MSE – alone or in combination

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MSE has been receiving a lot of good mentions of late and I am considering using it but I am unsure of what it actually covers.

I have tended to avoid bulky and expensive “Security Suites” and use a combination of a firewall, an antivirus and SuperAntiSpyware, MalwareBytes Antimalware and Threatfire to cover all eventualities. In addition I scan for rootkits and with Spybot on a monthly basis.

My problem is, apart from being an antivirus which is mentioned in all reviews of MSE, does MSE cover all rootkits, spyware, adware and malware generally or should it be run in combination with other applications?

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It doesn’t cover all possibilities. Yesterday I done a quick scan with MSE – which found nothing – followed by Malwarebytes which found a trojan in a program I had downloaded. However I am confident that it does a good job. Spybot finds tracking cookies that Malwarebytes doesn’t. Run 3 or 4 recommended programs. Try windows Firewall in conjunction with Windows 7 Firewall control which is a friendly interface for Windows Firewall.

http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html?from=Windows7FirewallControlx64.

I got a lifetime ban from Computer Hope for this recommendation. It was my first and last posting on the site.

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Try windows Firewall in conjunction with Windows 7 Firewall control which is a friendly interface for Windows Firewall.

http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html?from=Windows7FirewallControlx64.

I got a lifetime ban from Computer Hope for this recommendation. It was my first and last posting on the site.

Sometimes software recommendations look like spamming even if they aren’t. And vice versa.

More info/reviews: Windows 7 Firewall Control Free (64-bit version) description | PCWorld

From Gizmo’s Freeware site: “If all you need is a simple interface to the built-in Windows firewall, and aren’t too fussy about appearance or features, the free version of Windows 7 Firewall Control is perhaps the answer. Despite the name both Windows 7 and Vista 64 are supported. Be warned that access has to be defined for each application using one of four modes; out only, in only, enable all, or disable all. I suspect for many this will not offer a fine enough degree of control.” Source Link

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MSE is an antivirus as well as an antimalware program. I supplement MSE with the Malwarebytes free addition as well.
I may even occasionally do an online scan to back up or get a second opinion on MSE.

No AV/AM software application will find everything, and it is just too unrealistic to expect so.

I got a lifetime ban from Computer Hope for this recommendation. It was my first and last posting on the site.

That’s way too harsh.

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I follow the same practice as does Clint. And a hearty Amen to Clint and jascarlin on no single AV/AM being completely effective against all threats! That also holds true for the well known pay for suites.

You can supplement MSE with any number of other programs and online services for second opinions, just do not run a second AV program in active protection mode as that could cause some serious conflicts on your system with whatever AV/AM program you finally settle with.

jascarlin, I have been using the Sphinx frontend on the Vista and Windows 7 firewall since it first became available, and have found it to be a great little program, and very light on resources. I don’t get a great deal of joy in manually tweaking the Windows Firewall, so the Sphinx software spares me the trouble. I do like to know what and when a program wants to ‘phone home’ so I can evaluate whether to allow or deny. I cannot imagine being banned for recommending a software product such as Sphinx.

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MSE has been receiving a lot of good mentions of late and I am considering using it but I am unsure of what it actually covers.

I have tended to avoid bulky and expensive “Security Suites” and use a combination of a firewall, an antivirus and SuperAntiSpyware, MalwareBytes Antimalware and Threatfire to cover all eventualities. In addition I scan for rootkits and with Spybot on a monthly basis.

My problem is, apart from being an antivirus which is mentioned in all reviews of MSE, does MSE cover all rootkits, spyware, adware and malware generally or should it be run in combination with other applications?

I think the strategy you described here is very good. As other members before correctly put it, no single product will cover all your security needs. If you want to use MSE, with the strategy you have described, it would replace your current antivirus and would be the one providing real time protection, together with your firewall (each addressing different types of threats). Depending on your will and maybe the resources it may use, Threatfire can be added to that (I don’t really know Threatfire to have an opinion on the need to have it providing additional real time protection). SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes can be used to scan on demand, either periodically or whevener you have doubts about some app or download.

I believe in the advantages of using different types of apps for additional protection. You seem to believe that too. I see no reason for you to change what you have been doing, even if you can use MSE instead of some other AV.

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Sometimes software recommendations look like spamming even if they aren’t. And vice versa.

They didn’t give a reason but I guessed that was it? It was possibly in their terms of agreement – which I didn’t read, life is too short – but they could have warned me and allowed me to continue posting? I am not a spammer and would have heeded the warning. There is a fine line in moderating a forum but in this case it didn’t exist?

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I also use MSE for my real time AV/AM app. I have upgraded to MSE v2 on all our PC’s (3 total), all running Win 7. My strategy is similar to all the learned posters here. I use Windows Firewall, and use Windows 7 Firewall Control (thanks for a suggestion from Gerald) to help set up inbound/outbound rules. I also have a router with hardware firewall enabled. I then use MalwareBytes and Spybot Search and Destroy for routine scanning (usually weekly).

As stated no AV/AM app will catch all nasties. That is why a combination of a good AV/AM running in real time suplemented by good AM or Spyware routine scanning will go a long way toward protecting your system.

I also strongly advocate for creating Up To Date system Images to allow rapid restoration when the best laid security routines or our own curiosity screws up our systems.

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Hello Ted,

Can you please explain a little bit about Windows 7 Firewall Control?

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Hello Ted,

Can you please explain a little bit about Windows 7 Firewall Control?

Sphinx Software has a manual that goes into some details of the app. Win 7 firewall blocks incomming traffic fairly easy, but is harder to set up with outgoing traffic. This app makes it easier to set up this outgoing protection. It is a little hard to get acccustomed to using, but once you know howw, it becomes very easy.

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I have tended to avoid bulky and expensive “Security Suites” and use a combination of a firewall, an antivirus and SuperAntiSpyware, MalwareBytes Antimalware and Threatfire to cover all eventualities. In addition I scan for rootkits and with Spybot on a monthly basis.

KenWA,
Hello… just my input…Sounds like your doing a lot of work .. I have been using Norton (NIS 2011 now 360 before ) and Malwarebytes PRO since about 2007 (with Vista) Nothing else now on all my OS’s ( no MS stuff at all ) …So far no problems . Once configured “Norton 2011” does it all … with Malwarebytes PRO doing automatic scans daily . For me it’s not worth the 50$ a year to be “fooling with” :cheers: Regards Fred

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I have been using MSE and found it to be pretty good but running SpyBot seems to pick up some pieces MSE misses. In addition to them I have been using Immunet Protect. It’s real time protection seems to catch the nastys before MSE has time to fire up.
For the really stubborn infections there’s just nothing like MalwareBytes.
I have found that removing the active drive, slaving it to another machine and then running my cleanup tools remotely is FAR better than trying to clean up a running machine.
But HEY,,, that’s just ME!!

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Been using MSE for almost 2 years – no infections that I know of and no bog down by Norton (previous advocate – began using Norton Utilities 1.0 in 1983). MSRT runs once a month with updates as Microsoft would know what is in the wild and how to spot it best.

Some anti-malware programs (not knocking them) mark non-malware items as malware?

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You would THINK that MS would have the best handle on Malware, at least I used to. I have found that MSE works best on fresh installs. But even then I have found running SpyBot will occasionally pick up remnants that MSE missus. I have recently had a few machines brought to me that were infected and had MSE installed. Admittedly they had been off line for a while and MSE was a few months out of date. The infections had went right past MSE. The only way I was able to clean them was slave the drive and run MSE on them when they were not active.
Sooo,, the lesson IS,, tell the user that if the machine has been “off the ‘net” for any length of time that they MUST do ALL their updates BEFORE venturing out onto the ‘net.
But HEY,,, that’s just ME,,, your mileage may vary.

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