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I'm curious. The program can run itself as antivirus protection, without having another antivirus program being on the computer as well, right? Cause originally I was using Malwarebytes as a supplementary antivirus program to Bitdefender...which recently crashed out of the blue. Can Malwarebytes work solo as antivirus protection, or should I get a second antivirus program to supplement it? Cause if it can do the job on it's own, since I've already paid for it, I'm thinking I might just run malwarebytes solo with spybot search and destroy as backup. There doesn't seem to be a 'questions' board, so I apologize if this is in the wrong section.

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Hello Marc7 and welcome to the forums here at Malwarebytes.org :)

Malwarebytes should not be run alone; it is designed to run along-side an anti-virus software. Malwarebytes is an anti-malware program, and while it does get some viruses, it is not an anti-virus program. As for SpyBot, if you have Malwarebytes, there is no need to have SpyBot as well. Unfortunately SpyBot is kind of a resource-heavy program and Malwarebytes basically gets everything that SpyBot gets and more.

My personal recommendations for an antivirus is Microsoft Security Essentials for a free antivirus, and Kaspersky for a paid antivirus.

Also, while Malwarebytes works well with most antivirus programs, it is adviseable to add exclusions for Mbam in the antivirus and for the antivirus in Mbam, to minimize any potential conflicts (which again, are uncommon but can happen).

Tutorials for doing so may be found here.

Please don't hesitate to post again should you have any further questions or concerns.

Happy computing! :)

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*nods* I don't believe Microsoft security essentials would work on my machine. Being ten years old, it runs on XP and only has up to service Pack 2. I don't believe Microsoft Security essentials is programmed for XP SP2. I have heard good things about Avast though. What would you recommend? If it shouldn't be run alone, then maybe I will try to get Bitdefender back online then.

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Do you have the 64-BIT verison of XP? I am asking becuase SP2 stopped being supported nearly two years ago now, which opens your machine up to much vulnerability and infection.

Avast! would be a runner-up to MSE in my opinion, give it a whirl! I've never used Bit-Defender personally so I cannot comment on it.

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It probably is not but... in order to check, go to Start > Control Panel > Setup. If that doesn't tell you (and it may not)...

You can also find out using Speccy.

Speccy is an advanced System Information tool for your PC. Need to find out what's inside your computer? No problem! Speccy will give you all the information you need.

Why is your machine only up to SP2? You should have SP3.

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It's a little computer icon, and actually it says SYSTEM, not setup. Sorry about that. Long day... :huh:

At any rate, you should open up Internet Explorer and manually check for updates and hopefully SP3 will come through.

Have you always had antivirus/antimalware protection on your computer?

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For the last few years since a brief infection attack, yes, I've had both. I originally just had antivirus. And if by that little computer icon you mean the icon marked 'system' then I think I found it, but where in that do I check for the version of XP?

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Well at the top it'll say the basic specs and info about the ocmputer, but I don't think it'll tell you if it is 32 or 64 bit simply becuase 64 bit XP is rare... the reason I was asking you if you had 64 bit is because SP2 IS the latest SP for XP 64bit, but not for 32 bit, which the vast majority of XP machines are.

You can try downloading Speccy, that will tell you for sure :)

Do you think it is possible that you may have a lingering or pieces of an infection left over that may have prevented you from downloading SP3? How much RAM does your machine have? The System WILL tell you that information.

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Your machine will be fine at handling SP3 then. Please open Internet Explorer and check manually for updates. Also we should probably move this to a thread either under PC Help or Private Message, so that we don't keep replying under comments and suggestions, as this is no longer a comment or suggestion post :)

Has an Mbam scan found any infections?

Edited by mountaintree16
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It is 316 MB. Of course you will need to obtain further updates after that as SP3 has been out for four years now.

First, I recommend you run CCleaner:

Use CCleaner to Remove Temp Files:

  • CCleaner from here and save the installer to your desktop.
  • Close all open internet browser windows
  • Double click on the ccsetup file to start the installation of the program.
  • Select your language and click OK, then click Next.
  • Read the license agreement and click I Agree.
  • Click Next to use the default install location. Click Install then click Finish to complete installation.
  • Double click the CCleaner shortcut on the desktop to start the program.
  • On the Windows tab, under Internet Explorer, uncheck Cookies if you do not want them deleted. (If deleted, you will likely need to reenter your passwords at all sites where a cookie is used to recognize you when you visit)
  • If you use Firefox or any other Mozilla browsers, the box to uncheck for Cookies is on the Applications tab, under Firefox/Mozilla.
  • Click on the Options icon at the left side of the window, then click on Advanced.
    uncheck Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 24 hours.
  • Click on the Cleaner icon on the left side of the window, then click Run Cleaner to run the program.
  • Caution: It is not recommended that you use the Registry feature unless you are very familiar with the registry as it has been known to find legitimate items for removal, which can cause issues with other programs.
  • After CCleaner has completed its process, click Exit.

Credit for CCleaner instructions to Exile360.

Let's continue via PM :) reply to me there.

Edited by mountaintree16
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Guest Seagull

Hello Marc7 :)

I just want to add, another great Anti-Virus I would consider is NOD32, or you can get there security package with comes a firewall and Anti-Spam, there security package

is called ESET Smart Security. It is by far the lightest Anti-Virus you can buy. Even if you turn up the settings in ESET Smart Security I noticed no performance difference.

I have tried other Anti-Viruses like Kaspersky and I find it to be heavy on resources. ESET Smart Security and NOD32 however are not free, they are a paid Anti-Virus.

I hope this helps. :)

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