Vista Antivirus and Firewalls - best performance?

[ttpoker]

I'm a serious poweruser. My Vista install shows a Windows Experience Index
of 5.9, I have 3 gigs of memory installed and I'm running it all on a Intel
Core Duo Quad-Core processor. I'm all about speed and efficiency and as we
all know antivirus and firewalls apps tend to hog system resources and slow
down performance. I rarely come across a virus or malicious application
because I am careful about what I run.

I've been experimenting with the best firewall and anti virus solution. I
tried numerous firewalls, the last one I dumped was Outpost because it was a
total hog. So far the only light and efficient firewall I tried was Fort
Knox. On the anti-virus side I tried AVG and Avast but both bogged down my
system both at startup and also during the oddest times while accessing
everyday windows explorer tasks - shocking since my computer is so powerful.
I'm about to try MS One Care (I suspect I will hate it but I'm willing to
try).

From your experience what are the most efficient security tools you have
tried? Which Vista firewall & anti-virus/malware applications affect system
performance the least at this stage?

 

[Richard G. Harper]

I use AVG and have no problems with it at any time. Be sure you have turned
off all timed events (updates, scans, etc) if that's your thing. Also, dump
any firewall but the Windows Firewall; if you want added security get a
router with stateful packet inspection and put it between your computer and
the Internet.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[jrb1164]

I use Zone Alarm 7.1 for Vista and I don't find it to be intrusive
or a hog of resources, plus it's a great firewall and anti-virus program
in the ZA 7.1 suite for Vista 32. You didn't mention if your a
32 or 64 bit system, because I'm not sure if ZA works with 64 bit.

I use AVG and have no problems with it at any time. Be sure you have
turned off all timed events (updates, scans, etc) if that's your thing.
Also, dump any firewall but the Windows Firewall; if you want added
security get a router with stateful packet inspection and put it between
your computer and the Internet.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

I'm a serious poweruser. My Vista install shows a Windows Experience
Index of 5.9, I have 3 gigs of memory installed and I'm running it all on
a Intel Core Duo Quad-Core processor. I'm all about speed and efficiency
and as we all know antivirus and firewalls apps tend to hog system
resources and slow down performance. I rarely come across a virus or
malicious application because I am careful about what I run.

I've been experimenting with the best firewall and anti virus solution. I
tried numerous firewalls, the last one I dumped was Outpost because it
was a total hog. So far the only light and efficient firewall I tried was
Fort Knox. On the anti-virus side I tried AVG and Avast but both bogged
down my system both at startup and also during the oddest times while
accessing everyday windows explorer tasks - shocking since my computer is
so powerful. I'm about to try MS One Care (I suspect I will hate it but
I'm willing to try).

From your experience what are the most efficient security tools you have
tried? Which Vista firewall & anti-virus/malware applications affect
system performance the least at this stage?

 

[Kayman]

I'm a serious poweruser. My Vista install shows a Windows Experience Index
of 5.9, I have 3 gigs of memory installed and I'm running it all on a Intel
Core Duo Quad-Core processor. I'm all about speed and efficiency and as we
all know antivirus and firewalls apps tend to hog system resources and slow
down performance. I rarely come across a virus or malicious application
because I am careful about what I run.

I've been experimenting with the best firewall and anti virus solution. I
tried numerous firewalls, the last one I dumped was Outpost because it was a
total hog. So far the only light and efficient firewall I tried was Fort
Knox. On the anti-virus side I tried AVG and Avast but both bogged down my
system both at startup and also during the oddest times while accessing
everyday windows explorer tasks - shocking since my computer is so powerful.
I'm about to try MS One Care (I suspect I will hate it but I'm willing to
try).

From your experience what are the most efficient security tools you have
tried? Which Vista firewall & anti-virus/malware applications affect system
performance the least at this stage?

You are not going to find anything better than the Vista FW and Vista in
itself due to the advanced features the FW and Vista are using.

"Personal Firewalls" are mostly snake-oil.
http://www.samspade.org/d/firewalls.html

Jesper's Blogs-
At Least This Snake Oil Is Free.
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/archive/2007/07/19/at-least-this-snake-oil-is-free.aspx
Windows Firewall: the best new security feature in Vista?
http://blogs.technet.com/jesper_johansson/archive/2006/05/01/426921.aspx

Exploring The Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/VistaFirewall/default.aspx
"If you try to block outbound connections from a computer that’s already
compromised, how can you be sure that the computer is really doing what you
ask? The answer: you can’t. Outbound protection is security theater—it’s a
gimmick that only gives the impression of improving your security without
doing anything that actually does improve your security. This is why
outbound protection didn’t exist in the Windows XP firewall and why it
doesn’t exist in the Windows Vista™ firewall."

Vista Firewall Control.
Protects your applications from undesirable network incoming and outgoing
activity, controls applications internet access.
http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/

There are many good free AV applications available, and almost everyone has
his favorite. Most of the users are emotionally attached to their av
application and will have excellent reasons for not recommending any other
brand.
The most important thing here is that all of the available choices listed
here are better in some respects than in others, and which choice is better
for *you* depends on what you do, how you work, and which features you use.
The way you use your PC is different from others.
Have a look at this:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
and be guided accordingly.
Good info can be obtained here:
http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/category.aspx?bcatid=1183&tabid=1&dl=1
http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20
and here:
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Real-time AV applications - for viral malware.
Do not utilize more than one (1) real-time anti-virus scanning engine!
Disable the e-mail scanning function during installation (Custom
Installation on some AV apps.) as it provides no additional protection.
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3
In fact, most of experts (incl. Norton) believe that scanning incoming and
outgoing mail causes e-mail file corruption.

Avira AntiVir® PersonalEdition Classic - Free
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html

Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
(Choose Custom Installation and under Resident
Protection, uncheck: Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange.)

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
http://free.grisoft.com/

ESET NOD32 Antivirus - Not Free
http://www.eset.com/
Have you seen these "extra settings for NOD32"?
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=37509

On-demand AV application.
(add it to your arsenal and use it as a "second opinion" av scanner).
BitDefender10 Free Edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html

A-S applications - for non-viral malware.
The effectiveness of an individual A-S scanners can be wide-ranging and
oftentimes a collection of scanners is best. There isn't one software that
cleans and immunizes you against everything. That's why you need multiple
products to do the job i.e. overlap their coverage - one may catch what
another may miss, (grab'em all).

SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

Ad-Aware - Free
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

Spybot Search & Destroy - Free
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Windows Defender - Free (build-in in Vista)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Interesting reading:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136195/article.html
"...Windows Defender did excel in behavior-based protection, which detects
changes to key areas of the system without having to know anything about
the actual threat."

A clarification on the terminology: the word "malware" is short for
"malicious software." Most Anti-Virus applications detect many types of
malware such as viruses, worms, trojans, etc.
What AV applications usually don't detect is "non-viral" malware, and the
term "non-viral malware" is normally used to refer to things like spyware
and adware.

Some more useful applications:
Spyware Blaster - Free
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Rootkit Revealer - Free
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.mspx

Crap Cleaner - Free
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender".

CW Shredder - Free
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Popup-Ad-Spyware-Blockers/CWShredder.shtml

Good luck

 

[Straight Talk]

I'm a serious poweruser. My Vista install shows a Windows Experience Index
of 5.9, I have 3 gigs of memory installed and I'm running it all on a Intel
Core Duo Quad-Core processor. I'm all about speed and efficiency and as we
all know antivirus and firewalls apps tend to hog system resources and slow
down performance. I rarely come across a virus or malicious application
because I am careful about what I run.

I've been experimenting with the best firewall and anti virus solution. I
tried numerous firewalls, the last one I dumped was Outpost because it was a
total hog. So far the only light and efficient firewall I tried was Fort
Knox. On the anti-virus side I tried AVG and Avast but both bogged down my
system both at startup and also during the oddest times while accessing
everyday windows explorer tasks - shocking since my computer is so powerful.
I'm about to try MS One Care (I suspect I will hate it but I'm willing to
try).

From your experience what are the most efficient security tools you have
tried?

Running not inherently broken software and keeping it updated -
together with using my brain.

 

[Charlie42]

I'm all about speed and efficiency and as we all know antivirus and
firewalls apps tend to hog system resources and slow down
performance.

Computer security is a trade-off. Safe guarding confidential data, integrity
and availability comes at a price, and it's for each of us to figure out how
much performance we need to give up for it. A computer can be secured to the
point where it's rendered useless.

I rarely come across a virus or malicious application because I am
careful about what I run.

Well, that's a key factor.

From your experience what are the most efficient security tools you have
tried? Which Vista firewall & anti-virus/malware applications affect
system performance the least at this stage?

If system resources are your major concern, you should take a look at Eset's
NOD32 anti-virus. It's scores well in tests, and has a small footprint. It
was recently released in version 3, and Eset has also released a security
suite called Smart Security. Although not a big hog, you will note the suite
consumes more resources than the stand alone AV.

www.av-comparatives.org
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130869/article.html
www.eset.com

As for the firewall, Vista's built in one can serve even power users well.
Configure it's policies in Advanced Security to suit your needs. DSL and
wireless routers often have fairly decent built in hardware firewalls, and
if you have the option to do so, you should definitely enable yours.

Security experts also recommend using two or more anti-spyware programs to
complement each other. NOD32 and Windows Defender will provide you with good
real time protection, but in addition you should run another spyware scanner
regularly.

www.spywarewarrior.com
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126890-page,1-c,spyware/article.html

Charlie42

 

[Kayman]

I'm a serious poweruser. My Vista install shows a Windows Experience Index
of 5.9, I have 3 gigs of memory installed and I'm running it all on a Intel
Core Duo Quad-Core processor. I'm all about speed and efficiency and as we
all know antivirus and firewalls apps tend to hog system resources and slow
down performance. I rarely come across a virus or malicious application
because I am careful about what I run.

If you like me and you're *really* careful then stick with Vista f/w and
don't even consider using any AV/A-S applications; It works for me but may
not be right for you
Systinternals Autoruns or What's Running 2.2 have been designed to track
down and eliminate wayward services, processes, programs, and more.
Don't work/surf as an administrator - it's easy with Vista - ,keep your OS
and all other soft ware applications up-to-date.
Don't expose services to public networks. You can achieve that by disabling
the services you don't need.
http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/18/services/
Consider an alternative to IE.

And don't forget to back-up, back-up, back-up and back-up - sh!t happens
Acronis True Image is one of the better applications.

Some more educational reading:
Is security software becoming a security risk?
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/11/21/Is-security-software-becoming-a-security-risk_1.html

"People think that putting one AV engine after another is somehow defense
in depth. They think that if one engine doesn't catch the worm, the other
will catch it," he said. "You haven't decreased your attack surface; you've
increased it because every AV engine has bugs"

Interesting report:
(Though Russ Cooper, a senior scientist with Verizon Business, had some
criticism for the work of n.runs)

The Death of Anti-Virus Defense.
http://www.nruns.com/ps/The_Death_of_AV_Defense_in_Depth-Revisiting_Anti-Virus_Software.pdf

 

[Kayman]

If you like me and you're *really* careful then stick with Vista f/w and
don't even consider using any AV/A-S applications; It works for me but may
not be right for you
Systinternals Autoruns or What's Running 2.2 have been designed to track
down and eliminate wayward services, processes, programs, and more.
Don't work/surf as an administrator - it's easy with Vista - ,keep your OS
and all other soft ware applications up-to-date.
Don't expose services to public networks. You can achieve that by disabling
the services you don't need.
http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/18/services/

I should've posted tthis link also:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

 

[John Adams]

I've found that OneCare has very little impact (none that I have ever
noticed) on system performance. I am extremely pleased with it as a
product. I'm using it on my Vista x64 PC and my Vista x86 PC. I have also
gotten my friends and family to use it as well. Even though I sound like a
fanboy right now, I don't care. It just works well and keeps to the
background where it belongs.

It isn't free, but you can install it on up to three computers.

- John

 

[john]

We use CA's eTrust antiviruse on all Windows systems. It is very good and
no system slow downs. We schedule full system scans during off hours but do
realtime scans always. We use Vistas built in firewall.

 

[Scottman]

The best one available now is Eset Smart Securiy Anti-Virus, and Firewall.
It's available as a 32 or 64 bit download. There's a free thiry day trial on
the web site.