Antivirus software

[Contreras]

Just been hit with one of those 'fake' antivirus malware thingmajig.

"Security Shield 2012".

I launched a scan with MSE and it said that "TrojanDownloader:Java/OpenStream.BK" was installed. I let MSE remove it and the fake AV popup went away so I'm guessing that was it.

Thing is, why if it can be detected did MSE let it install and run in the first place? I do have "Real-time protection" ticked under Settings.

I'm wondering about running a 2nd AV program alongside MSE. Is that a good/bad idea? A quick Google around and lots of people saying "don't" but without offering any specific experience except to say they might conflict (duh, you don't say).

So, anyone here tried using more than one AV software? Success or fail? Which software?

I used to be happy with Eset NOD32, but it was time to renew the subscription and people were saying good things about MSE so I decided to try that instead. I might have a go with MSE + NOD32 and see what happens, unless someone knows better?

Setup is WinXP + Firefox + LibreOffice + Acrobat, all locked down as far as possible. Security updates installed regularly. Other than that I'm paranoid about installing 3rd party software, and when I do it's usually open source. Thankfully this is the first instance (that I know about!), but once is too many and I'm pretty annoyed about it tbh.

[SimonMac]

I only use Avast and have never had any problems

[BrilloPad]

I only use Avast and have never had any problems

+1

[superfishnz]

I recommend NOT to have a second Antivirus product installed on your computer as it will cause conflicts with each other. However, consider getting yourself an AntiSpyware/AntiMalware software such as Malwarebytes or SuperAntiSpyware (both are very good but you only need to install one of them).

I've used this setup with a lot of my client sites and it has worked really well because they don't conflict. MSE does AV and malwarebytes does antispyware/malware. The only down side is that Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware are NOT free for real time scanning. They are free for scanning and removing but not real time scanning. But if you look at the price for Malwarebytes (malwarebytes.org) it's only £19.95 for a lifetime warranty with unlimited updates (so no annual renewals). So it's pretty good valuable considering the time and hassle it will save you.

Hope that helps you out.