Going commando with Surun

[Concerned User]

After reading up on surun, here:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/surun.html


I thought of giving it a try.

So far the application is good. I've added myself or rather my admin account with limited privileges. It's a bit of fun to get error messages for things which I've taken for granted (example: typing msconfig in the run box, or trying editing an entry in the registry).

It's ironical that a few games (maybe all games?) refused to run properly without elevated privileges

Adding an exception is pretty simple (it is in the "surunners" group). The creator of this application has done a great job in emulating the Linux sudo in Windows. A small collage of screenshots:




I've removed Comodo antivirus and right now, I'm writing this post for the very first time since I'm using Windows without any av package. My current security setup is: Comodo (just the firewall component, it will alert me if any unknown program tries to establish a connection to the internet, all other extras disabled), hosts file, surun and of course, sandboxie (I'm using it right now).

trying to "boldly go where no (some) windows users have gone before".

Thanks again for the dedoimedo site links!

Will report back to this thread about my experiences with surun and life without antivirus packages.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Concerned User

Will report back to this thread about my experiences with surun and life without antivirus packages.

Yes, please do keep us updated with events.

I'm not saying that you'll convince many to follow the same path, but I can see a real argument developing in favor of picking less aggressive, more easy to use software instead of something which promises to do everything.

[eyeb]

the setup worked for me in the past, well something like that

reason I don't do this is because I download often to test software so I need an AV still :S, for normal computer use without testing things I was okay not having an AV

[eyeb]

"edit"... well 2nd post since I can't edit lol

anyways, Pretty Good Security http://mrwoojoo.com/PGS/PGS_index.htm is a SRP tool that is similiar to SuRun

[Concerned User]

Originally Posted by eyeb

"edit"... well 2nd post since I can't edit lol

anyways, Pretty Good Security http://mrwoojoo.com/PGS/PGS_index.htm is a SRP tool that is similiar to SuRun

Thanks! I just did a software restriction policy from here(http://www.mechbgon.com/srp/.

Everything seems to be working fine. Also paid my phone bill online (a bit quickly...I do get paranoid). Using the occasional sanboxed browser, but more than that ensuring that I stick to known sites.

[Terarus]

This is a good build and I use to do this in the past
Only problem with surun was that it somehow caused my some of my games to fail to run in admin mode which had me uninstalling it in the end.

Otherwise, LUA(surun) + SPR + Win firewall can be used without an AV if you keep yourself safe i reckon

[Concerned User]

So far so good....I'm actually convincing myself that the green smiley thingy in my system tray (the surun icon) is actually an antivirus package

So far so good. My "paranoia" has settled down a bit now.

This is among the most informative and detailed articles about surun. Lots of info there. Pity it can't be condensed since it is very long:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196737

The ram consumption is pretty nice! Comes to around 10 mb only with two "surun processes" (one with my user name and the other with "system")

[wolfstr]

Giving surun a go along with avast. Yet another interesting adventure

[Concerned User]

Originally Posted by wolfstr

Giving surun a go along with avast. Yet another interesting adventure

Interesting yes indeed


Okay I did not mention this earlier. Here goes:

1. Surun has also "activated" my admin account (the one which you get when you try to boot into safe mode (F8). After installing surun, I was able to see the admin account along with my user account. Just an observation.

2. When I go into the admin account, instead of the green or red surun smiley icon, I get a nuclear symbol. Guess this is to indicate that the administrator is not part of the surun group or that he/she is radioactive . However, when I click on it, I get the regular surun options box



As for my browsing habits, it's still the same.....avoiding shady sites, online bill payment, assorted entertainment sites including youtube and the occasional torrent

autorun and autoplay have been disabled through group policy. No need really, but if one of my friends come in with their USB drives, it would almost be curtains (already had that experience once).

[Matapan1969]

Originally Posted by Terarus

Otherwise, LUA(surun) + SPR + Win firewall can be used without an AV if you keep yourself safe i reckon

I just use Avast (file shield only) with LUA (SuRun) + SRP + Win Firewall and it works extremely well, safer than an Internet Security Suite but extremely light also for my prehistoric desktop