[folder]

Hi,
To protect myself from accidently picking up malware I used to run Prevx and then after that I used Threatfire. I was pretty happy with each but Prevx's price got too high and then Threatfire became incompatible with my free version of AVG antivirus. But I miss that layer of protection to prevent malicious software from executing or being installed. I found out about Windows Defender a little while back and I think I read it offers protection similar to Threatfire and Vista's UAC.

So I thought I'd ask about it here. I'm not concerned about adware/spyware specifically, it's anything being installed secretly that I want to prevent. (I use Secunia to make sure all my programs are patched so I'm covered there.) What do you guys think about the protection from Windows Defender compared to Vista UAC, Prevx, and/or Threatfire?

[1002richards]

Hi and Welcome to TSG,
There are some good reviews of free security progs at this independent site:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

Richard

[Gizzy]

Another Program Similar To Threatfire Is Mamutu

it's not free but the same company is having this offer right now --> http://forum.emsisoft.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=4130 it's a-squared antimalware but from what I remember of the last time I used it it had mamutu built into it,

you can always download the trial and see if you like it before you decide to buy it or not,

the 5$ offer for one year of asquared is only good until dec 14 though,

mamutu and threatfire are both behavior blockers I think prevx is one too but I've never really used prevx before I've only heard of it

as of for windows defender I haven't used it in a very long time so I'm not too familiar with the newer versions.

[TOGG]

I once tried Defender but seemed to have problems with its updating procedure and so gave up on it.

I don't know anything about the other programs you mention but there is one you could take a look at, Comodo BOClean; http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html I have no idea if the claims made for this product are justified because my copy has never alerted me to anything!

Its icon sits there in my taskbar, blinking every few seconds and updating once a day. It isn't heavy on resources so I keep it. Is it snake oil or a miracle program, only you can decide! I have no idea about its compatibility with AVG because I use it with NOD32 (which includes some antispyware protection), and the Comodo Pro firewall.

[Rich-M]

Personally I think Windows Defender is the "placebo" of spyware programs and completely worthless. I have never seen it catch anything only fail to update and create all kinds of issues as mentioned earlier in this thread.

[AKAJohnDoe]

I leave Defender installed on my Vista machine mostly because it seems to object more strenuously when it is disabled/uninstalled, but I have no illusions that it would ever find or detect anything.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by AKAJohnDoe

I leave Defender installed on my Vista machine mostly because it seems to object more strenuously when it is disabled/uninstalled, but I have no illusions that it would ever find or detect anything.

All you have to do is remove it from startup and then go to Security Center, Control Panel and change the way you are notified of changes to "Never notify me" and then disable it in "Services" and you will escape all the annoyaonce of what I call Windows Offender!

[AKAJohnDoe]

It is not in STARTUP, but is in active via WSC.

IIRC, I did the things you suggested once awhile back and still it tried to update itself via Windows Update and got this ugly error everytime, so I just put it back.

Also, WSC objected periodically to not having any AS registered and active.

As a placeholder for WSC it's pretty benign.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by AKAJohnDoe

It is not in STARTUP, but is in active via WSC.

IIRC, I did the things you suggested once awhile back and still it tried to update itself via Windows Update and got this ugly error everytime, so I just put it back.

Also, WSC objected periodically to not having any AS registered and active.

As a placeholder for WSC it's pretty benign.

It can't do that if you disable it in Admin Tools, Services. I have killed it on at least 50 pc's and never seen it again.

[AKAJohnDoe]

I know I did disable the service. Perhaps I'll give it another go sometime.