Antivirus-Antispyware-Firewall "Suite"

[Stuart]

I realize this is a question that has to be revisited after Vista comes out,
but I do not plan to switch to Vista until it has been out for 6-8 months.
What is the best freeware XP defense "suite" prior to switching to Vista? In
its present state I prefer Microsoft Antispyware Beta 1 to Microsoft
Defender Beta 2 and use both Avast and Zone Utilities. Suggestions that
would be better would be appreciated. I have read all the postings about
AntiVir and AVG vs. Avast. My question is what freeware
Antivirus-Antispyware-Firewall "suite" would be the best prior to Vista. I
am especially sensitive to startup errors.



Background:



It seems as if I have been a Norton/Symantec customer forever. I moved up
from a RS TRS-80 through the Apple 2 series to the standard IBM PC. The very
first outside utilities I paid for were the Norton Utilities in 1986 or
1987, but I have finally decided to begin to purge all Symantec programs
from my computers.



I have watched Symantec Antivirus get bigger and bigger and hog more and
more resources. Finally I have had it - Norton Antivirus and Ghost hog
resources incredibly during the startup phase and I regularly have problems
due to Symantec as systray is being loaded. (I know this is at least
partially a Symantec problem because I can reproduce some the problems with
only Ghost, Norton Antivirus Professional and necessary hardware, audio and
video utilities loading under XP Pro Service Pack 2.)



For the time being, I will stay with Ghost, but Norton Antivirus
Professional goes. I paid $69 about 8 months ago for a 12 month update to
Norton Antivirus Professional Virus Definitions. During Live Update this
week there was an error which the Symantec website says it cannot reproduce.
Looking for support, the website says it not longer supports Antivirus
Professional even though I paid for a 12 month update 8 months ago. To hell
with them. I already use Avast on my other machine and it works fine.



Stuart//

 

[jb]

I realize this is a question that has to be revisited after Vista comes out,
but I do not plan to switch to Vista until it has been out for 6-8 months.
What is the best freeware XP defense "suite" prior to switching to Vista? In
its present state I prefer Microsoft Antispyware Beta 1 to Microsoft
Defender Beta 2 and use both Avast and Zone Utilities. Suggestions that
would be better would be appreciated. I have read all the postings about
AntiVir and AVG vs. Avast. My question is what freeware
Antivirus-Antispyware-Firewall "suite" would be the best prior to Vista. I
am especially sensitive to startup errors.



Background:



It seems as if I have been a Norton/Symantec customer forever. I moved up
from a RS TRS-80 through the Apple 2 series to the standard IBM PC. The very
first outside utilities I paid for were the Norton Utilities in 1986 or
1987, but I have finally decided to begin to purge all Symantec programs
from my computers.



I have watched Symantec Antivirus get bigger and bigger and hog more and
more resources. Finally I have had it - Norton Antivirus and Ghost hog
resources incredibly during the startup phase and I regularly have problems
due to Symantec as systray is being loaded. (I know this is at least
partially a Symantec problem because I can reproduce some the problems with
only Ghost, Norton Antivirus Professional and necessary hardware, audio and
video utilities loading under XP Pro Service Pack 2.)



For the time being, I will stay with Ghost, but Norton Antivirus
Professional goes. I paid $69 about 8 months ago for a 12 month update to
Norton Antivirus Professional Virus Definitions. During Live Update this
week there was an error which the Symantec website says it cannot reproduce.
Looking for support, the website says it not longer supports Antivirus
Professional even though I paid for a 12 month update 8 months ago. To hell
with them. I already use Avast on my other machine and it works fine.



Stuart//

All bets are off about Vista.

 

[Kerodo]

I realize this is a question that has to be revisited after Vista comes out,
but I do not plan to switch to Vista until it has been out for 6-8 months.
What is the best freeware XP defense "suite" prior to switching to Vista? In
its present state I prefer Microsoft Antispyware Beta 1 to Microsoft
Defender Beta 2 and use both Avast and Zone Utilities. Suggestions that
would be better would be appreciated. I have read all the postings about
AntiVir and AVG vs. Avast. My question is what freeware
Antivirus-Antispyware-Firewall "suite" would be the best prior to Vista. I
am especially sensitive to startup errors.

To my knowledge, there are no freeware 'suites'. If you want freeware,
then you'll need to use separates for AV and firewall software. There
are many payware 'suites' nowadays though, some better than others.
Most of them are what you'd call 'bloated', typically using anywhere
from 50-80mb of ram, and sometimes a little cpu as well. I think the
general opinion on the whole situation is that you'll get the best of
both worlds with separate programs rather than a 'suite'. So you're
probably best off sticking with Avast and ZA.

 

[Stuart]

To my knowledge, there are no freeware 'suites'. If you want freeware,
then you'll need to use separates for AV and firewall software. There
are many payware 'suites' nowadays though, some better than others.
Most of them are what you'd call 'bloated', typically using anywhere
from 50-80mb of ram, and sometimes a little cpu as well. I think the
general opinion on the whole situation is that you'll get the best of
both worlds with separate programs rather than a 'suite'. So you're
probably best off sticking with Avast and ZA.

Thank you. That's why I put suite in quotes - I knew there was no released
suite.

I do use Microsoft Antispyware, Avast and ZA and the combination works. Just
checking no one found a better combination or someone has a good reason I
should shift Microsoft Antispyware to Defender.

Stuart//

 

[David]

Thank you. That's why I put suite in quotes - I knew there was no released
suite.

I do use Microsoft Antispyware, Avast and ZA and the combination works. Just
checking no one found a better combination or someone has a good reason I
should shift Microsoft Antispyware to Defender.

Stuart//

I use AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy and Spyware Blaster to check
for spyware. I don't trust Microsoft's offerings. The company is too
entrenched in its own agenda.

 

[Stuart]

David

I use AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy and Spyware Blaster to check
for spyware. I don't trust Microsoft's offerings. The company is too
entrenched in its own agenda.

Thank you. Good thought. I guess I will pick up at least Lavasoft's Ad
Aware. I note that softwareengineer2006 recommended that one. The
guide-to-spyware he recommended was good. I especially appreciated the
guide's list of spyware removers in Chapter 3 that were actually malware
themselves like PSGuard and Winfixer.

If I decide to load one more, would you recommend Spybot Search & Destroy or
Spyware Blaster? Is there any problem setting ZoneAlarm's settings to
prohibit access to the Internet by AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy or
Spyware Blaster?
Stuart//

 

[Morten Skarstad]

Stuart skrev:

I realize this is a question that has to be revisited after Vista comes out,
but I do not plan to switch to Vista until it has been out for 6-8 months.
What is the best freeware XP defense "suite" prior to switching to Vista? In
its present state I prefer Microsoft Antispyware Beta 1 to Microsoft
Defender Beta 2 and use both Avast and Zone Utilities. Suggestions that
would be better would be appreciated. I have read all the postings about
AntiVir and AVG vs. Avast. My question is what freeware
Antivirus-Antispyware-Firewall "suite" would be the best prior to Vista. I
am especially sensitive to startup errors.

I do not really see the need to recommend a "suite" as such. People in
this NG has different ideas about what substitutes a good AV (the
mentioned Antivir vs AVG vs avast! discussions should illustrate this),
a good firewall and good antispyware. The likeliness of the same group
reaching a consensus on the ideal AV+FW+ASW combination would be slim to
none.

I'd suggest you just go with what you've got. And if you ever find a
reason to substitute one or another, do so. From what I have seen,
conflicts or other complications from combining different AVs with
different FWs etc is not really a problem (unless you use Symantec, of
course), so if your setup works you should be fine. Use any recommended
firewall. Use any recommended AV , preferably one with on-access
protection (AVG, avast!, Antivir), and maybe supplement it with on that
does not (ClamWin, F-Prot). For spyware/adware removal and detection you
might even want to have two or three different, as what kind of ware
they actually do detect seems to vary a lot between the different programs.

My personal setup: I only use the built-in XP firewall. I have avast!
with only on-access protection, and all other modules disabled/not
installed. For malware removal I have both SpyBot S&D and AdAware, but I
usually do not run either one unless I have a specific reason to suspect
something is amiss.

 

[LPV]

If I decide to load one more, would you recommend Spybot Search & Destroy
or Spyware Blaster?

Unless you have a very specific reason for only wanting to load one more,
I'd suggest loading both.

Is there any problem setting ZoneAlarm's settings to prohibit access to
the Internet by AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy or Spyware Blaster?

I'm curious - why would you want to do that?

Loren

 

[Stuart]

Is there any problem setting ZoneAlarm's settings to prohibit access to

I'm curious - why would you want to do that?

Unless I am absolutely sure about a program, I use ZoneAlarm's "Program
Control" to restrict Internet access from each of my new download programs -
at least until I am familiar with them.

To Morten, I'm sorry for what was a bad subject name choice. I only meant to
imply by "suite" a group of unrelated freeware programs that would work
together without conflicting - especially in the startup process. I have had
terrible trouble with ZoneAlarm (which I love) conflicting with Symantec
(Norton) Antivirus and Ghost. I believe it is Symantec that is causing the
problem.

Stuart//

 

[Larry Sabo]

For the time being, I will stay with Ghost...

I would abandon Ghost, too. See
http://www.techsupportalert.com/drive-imaging-reviews.htm for reason
why.

Larry

 

[Annie]

Sygate personal firesall + Avast (antivirus) + Adaware does it for me?

 

[David]

Thank you. Good thought. I guess I will pick up at least Lavasoft's Ad
Aware. I note that softwareengineer2006 recommended that one. The
guide-to-spyware he recommended was good. I especially appreciated the
guide's list of spyware removers in Chapter 3 that were actually malware
themselves like PSGuard and Winfixer.

If I decide to load one more, would you recommend Spybot Search & Destroy or
Spyware Blaster?

Use both. Spyware Blaster is a blocker program. You run it once and
only run it again if you receive updates which happens infrequently.
It stops spyware from installing through clever use of Registry
entries.

AdAware and SpyBot S&D search for different risks in different ways.
What one misses the other picks up.

I download the updates for all programs about once per week. I
actually run AfAware and SpyBot S&D about once per month. I rarely
find anything but I am conservative un my browsing habits.

Is there any problem setting ZoneAlarm's settings to
prohibit access to the Internet by AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy or
Spyware Blaster?
Stuart//

No problem at all in setting ZA. I generally use the Ask setting as
then I have no problems when I want to download updates of the
respective databases or software..

None of the recommended programs are considered to be spyware.

 

[David]

Unless I am absolutely sure about a program, I use ZoneAlarm's "Program
Control" to restrict Internet access from each of my new download programs -
at least until I am familiar with them.

To Morten, I'm sorry for what was a bad subject name choice. I only meant to
imply by "suite" a group of unrelated freeware programs that would work
together without conflicting - especially in the startup process. I have had
terrible trouble with ZoneAlarm (which I love) conflicting with Symantec
(Norton) Antivirus and Ghost. I believe it is Symantec that is causing the
problem.

I believe you'd be right about that. Have fun removing Symantec! It
has tendrils all through your registry.

 

[Morten Skarstad]

Stuart skrev:

To Morten, I'm sorry for what was a bad subject name choice. I only meant to
imply by "suite" a group of unrelated freeware programs that would work
together without conflicting - especially in the startup process. I have had
terrible trouble with ZoneAlarm (which I love) conflicting with Symantec
(Norton) Antivirus and Ghost. I believe it is Symantec that is causing the
problem.

Symantec software has a history of conflicting with other software,
including other pieces of Symantec software.

 

[Vale]

My personal sutup
Antivirus: AVG Free Edition
Antispyware: Ad Aware 1.06 and Spybot Search & Destroy
Firewall: Kerio Personal Firewall (free edition)

Also, the built-in XP firewall is very weak.

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

Stuart skrev:



Symantec software has a history of conflicting with other software,
including other pieces of Symantec software.

And who would like to comment about Symantec's "Award-Winning Support?"
When I see this term on a product box these days, I run like hell.

Richard

 

[Stuart]

David and Friends,
I've been reading newsgroups for 20 years (since my IBM PC AT and Free
Agent) and this is my favorite newsgroup.
1.) I uninstalled my Symantec/Norton products and all my software conflicts
went away.
2.) I installed AdAware and SpyBot S&D (plus Spyware Blaster) and found
dozens of valid problems that neither Microsoft AntiSpyware (I don't like
Defender. I tried it once on another machine.) and Trend Micro Anti-Spyware
(I paid for it.) failed to detect. It is clear to me that your
recommendation to use multiple products is correct at this time.
3.) In the process, I installed Spyware Doctor and it says it detected The
PC Detective, but when I search the registry for it, I cannot find any sign
of it. Is Spyware Doctor a Rogue-AntiSpyware program like SpywareCleaner or
is this valid? If so, is there a freeware way to get rid of it. Spyware
Doctor is asking for my credit card number. Baitware?

 

[BayLady]

Here is a page with tons of Rogue Spyware Removal Programs - with a
quick search - Spyware Doctor was not listed.

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Baylady

David and Friends,
I've been reading newsgroups for 20 years (since my IBM PC AT and Free
Agent) and this is my favorite newsgroup.
1.) I uninstalled my Symantec/Norton products and all my software conflicts
went away.
2.) I installed AdAware and SpyBot S&D (plus Spyware Blaster) and found
dozens of valid problems that neither Microsoft AntiSpyware (I don't like
Defender. I tried it once on another machine.) and Trend Micro Anti-Spyware
(I paid for it.) failed to detect. It is clear to me that your
recommendation to use multiple products is correct at this time.
3.) In the process, I installed Spyware Doctor and it says it detected The
PC Detective, but when I search the registry for it, I cannot find any sign
of it. Is Spyware Doctor a Rogue-AntiSpyware program like SpywareCleaner or
is this valid? If so, is there a freeware way to get rid of it. Spyware
Doctor is asking for my credit card number. Baitware?

 

[me]

Here is a page with tons of Rogue Spyware Removal Programs
- with a quick search - Spyware Doctor was not listed.

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Baylady

Actually, it _is_ listed (as of 4-5-06), under:
"excellent anti-spyware scanners available"

J