defender which is on - think someone said to keep it on with Avast and Malwarebytes and someone else said to turn it off - would these conflict if I kept Windows Defender on?

BackOnTrack

It doesn't matter what security products you run its what the users of the computer do that matters. It the users are visiting dodgy sites, downloading a pile of warez or random executables when promopted, opening up unsolicited emails etc. then you are going to end with an infected machine. If you want a clean machine then:

Disable scripting on websites
Use adblockers
Make sure you have a hardware firewall and a software firewall
Don't open unsolicited emails
Don't download torrents or anything else that doesn't come from a trusted source (no torrent sites and newsgroups are not trusted sources)
Keep windows upto date
Keep your antivirus upto date
Do a full virus scan regularly

Even this isn't guaranteed to keep you virus free but it is a good start.

RussJK

BackOnTrack wrote: »

It doesn't matter what security products you run its what the users of the computer do that matters. It the users are visiting dodgy sites [...]

The problem is these days you don't have to visit dodgy sites to get infected, given how many got malware from compromised ads on sites like ebay. There's also the lizamoon SQL injection threat, which showed that even government websites could host malware-laden scripts. The rest of your advice would help counter these threats though - along with hosts protections, browser sandboxing, and something like ClearCloudDNS to block known bad sites.

sunni

Thanks again everyone. I have the free version of Malwarebytes running. Just noticed in 'Windows Update' I've over 60 files to download so better go and get that done.