George Jurak wrote:
> I already have Norton and Windows Defender. Shouldn't those take care
> of any viruses or spyware??
By "Norton," do you mean Norton Anti-Virus? Norton Anti-Virus is, in my
view, the *worst* of all available anti-virus products.
Even if it were the best product, it still couldn't possibly guarantee that
you are virus-free. All any anti-virus program can do is protect you against
the viruses it knows about. And since a virus has to be out there in the
field, actively infecting people's computers, before the anti-virus company
knows about it, there is always a period of time between the introduction of
a new virus and your getting updated virus definitions to protect you
against it. During that period, there are people who get infected, and one
of them could be you.
The same goes for anti-spyware programs. All software can do is
substantially reduce the risk of infection. It can never do a perfect job.
That's why care is required in addition to software.
Regarding Windows Defender, a single anti-spyware product is not enough to
protect you. None is good
enough and you need at least two. Note what Eric Howes, who has done
extensive testing on Anti-Spyware products, states:
"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the best-performing
anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the
"critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm
I personally run the free Avast anti-virus, and the following anti-spyware
programs (all are free):
Spyware Blaster
Adaware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Windows defender.
--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
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