Anti--virus and spyware advice, please

[dkryan]

I recently installed Norton Internet Security on my laptop and desktop. It runs fine on the laptop. The desktop, however, is running noticeably slower. I'm guessing that between the NIS, being six years old, and limited to 1G RAM, I can't push it any faster unless I uninstall the NIS.

I can simply use XP's firewall, correct?

So, do I need spyware?

And for anti-virus protection, based on another recent thread, it appears Anvira's product is the way to go. (?) Unless someone can convince me that McAfee or similar A-V software is just as good.

Thanks!

 

[ZZman]

I only run free software that are good. You could try these:

AV: Avira Antivir PE, AVG 8, or Avast

AS: SUPERantispyware Free and A-Squared Free

Firewall: PCtools Personal Firewall

Another good one is PCtools Threatfire (free)

**Yes you should run Antispyware products. Yes you could run XP firewall but is only a one way firewall.

Another good thing to do is run a different browser then I.E. Many like Firefox or Opera.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
I only run free software that are good. You could try these:


+1 to that. I personally like avast! for antivirus protection, and Spybot for spyware. I can't stand Norton. I'd even go through the registry to wipe out anything associated with it. Try snapfiles.com for all kinds of useful freeware.

 

[OVERKILL]

Avast! or Avira are great. NOD32 for a commercial product.

"Internet Security" suites are a joke. Because software "firewalls" are a joke........

 

[dkryan]

Thanks, guys.

 

[dkryan]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
"Internet Security" suites are a joke. Because software "firewalls" are a joke........


OVERKILL, I KNEW you were going to say that!

Kind of like an "all-in-one" home theater system instead of separates?

Live OneCare ran quite seemlessly on my desktop for the past two years. MS electing not to go beyond 2009 with that product caused me not to renew with them.

 

[Dave Hess]

.

 

[OVERKILL]

One of my favourites, which aptly describes a software firewall solution:

 

[Turk]

 

[Volvohead]

That's a classic.

 

[Volvohead]

dkryan, I'd dump both the Nortons and the Xp firewall. Symantec suites are like running a second OS. Oink, oink, oink.

You can get free ASW and AV that do a good job. But if you want to buy product (with the benefits that gives), I think NOD32 and SAS are pretty solid choices.

Spring the few bucks for a router with a HW firewall. SW firewalls are begging for trouble, IMO.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Overkill, to borrow some Microsoft speak, that door truly does reduce the attack surface!

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: dkryan
I recently installed Norton Internet Security on my laptop and desktop. It runs fine on the laptop. The desktop, however, is running noticeably slower. I'm guessing that between the NIS, being six years old, and limited to 1G RAM, I can't push it any faster unless I uninstall the NIS.

I can simply use XP's firewall, correct?

So, do I need spyware?

And for anti-virus protection, based on another recent thread, it appears Anvira's product is the way to go. (?) Unless someone can convince me that McAfee or similar A-V software is just as good.

Thanks!


Hardware router along with your Windows firewall is all you need.

For Antivirus, I'll reccomend Antivir or Avast,even though I personally run Antivir. Both are freeware programs.

Spyware removal: MalwarebyesAntimalware
SuperAntispyware

Both programs are FREE as well.

 

[ZZman]

I don't like Norton or McAfee suites that they tend to be resource hogs. I hear that may have changed with now Norton product.

Lavasoft just came out with a new product that incorporates their Ad-Aware antispyware programs with Avira's antivirus
scan engine. That could be a pretty good combo but costs.

Other good suites if that is what you like would be Kaspersky, Bitdefender and Trendmicro.

 

[OVERKILL]

A Gateway is a firewall. There is no such thing as a gateway without a firewall; they are one and the same device.

A Gateway is a router. But a router does not have to be a gateway.

Anything that translates private IP addresses into public addresses is acting as a firewall. (NAT).

If you are on a PRIVATE IP block, how is ANYBODY going to be able to DIRECTLY connect to your computer? They cannot, unless they are ALSO on that network, or your router PORT FORWARDS or TRANSLATES that data and sends it to your computer!

This is why I hate UPNP. Because it automates the task of port-forwarding. Not a big deal on a Linux box, but on a Windows box, that's an easy way to take advantage of an exploit.

Now, imagine Windows, with it's boat-load of security flaws, trying to act as a FIREWALL, or some SOFTWARE, sitting on that same Windows box trying to "act" as a firewall, where there is NO NAT taking place, so there is ZERO REAL protection, and you can see why I absolutely abhor software "firewalls". Because they are NOT a FIREWALL!!!

Painting a padlock on my front door is a LOT less effective than building a giant 40ft tall cement block wall around my house and installing a 2ft thick steel door that ONLY opens from the INSIDE!

And somebody who already has the 40ft wall, does not need the RESOURCE PIG security "suite" pimpin' their RAM and CPU cycles under the guise that it's providing you with protection; it's NOT.

Dump the bloat. Make sure you have a good router. Grab a decent antivirus. Run Firefox or Opera, do a period scan for spyware and browse with COMMON SENSE, and you will be fine.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

overkill, that's the best explanation I've ever seen!

The only reason I run Windows Firewall on my work computers is a) other departments don't have real-time anti-spyware software which is a concern on wireless segments for the numerous laptops I support and b) when the laptops are used anywhere offsite, they need as much protection as possible...albeit not much more as there's no 'auto-NAT' function...that would be pretty cool to have for laptop security.

It was laughable to see how it was such a big deal for MS to release a firewall with XP SP2. I had it turned off the first 3 years after we deployed SP2.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Avast! or Avira are great. NOD32 for a commercial product.

"Internet Security" suites are a joke. Because software "firewalls" are a joke........


I'm starting to think this. McAfee security suite and I'm having problems this past week on two XP PCs!

 

[OVERKILL]

Windows Firewall serves a couple of decent functions ON A LAN. With an exposed WAN, it's useless.

It blocks Windows File Sharing by default
It blocks port scans by default

So if your system is on a LAN, with a pile of other computers, it does "protect" (and I'm using this term loosely) you from other systems "probing" the network for open shares and the like if they are infected with a trojan or something else that is malicious.

No other software "firewall" is any "better" than the Windows one. But they ALL use more resources.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Avast! or Avira are great. NOD32 for a commercial product.

"Internet Security" suites are a joke. Because software "firewalls" are a joke........


I'm starting to think this. McAfee security suite and I'm having problems this past week on two XP PCs!


Dump it and install Avira, Avast or NOD32. I guarantee the computer will be faster.

 

[dkryan]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
overkill, that's the best explanation I've ever seen!

Yes, it sure is!

Now, Overkill, please speak english! I ain't no "network engineer!"

Let's focus on that slow as a turtle desktop. I uninstall your all time favorite: Norton Internet Security.

Now, I need a firewall for my static IP address (don't you love it when I "speak the language?"). I take it my cable modem provider's Toshiba router ain't quite getting it in terms of a solid firewall? So, should I go to MicroCenter or someplace similar (online?) and purchase a router that will provide a "two-way" firewall?

Once I get the firewall to your liking (and mine), I can download free anti-virus and anti-spyware via the recommendations from this thread. (?)

Then, "zoom, zoom," says the desktop? (Unlikely. It's getting old and slow).