Need help with Anti Virus

[Matt Murdock]

So, I have McAfee Total Security paid anti virus. And it always detects several of my gaming programs as trojans and automatically deletes them. (for example MTA:VC files and some files related to GTA IV).

These are the things I cannot do :
1) Change my anti virus - As I already own a paid license until November for McAFee I won't be changing my Anti virus program, also I do not trust other programs as almost every other anti virus has cracks easily available online, If you do know any other anti virus programs which does not have cracked versions widely available, I might consider buying one after November ( if they can't protect themselves, how are they gonna protect my computer?)

2) Disable my Anti virus - My computer comes in contact with lots of viruses everyday, and I clean my pen drive off about 50 viruses each day, as several usb drives are used in the institute I learn in. And I also make online transactions, so.

Now what I'm looking for, is a way to either whitelist some programs so the anti virus doesn't delete them, or a way so that it asks me before deleting the specific programs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Ragdoll]

For me, removing McAfee was the best decision I've ever made. I had it for 1 year, which was enough for me to notice the performance issues it caused. Sadly, great security = hell of a lot of memory usage.

The simplest thing you could do is add each program you need (that is being found as a trojan, most probably a false-positive) to the exceptions. Because McAfee shouldn't delete them without asking.. it never did for me.

AVG and Avast! both offer great anti-virus programs, whether free or premium. I, for one, have been using Avast! for a long time and I'm perfectly satisfied.

[Matt Murdock]

Well so far I have tried McAfee, Norton, KasperSky, Avira and Avast, so far I have liked McAfee the best, yes it does eat lots of memory(around 200MB at all times), but I have 8GB RAM and a i7 processor, so I'm perfectly ok with that. The problem I face with Avast is that my computer starts to bug after a while and I have to re install windows every 3 months, never had such problem with McAfee, also I use McAfee virtual safe to hide some files.

[Radagast]

UK ISPs give free anti-virus protection with McAfee and I used to use it. Never really had those problems though. There's a whitelist in there somewhere, but as I don't have it installed, can't help much. One I like for its effectiveness is COMODO internet security. It's free and has training/sandbox modes, to learn what files you have when you install. It's a lot of asking you if the file's safe or not, but it's the best way for it to learn without blocking stuff you need.

[ElMartu]

Microsoft Security Essentials is lightweight, non intruding and completely free. But since you already paid for a license to a bad AV, only thing you could do is adding the files to the exceptions, as other posters said. Nothing else to do.

[Marcel]

As a part-malware researcher, i can say that ESET NOD32 is probably the best a consumer can get. If you want to be absolutely sure about online banking, do so off a linux live cd/dvd like Ubuntu, since nothing and especially no viruses can be written to that disk.

Any other questions, feel free to drop them here : )

[Matt Murdock]

Microsoft Security Essentials is lightweight, non intruding and completely free. But since you already paid for a license to a bad AV, only thing you could do is adding the files to the exceptions, as other posters said. Nothing else to do.

Well That's what I'm trying to figure out, how do I do that? 

As I have slow internet till midnight tonight, I can't do much research on google, so asked for help here. :p

[ElMartu]

I dont know man you're the one with McAfee

[Devin]

I really dislike McAfee, it doesn't matter if you have a paid for version, it's terrible.

[Gandalf]

I really dislike McAfee, it doesn't matter if you have a paid for version, it's terrible.

I agree, if I see it in a basic installation it goes out the window before installing anything else. I am using Avast for about 8 years, and actually since I have my current PC I never reinstalled Windows (actually the last time I re-installed Windows on my PC was 15 years ago).
Just regular maintenance and knowing what you do helps a lot.

As for crasks, McAfee has cracked versions as well. Of course they do not update...

There is one very sure way not to download a virus: unplug you internet cable and leave it unplugged 

[Mr.Remo_Gulucan]

You can use Microsoft Security Essentials is you have ligal windowns. its good one and free

or you can use kaspersky as i use, its one of the best and i a usb 16g whit the bad's virus in the world and test it on kaspersky, he did hold all the virus,

[MrTrane]

I have been always using Avast, I never had problems with it and it does the job pretty well, recently got a license for the Internet Security pack with extra protections.

[Devin]

Likewise, I have been using Avast for plenty years without a single problem, it updates automatically and protects the system without an issue.
Not to mention Avast doesn't use many resources either like I have noticed with AVG and McAfee alike.

Of course, if you're going on download sites regularly, or you know those other sites people like to visit when they're alone, then you probably will end up with viruses no matter what virus scanner you are using as those sites are generally swamped with viruses and malware. 

recently got a license for the Internet Security pack with extra protections.

Me too!  :roll: