What security software do I need on my computer?

I have windows 7. I currently have CCcleaner, Advanced system care(paid), panda free antivirus, webroot(paid), and malwarebytes. I know this is probably way too many programs so which ones should i absolutely keep and which should i get rid of. Thanks

 

CCcleaner, Advanced system care have nothing to do with security! These are system maintenance programs and Advanced System Care may break or cripple your computer instead of fixing anything, this is pure snake oil.

All you need is:

Good Antivirus that doesn't slow your PC down such as F-Secure Antivirus for example

Adblocker in your browser such as AdBlock Plus which is a free extension for both Firefox and Google Chrome

Malwarebytes AntiMalware I've only needed to disinfect systems that I repair for people that already have a virus but if your system is clean you can use it just to double check a file but I found that it never finds anything provided I have a good antivirus to start with.

Webroot, uninstall that junk please, it's a wannabe antivirus but it's not. I have a 5 year license for it that's collecting dust. All it does is catch false positive (sites and files that it thinks is a virus due to its crappy behavioral blocker but aren't really a threat)

PS: Never install 2 security programs that do live scans at the same time unless you want to kill your computer's performance so you wouldn't need Webroot and something else

Uninstall Webroot and get a good AV like F-Secure, Norton Security, or Trend Micro AV 2015 which has recently also become very light on the system unlike in the past.

I personally use F-Secure Anti-Virus as I've tested them all and this is the only one that is really light, has no false positives, and gave me no system quirks (as in, all my other programs are working fine)

 

agree with Ferris
some of those you have are pure junk and can cause more problems than good.

i use avast paid which has a firewall included. it has one part called safe zone that a lot of the other paid antivirus dont have. its used for any banking or secure sites you visit and it turns everything off thats not needed while you are using it and it is totally secure.
most of the free antivirus dont have firewall so its advised to turn on windows firewall sharpish.

malwarebytes is also very good and worth having.

i also use cc cleaner and tune up utilitys but last year it was bought out by avg so i dont think i will be renewing when it runs out.

 

Here's my take .... Forget Panda A/V get MSE that will be better as this protection will make your Windows UPdate to Auto update and give you more protection. CCleaner "Free" version is good to have to clean out uninstalled and older apps out of your system. Advance system is like give us more money for free programs that can do more or better then "Advance paycheck" is what your giving them. Malwarebytes...I don't use and have no current needs. Last but you should get a PC hosts edit file that will protect you from ads popup and adware directed popup links that you might click.

http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/
Also make your hosts file "Read Only" in the file attributes this will further protect you from malware rewriting your hosts to take over your proxy and redirecting your web browser and links.
another edit to go with PC hosts

 

Why do people recommend Malwarebytes + AV? I thought AV clients had built-in scanning/cleaning functions?

Also, since I apparently wasted my money on an AVG subscription, I am looking for a better paid AV. Right now, it seems the two front runners are Avast and F-Secure. Which of these two is better?

 

When I did try TuneUp Utillities 2014 as it was highly recommended everywhere as a safe reg cleaner, the moment I cleaned my registry with it, my MS Office stopped working and I had to reinstall it. From then on I learned to never use anything that messes with my registry except for Revo Uninstaller Pro or Total Uninstall to get rid of registry / file remnants of a program that I uninstalled, those are usually safer than cleaning the registry with one of these snakeoil programs

 

ive never had a problem with registry at all with it as well as cc cleaner registry cleaner. suppose ive just been lucky.

i used to use avg paid antivirus but it started getting to be a resource hog so changed to avast about 3 years ago.
avast has had 4 false positives in all that time but with their active forum and reporting tools a patch comes out quite quick to rectify it.

i only have malwarebytes loaded just in case something does get through avast.

if i were you i would try the avast free and then f-secure if they have a free version so you get an idea of what each one can do but of course they wont have all the programs the paid versions have.
remember to activate windows firewall though for the free versions.

 

FWIW I've been using ESET Smart Security for a couple of years: it does the job and stays out of the way. I have Malwarebytes running also.

 

For a comparison of how different AVs handle threats and how they affect your PC performance, look at this latest report:

http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/

 

wonder why microsoft security essentials is at the bottom with the worst score

 

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/securit...signed-to-be-bottom-of-the-antivirus-rankings

It has been like this since 2 years man They even advised people to use a 3rd party AV. MSE = no AV. Might as well run with nothing if one is going to use MSE, every system that I fix because of an infection had MSE on it. Yet people tell you I've been using MSE for years and never had a virus. Not like a virus is going to popup and say "hey BTW your system is infected" they wouldn't even know they had a virus logging everything they do / sending it to someone silently.

 

exactly. we see it every time theres a new post of which to get. there are still loads using it. i tried it once and it wasnt on my computer for more than a day.

 

yes, and what's their excuse? it's free, has no popups or ads to upgrade, and it comes through Windows Updates or in the OS if it's Win 8. The lamest excuse I've ever heard for not properly protecting one's computer when there are many good free and paid AVs

 

Put this way the user is 50% of the cause of the infections. If you permit it to click on sites with virus or downloaded virus infected program then no amount of A/V will protect you. You gave it Admin permission once you open and run it. So the A/V is 50% protection and the failure is the user failing 50% of the time to fix their "habit" to click on and download anything without thinking what am I doing. So for however good a A/V is - nothing it can do once the user clicks install and downloads a virus package. Savvy users regardless of what A/V they use will stop the virus sooner then your average John/Jane Doe can do but then it will be already to late.

 

Thanks for the link! I should get MSE off of my Surface ASAP.

 

Indeed bro. I am a member of Wilders Security forums which only focuses on security and AV discussions. If someone said they're running MSE they'd laugh at him (no offense to you) unless one wants to add many extra protection layers to complement it like MBAM + a decent firewall with HIPS but that's all too much if you ask me, just get a proper AV and be done with it

 

Thanks, Ferris. Based on your link I'm giving Kaspersky's Pure 3 a try to see how it goes. Thus far it seems to have a very small footprint, which is great.

 

When you install it, don't judge its heaviness immediately

1) Install it

2) Run the first update

3) Reboot

4) Run a full system scan

5) leave your system idle for 30 minutes for it to complete its idle root scan

now judge it

PS: I recommend Kaspersky Internet Security over Pure as it always has a newer scanning engine and doesn't have any bloatware unless you have any specific needs of the Kaspersky Pure features.

 

Kewl. Thanks for the instructions: I'll start the scan and see how things go.

 

As for me I tried almost all AV programs and want to add that some of them make the system slow. for example, Kaspersky. So now I use Avast and my laptop is ok

 

Avast....horrible performance and an GUI that looks like a little child's playbook:

http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/

 

I use McAfee on my desktop and it is great. Also have MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware.

 

Ultimate security software: the disk imaging program, keeping a collection of recent disk images\backups, on external media.