What's better option : Immunet FREE Antivirus or ClamWin Free Antivirus itself?

I have Microsoft Security Essentials. I have gotten enough malware that I feel it could use some supplementation. Immunet's website is explicit on being compatible with MSE, AVG, AVAST, Avira, Norton, Mcafee, and others. http://support.immunet.com/tiki-rea...Id=4#Officially_Supported_Anti_Virus_Packages

I didn't see anything about compatibility on the ClamWin website, but it seems like it would have to be in order for Immunet to be compatible.

There is a ClamWin Free Antivirus website which makes no mention of Immunet. The ClamAV website on the other hand directs windows users to Immunet rather than to ClamWin Free Antivirus.

I like the options for protecting e-mail. I just realized Microsoft Security Essentials does not protect Microsoft Outlook Express. How brilliant!

Any comments on the pros and cons of those programs are extremely welcome.

 

ClamAV is a horrible solution for most people, unless they have added a realtime scanner since I last checked it out.

 

My vote goes to Immunet, because in my opinion, it's just better.

 

I agree, Adrynalyne. I have MSE now and will probably replace it with Avira or Avast, maybe AVG. I like the option of having two since no one antivirus is perfect.

 

You need more than just an av program.
1. Add a malware detector, like malwarebytes.
2. Don't surf with IE.
3. Disable or remove java.
4. Make sure Adobe Reader, if you use it, is up to date.
5. Make sure Adobe flash plugin is up to date.

 

Thanks, plodr. I have not only Malwarebytes, but also have for a long time had SpyBot, SUPERAntispyware Free, and IObit Malware Fighter. All are good and not interchangeable. I recently discovered Dr. Web CureIt! and Comodo Cleaning Essentials, and they found a lot of stuff the others had missed.

I hate IE. On my old XP system, I'm stuck with IE 8, which is awful. I prefer the Mozilla family.

I am going to be reading more on Java. I have a great extension called QuickJava which lets me easily enable / disable from the status bar Java, Javascript, Shockwave, Silverlight, and animation. Right now on Pale Moon, I'm going with Java, Shockwave, and Silverlight normally disabled.

I believe Adobe normally feeds me its updates pretty quickly since I have it set to receive them automatically, and I see those Adobe updating processes around a lot.

I believe most of my infections came from downloads. I tried Sandboxie, and it froze me up. I now rigorously scan new downloads, most importantly with Virus Total Scan. I have been surprised at some of the respectable websites' downloads that have gotten multiple hits on VTS.

All this is good. I also hope we will get some more opinions on ClamWin Free and Immunet.

 

On the subject of Adobe, I would tweak the settings from the default.

Edit > Preferences

From the left frame:

• General - Uncheck "Show me messages when I launch reader"
• Internet - Uncheck "Allow speculative downloading in the background"
• Javascript - Uncheck "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" If needed you can toggle on...
• Sandbox Protections > Protected View - Check "Files from potentially unsafe locations"
• Trust Manager - Uncheck "Allow opening of non-PDF file attachments with external applications"
• Updater - Check "Notify me, but let me choose when to download and install updates"

 

Thank you, cipher. I have now made all those tweaks you suggested. If you have time to explain your thinking behind them, I would be interested.

I now believe some of the infections I've been "preventing" through scans were false positives. But I still intend to be careful with downloads.

 

Show me messages is just an annoyance. Suit yourself on this one...

Speculative downloading can mean trouble, they didn't name this setting "speculative" by accident.

JavaScript in PDF isn't really needed 99% of the time, just another possible weak link. IF you need this capability, and you'll know when something doesn't work, enable it. After you've checked the source of the script and have satisfied yourself that it is OK...

Protected View comes preset too low, IMO. My setting is a good middle ground.

Same with allowing non-PDF attachments to open/execute. Who knows what these things might be? If critical to your work, check them first, but don't allow them to run by default...

Updater? Just a personal preference, after seeing so many people hurt by bad patches/updates across the computing world. I prefer to check them out and see what trouble, if any, they may cause. Also, what changes to functionality they may make.

Hope this explains it...

 

I agree with Nick, my vote goes in favour of Immunet. I am currently using Immunet Plus and it works amazingly well.

 

Nice Solution plodr. However I am not sure how much amount of time you can stay without getting affected with such a method. There has to be a way right?

I usually don't use any of the mentioned AV. I prefer kaspersky, but it is too damn slow and makes my system lag. So i'd recommend avira. Here is a link to know its pros and cons - http://www.techyv.com/questions/avira-antivirus-premium-software-pros-and-cons