Follow up Question Was: Re: Virtal Machine preferences?

[Chris G]

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:55:59AM -0500, Preston Hagar wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Patton Echols <p.echols at comcast.net> wrote:
> > Thanks Derek, and everyone else who replied.  The Windows applications I
> > will use are not properly "internet" applications, but get grumpy if you
> > "unplug the wire."  I guess I'll search around for a lightweight scanner.
> >
> 
> I know this might be almost blasphemous to say on a Linux mailing
> list, but a properly updated Windows install really isn't as
> susceptible to vira (thank Amedee) as a lot of people think.  I run
> Ubuntu as my main desktop OS, but have a Windows XP Pro VirtualBox
> install to use to compile things in Visual Studio and to check/use
> websites in IE.  I don't use it as my primary OS whatsoever, but just
> on occasion when those "Windows only" things come up.  For a while, I
> ran AVG on the system, but it never really found anything and just
> took up system resources.  I uninstalled it and have been running it
> with no Anti-virus installed for quite some time.  I keep it up to
> date with patches and about once every week or two, run an updated
> Spybot and Malwarebytes scan just to make sure.  Those usually, at
> most, just catch a few tracking cookies, but since I don't really use
> the system for the majority of my web browsing, they usually find very
> few of those.
> 
Very similar to what I do.

> It has really been my experience of late that pretty much all
> anti-virus software is more or less worthless.  At best, it will
> detect a virus after you are already infected, or give so many false
> positives, that you can miss the real virus for all of the non-virus
> files.  General good guidelines like "don't use pirated software",
> "don't download or install anything you are not sure of", and "don't
> visit shady sites, especially in IE" will protect you from the vast
> majority of infections.
> 
Also exactly my experience, anti-virus software is the worst virus
there is!  :-)

-- 
Chris Green