avast! Pro's The King --- S T I L L R U L E S !!!!!!!

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Because my nature I’m allways testing new antivirus and security appz. From every thing I saw, avast! still rules - I LOVE IT, you guys make and excellent work.

I complement avast! virus scanning with:

  1. Windows SP2 built-in firewall
  2. DropMyRights (FREE app) for IE7, FireFox and even Opera
  3. GhostSecuritySuite to defend registry AND control outbound data, prevent rootkits, network access, etc. (!!) in a very light way (the only other security application I had buyed and I consider it an excellent one, just as good as avast!, and that’s a lot to say…)
  4. Harden-It to secure some obscure system gates – another excellent must have FREE application - can’t live without it now :stuck_out_tongue:
  5. Spybot Search & Destroy: thanks to GSS and DMR I can now safely take-out TeaTimer (the resident module) thus releasing lot of cpu cycles and other computing resources. Just a scan from time to time (please remember to donate few bucks!)
  6. Ad-Aware PE: just do a deep scan from time to time too.
  7. Microsoft VirtualPC 2007: incredible!! Runs faster than host system!!! ;D - well, really, it runs faster than VMWare’s virtualizer and is just good as Parallels option, but best it’s completely FREE! Also there is a lot of language to localize it. Here I run my p2p without compromising security :wink:
  8. Of course SpywareBlaster is allways there (remember 2 donate something too!)
  9. When I need some stealthness, I no doubtly run TorPark 1.5.11 - even, you can route it behind any other one 3rd party proxyfier to get maximun security.

That’s my best after lot of research. I don’t use any 3rd party firewall -I think Comodo (FREE and excellent) and Sunbelt (Kerio) are quite good-, nor any HIPS running at all times in background, nor any anti-spyware running everytime eating computing resources like Mr and Mrs PacMan.

My surfing involves browsing some ‘dangerous’ sites and thanks to this measures I HAVEN’T GOT ANY SINGLE INCIDENT in more time than I can remember, all of this while keeping (security applications [avast!+GSS]) cpu cycles to the lowest, 0% to say, and very few megs consumed.

I have plenty tested the broad spectrum of security software out there (GesWall, ZA new versions, KIS, CyberHawk, you name it), and excepting few products -may be NOD, may be Avira- avast! is the real and only one sovereign!!

I hope to help a little to people out there asking for best security practices - I don’t tell this is the best way to protect any nor your system, I say this is the best way that worked for me. If you like those mammoth InternetSecuritySuites, and feel confident about them, go and use it! But remember that if you have a teachie friend, he/she might configure your system to run smoother, securer and make you save lot of money.

Also, if any of you security genius at this forum finds any hole here I will gladly hear about it so I can tap it the fastest!

Cheers!! and again congratz Alwil on such a nice product :smiley:

2

Can you post more about your experience… Googling, I haven’t find that much…

3

Hello warrior (I just ended watch 300!)

GSS has became a must have security hardener to me, in same way avast! is.

I think this application is coded almost enterelly in plain assembly and that’s why is a so feature rich program that uses so little resources, because GSS gives an unparallel protection against the memory (1.5 to 10 megs) and cpu cycles it uses, and cycles NEVER exceeds 2%… (and that’s ONLY happen when you show up the GUI or the program intercepts a potentially dangerous action)

Actually, this application at version 2, recently upgraded from its award winner predecessor, have rocked the security sphere one more time. And I’m talking only about the RegDefend module which shields the registry like spartans in 300 (the movie) covered themselves in the Turtle formation :smiley:

AppDefend, the other module that partners in the GSS with RD gives a comprehensive per-application-basis protection, letting you control when an application can or cannot access web, network, run, read, write, launch, install drivers, reboot system, and any other [possibly a security vector] action you might think a program can do.

Them both work great, so much in fact, that coupled with DropMyRights make the use of an antivirus, antispyware an so on security hardeners almost a thing of prehistoric times (and people should know that DropMyRights just runs any application in a Limited User seccurity environment but no uses any system resource, it never stay resident in memory).

That’s my personal experience with them. You should disable GSS before installing any application, device or before starting optimize your system (4 example clean and pack registry, optimize hard disk, etc.) and you should go well without running into any problem at all. I have had this suite for almost 6 months and never had any issue.

Need to say too that the guy behind this, Jason, is a very kind and a cool man to chat with, we exchanged some posts in his forums at Wilders Security and I got positive impressions not only of his work but of him itself.

But that’s my experience only, go ahead and try it for yourselves – I recommend to make a system backup before installing anything that goes deep in the system like this app do, so something like ISR FirstDefense, Acronis (my choice), GoBack and so on to name few would be very good.

I hope I will never again will use any “suite” to protect Windows. How does it feel to have the operating system so well guarded and light? Just as fresh as recently installed in a brand new PC…

Cheers!!
(and sorry for the brands named, they’re are there only for educational purposes 8))

4

The only pity on GSS is that it’s not free :cry:
But thanks for posting your experience.

5 
GSS  BETA  V1.110  is Free

  It has worked Very Well for Me from Day 1

 BILL G