@Lorne Kates said:
@jmap said:
Still trying to find the "just periodically scan for viruses, scan downloaded files and DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE, EVER" option.
Every virus scanner has that option. It's called "Uninstall and switch to MS Security Essentials" instead. Again, for all the shit MS puts out, when they get something right, boy-oh-fuck do they get it right.
- Silent. Only pops up when it finds something. Occasionally throws a notification in the taskbar "Hey, you haven't scanned in, like, a month. Wanna do it now?"
- Obeys your options. If you set up some excludes, or a scheudle, or turn it off entirely, it never EVER changes them because it knows best. Worst I've seen it do, whe I turned off Real Time protection, it threw ONE window up saying "Hey, buddy, turning this off may be bad unless you know what you're doing, k?" When I clicked "K", it NEVER bugged me about it again.
- Stays the fuck out of everything else. I never have to worry about my Firefox suddenly getting hijacked by the MS Essentials Toolbar. There is no MS Essentials Web Scanner DDOS'ing every website I visit. There's no MS Essentials Speedup Boost fucking with my registry. There's no MS Essentials Upgrade Helper threatening me for money every 15 days. There's no MS Essentials Safe Browser hijacking the browser by putting in a spyware laden web proxy.
- Free. Even updates. It never expires.
MS has a vested interest in keeping this efficient and free because people associate "getitng a virus" with "Windows le Sux".
It just sucks that they don't have a Linux version.
This enumerates the reasons why all my clients get MS Essentials on their boxes. Funnily enough, though, it's the fact that it updates, always and forever, without some upgrade or license renewal, that makes it the best option. Sure, it's a simple enough dialogue to get through for the knowledgeable user, but it's nightmare-fuel for grandmas who "don't know what to click." Or worse, become used to installing everything the computer tells them to. Better to be mostly protected and know it than to be not protected at all and think everything's fine.
For clients with real issues and a tendency to get infected I make them buy MalwareBytes Pro, which is a lifetime license, and has website blocking built in. And I do explain to the client that if they turn it off because they now can't access their favorite movie streaming site that I'll be happy to clean up their computer for an arm and a leg.