Malwarebytes - Free or Paid Which is best

littlemoney

Can anyone tell please what are the advantages of having the paid for version of Malwarebyte. I kniow the paid for version updates itself and scans can be scheduled to run automatically. What else do I gain please? Is it worth the expense?

I currently have Windows XP with SP3 together with windows firewall, Avast, Windows Defender and Zone Alarm. Having had a problem earlier this year which result in having to reset my computer to its original factory settings and then reinstall 4 years of windows upates and all my software I am trying to get the best security I can.

dogmaryxx

I have it and rate it highly.

With the Pro version you get 24/7 real time protection and lifetime software upgrades. Well worth the one time only payment.

Try using code 5MU-NBU-DFR for 20% discount

Use official site to order

Reluctant_spender

I'm with dogmaryxx Pro version all the way and auto updates is worth the money alone.

waddler_8

The main advantage of the paid version is the realtime protection monitor stops the threats before they have chance to run, instead of after the fact.

In the case of droppers, downloaders & data stealers etc, if the free scan detects them as present, then they have likely already done their job - especially in the case of serious threats like data stealers by then it's possibly too little, too late.

The IP protection module blocks a lot of potential threats by blocking known bad IP's or even entire ranges if the ISP's/hosting providers are known to be "crime freindly" or very poor at responding to abuse reports and takedown requests.

closed

You've got too much already, it will run like a dog.

see speedup sticky thread, and start doing disk image backups then you don't lose anything if something goes wrong

santer_2

Is it the zone alarm firewall, usually it turns the windows firewall off, if it hasn't it will probably run better with only one of them working

littlemoney

closed wrote: »

You've got too much already, it will run like a dog.

see speedup sticky thread, and start doing disk image backups then you don't lose anything if something goes wrong

What is a disk image back up and how do I do disk image backups. Do I need special software and if yes what software can other forum users recommend please

closed

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=45197656

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

esuhl

Personally, I don't think it's that important to have AntiMalware scanning in real-time. I have a variety of free anti-malware applications and only have real-time detection enabled for my antivirus (which is probably un-necessary since I scan downloaded files with Spybot, AntiMalware and AntiVir).

As for updates, you can create a script using AutoIt - I have one that runs every day and automatically updates AntiMalware, Spybot, AntiVir and SpywareBlaster.

EchoLocation

Avast, Windows Defender and Zone Alarm is already a pretty solid combination, besides you don't really want too much running realtime as it'll slow your PC down - particularly as Zone Alarm is a swine for that on it's own - and potentially give you conflict issues and false positives.

If the only other advantages to the paid for Malwarebytes is scheduling and auto update, I'd say it's not worth it.

As you are running XP, by far the best action you can take in terms of security is to start - if you aren't already doing so - using a Limited User Account.

RussJK

I'm a proponent of the full version, probably the best value for money security software you can buy. IMO the IP blocker is the best feature of it, and I find it complements domain level blocking solutions such as Norton DNS. The latest version of Malwarebytes is quite trim and shouldn't particularly cause any performance issues; I use it on my netbook without a problem.

Personally I would uninstall Zone Alarm and turn off Windows Defender as both will be slowing things down to an extent, and don't necessarily add a lot.

If you are using a modem router and have reasonable wireless security, and are smart in dealing with attachments/links sent in emails, then your main threats will be through the browser. If this is the case, then using Sandboxie is a good step as it adds a kind of 'buffer' to prevent infection spreading to the rest of the system.