Is MSE + MBAM Free an effective, lightweight solution?

[octiceps]

I dont agree with 2 malware applications as even if they "work fine together" there is no need for 2. MSE is a very nice av that I use at work and home and the auto delete setting is active for all levels of malware. As for the stuttering well I would think that has more to do with somethinng else then the av application.

Oh and avast is another very solid av, the only problem is the pita renewing every couple of months...

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

I can see where you're coming from but having more than one AV suite is just one more layer of protection in case anything gets by the first one, however rare that might be. And I have ascertained that the stuttering is caused my MSE's real-time protection because the "monitor all files" option scans every single file that is read from or written to the hard disk, which causes a minor decrease in read and write speeds and a minor increase in access times. It's not really noticeable in most games but in some games, especially Source Engine games since that particular engine has a problem with texture and audio loading "on the fly," it definitely happens. Turning off real-time protection makes it go away but I guess if I had an SSD it wouldn't matter either way!

[Sphinx]

9 times out of 10 having 2 AVs will cause more security problems. Usually one sees the other as a malware.

[Deks]

9 times out of 10 having 2 AVs will cause more security problems. Usually one sees the other as a malware.

Uhm... if you referring to using 2 AV's at the same time with their real-time protections activated, then possibly yes, problems might ensue.

Other than that, having MSE and MBAM on the computer at the same time is not a problem, because only MSE would be used for real-time protection at all times, and MBAM (which is not an antivirus per say) would be manually activated by the user if/when deemed needed.

[tijo]

9 times out of 10 having 2 AVs will cause more security problems. Usually one sees the other as a malware.

Uhm... if you referring to using 2 AV's at the same time with their real-time protections activated, then possibly yes, problems will ensue.

Other than that, having MSE and MBAM on the computer at the same time is not a problem, because only MSE would be used for real-time protection at all times, and MBAM (which is not an antivirus per say) would be manually activated by the user if/when deemed needed.

Yep, only one active protection running, but on demand scanners are fine since they won't interfere with the normal operation of your main AV. I'm pretty sure most people running MSE + MBAM have their computers setup that way.

[Sphinx]

Why bother with a 2nd AV if all youre using it for is to scan what the other is protecting and scanning for already?

[octiceps]

Why bother with a 2nd AV if all youre using it for is to scan what the other is protecting and scanning for already?

Like I said it's a second safety net just in case something gets through the first one. Anyway like others have said the free version of MBAM has no real-time protection so I just use it to do manual scans and possible malware removal after scanning with MSE. MSE is the suite with real-time protection enabled. Two programs don't interfere with each other at all.

[tijo]

Why bother with a 2nd AV if all youre using it for is to scan what the other is protecting and scanning for already?

Yep, another safety net, if you think you got an infection or want to make sure something is clean, another on demand scanner isn't a bad idea. For example, i don't trust most of the PCs in the labs at university (with good reason) and i prefer using more than just MSE to make sure my flash drives are clean.

[Deks]

MBAM is NOT an AV and can pick things up that the AV itself missed.
It's nothing more than a secondary layer of protection that is activated in situations where a user suspects of a potential problem (otherwise, it's usually turned off).

Most of the time though, MBAM (while useful) is not necessarily needed.

[Deks]

Correct, but a lot of people usually use MBAM as an on-demand scanner, not for active protection.

[Baserk]

Why bother with a 2nd AV if all youre using it for is to scan what the other is protecting and scanning for already?

As already mentioned by Deks and others, MBAM is not a '2nd AV'.
It's build as a complementary antimalware program.
As not one AV/AM program will catch everything, a program like MBAM will increase overall detection considerably.

Also, having installed two AV's is usually detrimental but some programs like f.i. Malwarebytes'Antimalware, HitmanPro3 or WSA/Webroot Secure Everywhere, are build to run alongside an AV. Such programs will not cause any compatibility issues.