anti virus for Windows 7

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Gilco2

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#146934 3-Jun-2014 10:17

sorry for rehash what has been discussed here many times but looking for a reasonably foolproof antivirus.

I had built a computer for a pastor of local church many years ago and all was well. Recently built a new one and transferred him to windows 7 from XP. Now have also set him with internet as many newsletters have gone to internet only rather than snail mail.

He got a nasty virus and rather than bother me he took it to a local computer shop who decided to just wipe the drive and they installed Vista. So here i am putting Windows 7 back on and setting up how he wants. I did have Microsoft Security Essentials but he would never update it or scan.

I am looking for an antivirus I can install and then forget about, that will do everything in the background for people who dont help themselves.

So, is there such a thing.

Thank you

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

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aka Fast Raccoon !
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#1058403 3-Jun-2014 10:20

MSE should have been updating itself by default and you can schedule scans......

Anyway, Im currently running BitDefender (Free edition), updates itself happily and picks up "questionable" files pretty quickly.

Personally, I never run a scan manually unless I suspect something is wrong.

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Inphinity

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#1058404 3-Jun-2014 10:25

NOD32 would be my pick.

jnimmo

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#1058407 3-Jun-2014 10:27

I think MSE is probably the most invisible or low maintenance option out there.. sick of free ones working for a year or two then having to install a major upgrade to continue getting updates
Other tips:
- Hide Internet Explorer - use a self-updating browser like Chrome or Firefox
- Make sure Windows updates are set to automatically install daily rather than allowing a user to choose when to install

To put up a serious shield against malware/viruses, change the user account to a User instead of Administrator. A crazy high percentage of vulnerabilities are mitigated by using a non-administrator account.
Then just create an administrator account called 'install' (or similar) with a password he knows, which can be typed into UAC when needing to install software

MikeB4

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#1058408 3-Jun-2014 10:28

MS Security essentials, its free. Set it to update automatically and it a set and forget package that works very well.

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#1058423 3-Jun-2014 11:21

If looking for free MSE *PLUS* EMET 4.1.

If willing to pay, ESET NOD32 or Norton 360, *PLUS* EMET 4.1.

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Yabanize

2348 posts

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#1058433 3-Jun-2014 11:33

MSE, Chrome with an ad blocker perhaps? So many nasty 'your computer is slow click here to fix it' ads, Or when you're downloading something and theres about 5 download now buttons that are all ads,

Ofcourse, Make sure to add geekzone to the exemt list ;)

Gilco2

1556 posts

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#1058437 3-Jun-2014 11:40

Thank you. I will stay with Microsoft Security essentials and add EMET 4.1.

I will look into scheduling scans, I guess I never looked into that as I always did it once a week on Windows 7 myself and now Windows 8 is virtually automatic. I tried to switch him to Windows 8 but he says bad enough going to Windows 7 from XP for learning even though I could set it up to look identical.

Again thanks for the help, much appreciatiated

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

CYaBro

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#1058438 3-Jun-2014 11:40

Just antivirus by itself isn't really good enough these days.
We recommend Eset NOD32 plus something like Malwarebytes Premium.

Gilco2

1556 posts

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#1058445 3-Jun-2014 11:51

CYaBro: Just antivirus by itself isn't really good enough these days.
We recommend Eset NOD32 plus something like Malwarebytes Premium.

I had malwarebytes but trying to get him to actually run it is going against brick wall. He does his sermons and email etc. Once he went to internet he now also learned how to google and that is his downfall. Doing sermon on mature man, google that and all inappropriate answers come up.
He had to download adobe acrobat or reader for his USA taxes as other pdf readers were not compatible and he never unticked all the addons and same with other programs

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

nathan

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#1058450 3-Jun-2014 12:05

what is it the users are doing that they even require AV let alone Malware Bytes or EMET

dodgy websites? dodgy email attachments? running as local admin?

just curious...

Gilco2

1556 posts

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#1058470 3-Jun-2014 12:40

nathan: what is it the users are doing that they even require AV let alone Malware Bytes or EMET

dodgy websites? dodgy email attachments? running as local admin?

just curious...

for one if they get an email they open it regardless if they know the sender or not. If they go to a site and it says their computer has a virus click here to clean it, they will.
They are in their 70's now and came late to computers. Slowly educating them. Also switched them now to Firefox and use adblocker to stop most of those ads. And if they search for something they will click on the results thinking all are safe.

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

nathan

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#1058478 3-Jun-2014 12:50

Thanks, reality check for me

nakedmolerat

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#1058479 3-Jun-2014 12:50

It is painful for me to say this, get them a Mac.

Yabanize

2348 posts

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#1058482 3-Jun-2014 12:54

nakedmolerat: It is painful for me to say this, get them a Mac.

Or linux..

Gilco2

1556 posts

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#1058484 3-Jun-2014 12:58

Yabanize:
nakedmolerat: It is painful for me to say this, get them a Mac.

Or linux..

yeah i did suggest it but they want to stay with Windows. But honestly something like Linux Mint would be ideal for them.

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

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