Is MSE + MBAM Free an effective, lightweight solution?

Hi all,

I'm trying to find an effective combination of free antimalware software for my ASUS G73JH laptop that also has minimal performance impact. That last bit is important because I'm running a slow 5400 RPM hard drive at the moment and my drive performance is already pretty iffy. I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials for a while now and it has been working pretty well, but the Real Time Protection does lower my read and write speeds and I get more stuttering in games when it is on. I would like install a second dedicated malware remover software just in case anything falls through the MSE safety net. Is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware free a good choice for use in conjunction with MSE? Do the two conflict with one another? What about the performance impact of MBAM? Thanks.

 

They work fine. Our IT department uses the combination of both, and they are very light and work great.

 

You can try Avira Free + MBAM (on demand ).
Avast - slow down your PC,
AVG - slow down your PC,
Panda - no slow down , but not good protection.
Is your choise AVIRA or MSE + MBAM

 

MBAM free is an (excellent!) on demand scanner and so will NOT conflict with MSE. However, I consider MSE a very weak tool on its own. IMO, Avast is a better AV, but you could get away with MSE and a decent firewall, such as Comodo or Outpost.

Regarding mse and stuttering, to disable it you can stop real time protection in the settings while gaming, but I had the same problem with MSE for the brief time I used it.

 

MSE in my personal opinion is anything but weak.
I haven't had an issue since ever with it - AVAST on the other hand I used for months until it decided to throw a tantrum of it's own and went berserk with false positives and preventing me from going to various websites that were safe.

They of course fixed a lot of those issues, but at the same time, I think they made it a bit of an overkill. To have it tell me what it considers to be 'safe' is a bit ludicrous and it's sandbox feature is annoying to no ends.
I'm sorry, but I don't want to be hand-held and being told how to run my laptop - (a bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but it's almost as if it's going into that direction).

Having said that, I use AdBlock and hardware firewall that comes with my router (along with Win 7 firewall) so my protection level while fairly basic and light is more than effective. I could probably also remove MSE altogether, but I keep it on for the mere sake of it.

MBAM is an effective on-demand scanner that's very useful in picking up things that AV's in general might miss.
I haven't used it in a LONG while though (haven't had any issues to warrant it's use).

 

Thanks for the replies. I do not have risky browsing habits so I don't absolutely need an antimalware suite with the absolute best detection rates. I've just installed MBAM and it has been playing well with MSE.

 

OK, now I've got a few questions about setting up MBAM. I'm especially curious about the "General Settings" and "Scanner Settings."


Should I check this option even if I never use Internet Explorer? Is it true that some malware can run IE even without displaying any browser windows?




Also, at the bottom of "Scanner Settings," which of the three choices should I select as the action for detected PUP, PUM, and P2P threats to ensure that there is NO automatic file deletion? Would the best option be "Show in results list and do not check for removal? I certainly do not want MBAM to detect a falso positive that happens to be an important Windows file or something, delete it automatically, and then screw my whole system up.

 

Yes, it won't harm, and yes, malware can make use of IE without a browser window open; you'd close IE and assume it's really closed but f.i. checking 'Task Manager' would reveal it's still running.

You'll always have to click 'Delete/Delete All'; there's no automatic deletion.
Decide yourself if checking listed files would serve as a useful precaution measure, otherwise you can select "Show in results list and check for removal", you'll still have to click once for actual deletion.

 

For the last years I've been managing about 10 PCs in a company and some other 5 at my family's and the combo we've been using is MS Security Essentials + Windows Firewall and the occasional Malwarebytes when the need arises.

I have to say we've had no problems regarding security or 'computer health' for a very long time!

 

OK got it. Thank you very much. MBAM got me confused because in MSE there is an option for automatic deletion for any files that MSE deems as high or severe risk.

 

I dont agree with 2 malware applications as even if they "work fine together" there is no need for 2. MSE is a very nice av that I use at work and home and the auto delete setting is active for all levels of malware. As for the stuttering well I would think that has more to do with somethinng else then the av application.

Oh and avast is another very solid av, the only problem is the pita renewing every couple of months...

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

 

I can see where you're coming from but having more than one AV suite is just one more layer of protection in case anything gets by the first one, however rare that might be. And I have ascertained that the stuttering is caused my MSE's real-time protection because the "monitor all files" option scans every single file that is read from or written to the hard disk, which causes a minor decrease in read and write speeds and a minor increase in access times. It's not really noticeable in most games but in some games, especially Source Engine games since that particular engine has a problem with texture and audio loading "on the fly," it definitely happens. Turning off real-time protection makes it go away but I guess if I had an SSD it wouldn't matter either way!

 

9 times out of 10 having 2 AVs will cause more security problems. Usually one sees the other as a malware.

 

Uhm... if you referring to using 2 AV's at the same time with their real-time protections activated, then possibly yes, problems might ensue.

Other than that, having MSE and MBAM on the computer at the same time is not a problem, because only MSE would be used for real-time protection at all times, and MBAM (which is not an antivirus per say) would be manually activated by the user if/when deemed needed.

 

Yep, only one active protection running, but on demand scanners are fine since they won't interfere with the normal operation of your main AV. I'm pretty sure most people running MSE + MBAM have their computers setup that way.

 

Why bother with a 2nd AV if all youre using it for is to scan what the other is protecting and scanning for already?

 

Like I said it's a second safety net just in case something gets through the first one. Anyway like others have said the free version of MBAM has no real-time protection so I just use it to do manual scans and possible malware removal after scanning with MSE. MSE is the suite with real-time protection enabled. Two programs don't interfere with each other at all.

 

Yep, another safety net, if you think you got an infection or want to make sure something is clean, another on demand scanner isn't a bad idea. For example, i don't trust most of the PCs in the labs at university (with good reason) and i prefer using more than just MSE to make sure my flash drives are clean.

 

MBAM is NOT an AV and can pick things up that the AV itself missed.
It's nothing more than a secondary layer of protection that is activated in situations where a user suspects of a potential problem (otherwise, it's usually turned off).

Most of the time though, MBAM (while useful) is not necessarily needed.

 

Correct, but a lot of people usually use MBAM as an on-demand scanner, not for active protection.

 

As already mentioned by Deks and others, MBAM is not a '2nd AV'.
It's build as a complementary antimalware program.
As not one AV/AM program will catch everything, a program like MBAM will increase overall detection considerably.

Also, having installed two AV's is usually detrimental but some programs like f.i. Malwarebytes'Antimalware, HitmanPro3 or WSA/Webroot Secure Everywhere, are build to run alongside an AV. Such programs will not cause any compatibility issues.

 

MSE is antivirus or antimalware????

 

For most people antivirus and antimalware refer to the same thing, but malware encompasses not just viruses but also other things such as worms, trojans, rootkits, adware, spyware, and phishing exploits. MSE is a general antimalware utility.