Constantly infected with malware

[mickyfu]

That's what you get for bare backing thepiratebay

 

[HenryHavoc]

How's running a VM supposed to be "dumb"?

You can literally test, clone, have dozens of instances of a single machine in a matter of seconds.. And not just Windows on Linux, but also Windows on Windows, Windows on a Mac OS host.. Same thing applies for Android that can be virtualized almost seamlessly.. And where would you assume the safe threshold is when "being careful" about what you download?

Truth is even projects on github and other opensource repositories sometimes get hacked, ccleaner got hacked as well recently and there are so many stealth ways (as FUD by your antivirus) to be infected that you're in for a very rough ride if you think that running an ad blocker and trying to paying attention will be enough... Maybe if you keep your PC disconnected or only pay for each and every piece of software you run, that I'm sure it's what everybody's doing on this forum /SARCASM

As far as games, if you're a gamer maybe just reinstall your windows from scratch and just play games on your native windows while installing a virtual machine with windows (yes, windows on windows) as a guest and keep testing everything that's kind of untrustworthy (like anything downloaded off a forum) inside that box that's reasonably separated from your own real PC.

virtualbox.org is free, backed by oracle if you want to give it a go

Yes, I know what a VM is, and have used virtualbox many times in the past. Thank you for the lecture.

VMs are great but using a VM as a method to prevent getting a virus is the equivalent to having sex in a hazmat suit to prevent getting an STD. It's overkill. And yes, maybe you can get herpes from touching a door knob, but for 99% of the members here, being careful with what you download and staying away from anything from an unlicensed source will be sufficient to not get infected.

 

[Gr00t007]

These are usually Adware and Malware coming from websites or softwares that you install by just clicking "next".

For me Malwarebytes+ Kaspersky Internet Security works the best.

Note: All antivirus don't provide Internet Security. So buy the internet security version.

 

[MarketDomino]

Yes, I know what a VM is, and have used virtualbox many times in the past. Thank you for the lecture.

VMs are great but using a VM as a method to prevent getting a virus is the equivalent to having sex in a hazmat suit to prevent getting an STD. It's overkill. And yes, maybe you can get herpes from touching a door knob, but for 99% of the members here, being careful with what you download and staying away from anything from an unlicensed source will be sufficient to not get infected.

You're welcome. No it's not, and it's not for both things. Let's not get carried away with pointless analogies here.

The use-cases you want to use isolated environments for spans from professional malware reversing (I agree overkill for most) to super casual testing and running that "mass-mailer / scraper / blog poster / crypto miner" any user can download off a forum, website or other source (that's definitely neither dumb nor useless).

Nobody pays for everything. Nobody uses just licensed software. Nobody can even be sure in an open source repository or licensed software there isn't some DLL injection trick, process hollowing and all the jazz..

Seamless execution in a virtual machine is basically as the name suggests.. seamless with very little overhead and highly recommended in my experience and if I had to give a piece of advice that would be mine.

Sandboxie might be an even lighter solution. And definitely not dumb.

 

[CohleRust]

Do a full scan with any good antivirus software, it should work!

 

[HenryHavoc]

You're welcome. No it's not, and it's not for both things. Let's not get carried away with pointless analogies here.

The use-cases you want to use isolated environments for spans from professional malware reversing (I agree overkill for most) to super casual testing and running that "mass-mailer / scraper / blog poster / crypto miner" any user can download off a forum, website or other source (that's definitely neither dumb nor useless).

Nobody pays for everything. Nobody uses just licensed software. Nobody can even be sure in an open source repository or licensed software there isn't some DLL injection trick, process hollowing and all the jazz..

Seamless execution in a virtual machine is basically as the name suggests.. seamless with very little overhead and highly recommended in my experience and if I had to give a piece of advice that would be mine.

Sandboxie might be an even lighter solution. And definitely not dumb.

To be fair, had you said use sandboxie from the start, I wouldn't have said it was dumb.