Back to the Windows

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isiolia
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by isiolia »

IMO, MS Security Essentials is the way to go. Free, unobtrusive, light on resources, etc.

Frankly, none of them will tend to catch much. Most malware these days is a direct result of you clicking on something you shouldn't have. I've seen plenty of cases of Symantec Corporate and MS solutions grabbing the symptoms of malware, but not cleaning the source, which usually means firing up things like Combofix and Malwarebytes.

Defragging is still relevant, but not strictly necessary. You can schedule Windows to do it when you won't be using your computer, provided it's on and booted into Windows. I honestly can't remember the last time I've defragged my PC...I do remember using Norton Utilities to do it in NT 4 and having it bork my Office 97 install every time. :lol:
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Cronozilla
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by Cronozilla »

Trend Micro is the best discrete AV and Internet Security software I've seen so far. It's not that expensive (license is $50 or so) and it actually is made for professional networks. So it also takes measures if a serious infection is found.

Also, it can come with multiple licenses so you can install it on up to 5 machines.

It's definitely good stuff. Actively updated, runs very light on the resources, and even scans somewhat subtly. Also, unlike Norton and McAffee it actually listens when you set things in the options.

However, today, most threats have been taken care of eliminating things like Active X use and Windows not allowing ANYTHING to just run on the machine. Not that infections still can't happen, of course. But it's not as implicit to get major infections now.
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RCBH928
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by RCBH928 »

Thanx for everyone's tips which I will put into consideration.

I will not buy a new computer but I will install win7 32bit on my macbook which is 6gb ram, 400gb 7200rpm black scorpio, geforce 9400.
Side by side with my Mac os X.

I didnt realise ill need 2 apps to protect my Windows machine, Spybot and antivirus.

Anyway,
Some recommend AVG while others ask to stay away from it. What is Microsoft Security Essentials, is it like Free anti virus?
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AznKhmerBoi
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by AznKhmerBoi »

kingmohd84 wrote:
Anyway,
Some recommend AVG while others ask to stay away from it. What is Microsoft Security Essentials, is it like Free anti virus?
MSE is an a free anti virus, brought to you by Microsoft themself as a compliment for purchasing the Windows OS. :D

Dont forget to check this site --> http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-windows-software

It offers alot of useful hints,guides, and top free software for your windows 7
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RCBH928
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by RCBH928 »

While we are on the Windows apps topic
Do I still need DiscJuggler to burn Dreamcast backups? or ImgBrn is fine?
Last I heard Juggler stopped development and went of business I think :roll:
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Cronozilla
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by Cronozilla »

Do not use 32-bit Win 7!
You will only be able to access 3GB of the physical memory in the machine!

If you want to access the entire 6GB of RAM you need a 64-bit operating system. Win 7 64-bit is your best bet if you want Windows.
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AznKhmerBoi
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by AznKhmerBoi »

Cronozilla wrote:Do not use 32-bit Win 7!
You will only be able to access 3GB of the physical memory in the machine!

If you want to access the entire 6GB of RAM you need a 64-bit operating system. Win 7 64-bit is your best bet if you want Windows.
I second that.
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Ziggy
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by Ziggy »

kingmohd84 wrote:While we are on the Windows apps topic
Do I still need DiscJuggler to burn Dreamcast backups? or ImgBrn is fine?
Last I heard Juggler stopped development and went of business I think :roll:
ImgBurn will work fine now. You just have to add (full) support for the CDI image, which is really easy to do. First, download and install ImgBurn. Then go to this page:

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

Scroll all the way to the bottom. Look for "Padus .CDI File Mounter v1.0.0.12" and download that file. It'll be a .zip with three files inside. Extract those three files to the root folder of your ImgBurn install (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\ImgBurn).

Now you'll be able to burn Dreamcast CDI images with ImgBurn!
gtmtnbiker
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by gtmtnbiker »

Ziggy587 wrote:
gtmtnbiker wrote:The problem with AVG is that it's a resource hog and it's full of nagware.
Uh, I'll have to disagree. It's really not a resource hog... unless you're scanning. And it doesn't really have nagware. When you open the AVG main screen, there's a little ad bar, but it only advertises the full (paid for) edition of AVG. Other than that, I can't really think of any nags. Most of the time it stays minimized in the tray and you forget that it's even running.
Maybe it has improved but the last time I used AVG was about 2-3 years ago. It definitely had nag screens/reminders trying to get you to upgrade to the paid version. When you try to install it, it's difficult to find/download because you keep getting the paid version.

Like others said, MSE is light and unobtrusive. AVG had its hey-day 10 years ago.
Ivo
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Re: Back to the Windows

Post by Ivo »

AznKhmerBoi wrote:
Dont forget to check this site --> http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-windows-software
Could I get some opinions on what is the best freeware back up solution to clone your hard drive? I'd like something that, if my windows partition goes down, could "revive" it as it was without needing to reinstall the programs.

I already have (most) of my data on a separate partition so I can just do a reinstall of windows without losing the data, but having to reinstall the programs is a pain and it is a pain to track down and restore whatever stuff gets stored in folders such as "AppData" and so on (some game saves for example).

That site has some options. I used to use Macrium Reflect but I tried restoring once and it didn't work :(

Ivo.
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