How to reduce redundancy w/ e-mail scans and spyware scans

[David J. Braden]

Hi,
I use ZoneAlarm Pro (ZAP), which includes options for e-mail scanning and
spyware scanning. I want to minimize redundancy.

(1) I also use Kaspersky AV Personal (KAV); both it and ZAP can scan e-mail
(as I recall, same goes for AVG). Which is the better line of defense here
(other than good judgment, of course); I would suspect KAV to be more
up-to-date, so could switch ZAP off without loss of security and a modicum
(perhaps?) performance gain. Thoughts?

(2) Similar situation for spyware scanning; ZAP comes with a scanner, but I
don't have a feel for how good it is compared to other products. Is there a
dominant resident spyware scanner out there that makes ZAP unnecessary? I
seek protection above and beyond an up-to-date HOSTS file and scans with
Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware.

Many thanks in advance for advice.

Dave Braden

 

[Wesley Vogel]

You do *not* need any E-mail scanning. Since you are using Outlook Express
this can be a problem if you do. If your AV software is working correctly,
it will catch any virus anyway.

I use Outlook Express, Zone Alarm and AVG.

I have Zone Alarm and AVG E-mail scanning turned off. In fact I never even
installed AVG's E-mail scanning component.

More info...

The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express
Published: November 18, 2004
By Tom Koch
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

[[As surprising and ironic as it may seem though, the most common cause of
DBX corruption is not a virus, but rather anti-virus programs that are
configured to scan incoming or outgoing e-mail. Even the most well-known
anti-virus programs have exhibited this problem from time to time. ]]

Scroll down to:
Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption
or click...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx#EOAAC

----

[[In fact, .]]
Messages in Inbox or other mail folders disappear
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

----

[[Disabling Email Scanning does not leave you unprotected against viruses
that are distributed as email attachments. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect
scans incoming files as they are saved to your hard drive, including email
and email attachments. Email Scanning is just another layer on top of this.
To make sure that Auto-Protect is providing the maximum protection, keep
Auto-Protect enabled and run LiveUpdate regularly to ensure that you have
the most recent virus definitions.]]
Frequently asked questions about Norton AntiVirus Email Scanning
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...88256c7500723cf0?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[David J. Braden]

Super! Any thoughts on my second question re the spyware scanner in ZAP?
Many thanks, Wes.
Dave

You do *not* need any E-mail scanning. Since you are using Outlook
Express
this can be a problem if you do. If your AV software is working
correctly,
it will catch any virus anyway.

I use Outlook Express, Zone Alarm and AVG.

I have Zone Alarm and AVG E-mail scanning turned off. In fact I never
even
installed AVG's E-mail scanning component.

More info...

The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express
Published: November 18, 2004
By Tom Koch
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

[[As surprising and ironic as it may seem though, the most common cause of
DBX corruption is not a virus, but rather anti-virus programs that are
configured to scan incoming or outgoing e-mail. Even the most well-known
anti-virus programs have exhibited this problem from time to time. ]]

Scroll down to:
Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption
or click...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx#EOAAC

----

[[In fact, .]]
Messages in Inbox or other mail folders disappear
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

----

[[Disabling Email Scanning does not leave you unprotected against viruses
that are distributed as email attachments. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect
scans incoming files as they are saved to your hard drive, including email
and email attachments. Email Scanning is just another layer on top of
this.
To make sure that Auto-Protect is providing the maximum protection, keep
Auto-Protect enabled and run LiveUpdate regularly to ensure that you have
the most recent virus definitions.]]
Frequently asked questions about Norton AntiVirus Email Scanning
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...88256c7500723cf0?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Hi,
I use ZoneAlarm Pro (ZAP), which includes options for e-mail scanning and
spyware scanning. I want to minimize redundancy.

(1) I also use Kaspersky AV Personal (KAV); both it and ZAP can scan
e-mail (as I recall, same goes for AVG). Which is the better line of
defense here (other than good judgment, of course); I would suspect KAV
to be more up-to-date, so could switch ZAP off without loss of security
and a modicum (perhaps?) performance gain. Thoughts?

(2) Similar situation for spyware scanning; ZAP comes with a scanner, but
I don't have a feel for how good it is compared to other products. Is
there a dominant resident spyware scanner out there that makes ZAP
unnecessary? I seek protection above and beyond an up-to-date HOSTS file
and scans with Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware.

Many thanks in advance for advice.

Dave Braden

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Dave,

I know nothing about ZAP's spyware scanner.

I use Bazooka Spyware Scanner, HijackThis, Spybot - S & D, SpywareBlaster
and the MVPS HOSTS file. I use no resident spyware scanner, although
Spybot - S & D has one. SpywareBlaster offers real time protection by
setting the ActiveX kill bits in the registry, so it does not have to run to
work, only for updates.

Some folks like Microsoft AntiSpyware and it has a real time scanner.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Super! Any thoughts on my second question re the spyware scanner in ZAP?
Many thanks, Wes.
Dave

You do *not* need any E-mail scanning. Since you are using Outlook
Express
this can be a problem if you do. If your AV software is working
correctly,
it will catch any virus anyway.

I use Outlook Express, Zone Alarm and AVG.

I have Zone Alarm and AVG E-mail scanning turned off. In fact I never
even
installed AVG's E-mail scanning component.

More info...

The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express
Published: November 18, 2004
By Tom Koch
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

[[As surprising and ironic as it may seem though, the most common cause
of DBX corruption is not a virus, but rather anti-virus programs that are
configured to scan incoming or outgoing e-mail. Even the most well-known
anti-virus programs have exhibited this problem from time to time. ]]

Scroll down to:
Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption
or click...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx#EOAAC

----

[[In fact, .]]
Messages in Inbox or other mail folders disappear
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

----

[[Disabling Email Scanning does not leave you unprotected against viruses
that are distributed as email attachments. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect
scans incoming files as they are saved to your hard drive, including
email and email attachments. Email Scanning is just another layer on top
of this.
To make sure that Auto-Protect is providing the maximum protection, keep
Auto-Protect enabled and run LiveUpdate regularly to ensure that you have
the most recent virus definitions.]]
Frequently asked questions about Norton AntiVirus Email Scanning
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...88256c7500723cf0?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Hi,
I use ZoneAlarm Pro (ZAP), which includes options for e-mail scanning
and spyware scanning. I want to minimize redundancy.

(1) I also use Kaspersky AV Personal (KAV); both it and ZAP can scan
e-mail (as I recall, same goes for AVG). Which is the better line of
defense here (other than good judgment, of course); I would suspect KAV
to be more up-to-date, so could switch ZAP off without loss of security
and a modicum (perhaps?) performance gain. Thoughts?

(2) Similar situation for spyware scanning; ZAP comes with a scanner,
but I don't have a feel for how good it is compared to other products.
Is there a dominant resident spyware scanner out there that makes ZAP
unnecessary? I seek protection above and beyond an up-to-date HOSTS file
and scans with Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware.

Many thanks in advance for advice.

Dave Braden

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

I know nothing about ZAP's spyware scanner.

It's no better than any other scanner out there. And once I realized
that I stopped subscribing to ZA Pro.

Some folks like Microsoft AntiSpyware and it has a real time scanner.

Works great for me. Occasionally I run other freebies, and they don't
find anything wrong.