No resident AV?

Hi, Christine 

 

The AVG resident sheild is the one you need to activate for Anti-virus protection (although it also now includes anti-spyware as well)

 

Spybot's TeaTimer alerts you to registry changes, and unless you know specifically how to respond to them, you may end up denying something you should accept or vice versa.  

 

As always though it's the person sat behind the keyboard that is the first line of defence. :smileywink:

christine,

 

from your signature, it appears you have 3 machines.   just to make sure there's no misunderstanding here, you need to have exactly one resident anti-virus program running on EACH of these machines.   AVG 8 would be one such example of an anti-virus program.   I don't know if you have AVG on all 3 of your machines, or only on the one (or two). 

 

you also want to have exactly one (software) firewall running on each of your machines.   Since you didn't mention it, I don't know if you took this for granted and are running a firewall... or if it means you're not using a firewall.   at the very least, you should have an XP firewall available for use (I believe since SP2).

 

as for resident anti-spyware, you also need one per machine.   I'm not familiar with StopZilla, but it would seem to be an example.    [again, i don't know if you have it on only one machine, or on all.]

 

if you have avg or stopzilla on some, but not all, of your machines, and are interested in free alternative suggestions for the remaining systems, just ask away.

 

it's also most important to be current on all the windows critical/security updates.

 

one additional step i would suggest (if you haven't done so already) is to run some "passive" protection programs (in addition to all of the above):  specifically, SpywareBlaster, together with the IMMUNIZATION feature of SpyBot (including immunization of your HOSTS file).   [As melboy noted, TeaTimer is a "mixed blessing" --- great if you know how to work with it, but a problem if you're just guessing.   I also am not keen on spybot as as scanner].   the SpywareBlaster/SpyBot immunizations may help prevent your husband from ever visiting some of the bad websites...

Oh I forgot say that I do use the immunize feature of Spybot S&D.  But I have a question on that.  Sometimes after I download the update and then do immunize - the hosts at the bottom don't get protected.

 

Christine

Dimension E520

XP sp2 current

Windows Firewall is OFF

TrendMicro Pc-cillin 14

Updates automatically every day

Personal Firewall is ON

Real-Time Protection is ON

AVG8

Update manually every day

Anti-Virus is ACTIVE

Anti-Spyware is ACTIVE

Resident Shield is Disabled

Email Scanner is Disabled

Link Scanner is Disabled

 

AVG 8 and Trend Micro are both running antivirus and antispyware. This will lead to slowdowns, system instability, and a higher chance of getting infected. Both programs will attempt to take control and neither will succeed making your computer vulernable to infections. Personally, I would ditch the AVG8 and go with the Trend, but others may disagree with this opinion.

 

Inspiron 1501 not used much

Wireless XP sp2 current

Windows Firewall is OFF

TrendMicro Internet Security Pro

Personal Firewall is ON

No AVG – doesn’t work with this Trend Micro?

Spybot S&D

Update manually whenever I turn it on

Resident "SD Helper" is ACTIVE

Resident Tea-Timer is ACTIVE

Malwarebytes

 

This one look fine.

 

Inspiron 6000

Wireless XP sp2 current

Windows Firewall is ON

AVG8

Anti-Virus is ACTIVE

Anti-Spyware is ACTIVE

Resident Shield is ACTIVE

Email Scanner is not fully functional

Link Scanner is ACTIVE

Spybot S&D

Resident "SD Helper" is ACTIVE

NO Tea-Timer

Malwarebytes

StopZilla Anti-Spyware

Spyware Protection Enabled

Pop Up Protection Enabled

Sitegard is ON

 

Do you have the free or paid version of AVG8? Does AVG8 come with a firewall and if not do you have a firewall running? If you do not have a firewall running turn on the Windows firewall for the time being. I am not too familiar with StopZilla, so I really can't comment on this set-up. Hopefully someone else with my knowledge will.

 

 

"Oh I forgot say that I do use the immunize feature of Spybot S&D. But I have a question on that. Sometimes after I download the update and then do immunize - the hosts at the bottom don't get protected."

 

Regarding this question, when I used Spybot, I had to hit the immunization button three to four times to get everything protected.

 

The AVG8 is the free version on all.

 

On the Inspiron 6000, yes I have the Windows Firewall ON (you missed that part).

 

On my E520 desktop w/ both AVG8 and Trend Micro.  I'm not having any problems or slowdowns.  It runs great.

 

Christine

if you're ready to replace trend micro on your 1501:

 

AVG8 has the advantage for you, in that you're already familiar with it.   on that basis, you can certainly consider that if you wish.

 

i used avg for many years, through version 7.5.   i gave up on 8, when its early versions had several problems (some of which have presumably been fixed by now).   if you want to consider the alternatives [and be advised, it may take a while to get used to their different "feels"], the current recommendations are either

avast home edition http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html or

antivir http://www.free-av.com/

 

avast requires a FREE registration (if you don't register, portions "expire" after 60 days).   the registration is good for 12-15 months, after which, you can re-register for the next year (and so on).

 

here are two links to comparisons/reviews of these products [including several screen shots]:

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Free-Antivirus-Antispyware-Software-t38.html

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm

 

and while we're at it, let me give a "plug" to Joe53's excellent security primer, which covers/summarized just about all the bases:

http://naut.homestead.com/files/Free/free1.html

Christine:

 

"On my E520 desktop w/ both AVG8 and Trend Micro.  I'm not having any problems or slowdowns.  It runs great."

 

The reason you don't have conflicts is because the AVG8 resident shield is disabled, and only Trend Micro's AV runs in real time. I presume you are using AVG8 as an on-demand backup scanner.

 

I have used this strategy in the past; at one time I had all 3 free AVs (AVG, avast, and AntiVir) loaded, but non-resident, available as 2nd opinion backups to my real-time AV.

 

I have since abandoned this approach, for several reasons:

- I am no longer convinced this is a wise practice. As AVs become more sophisticated, the chances for conflicts multiply, even when not running in real-time.

- Running on-demand scanners as a routine when all is well with your PC is, in a sense, looking for trouble. And sooner or later these scanners will find it, in the form of false positive detections. If you quarantine, (or worse, delete) these FPs, real damage can be done to your system.

- AVG Free was once a very simple program. It has since evolved into a much larger program, that I am no longer comfortable having on my PC, even with its resident shield disabled. Its potential to interfere with my resident AV in ways I don't understand became too great. And although AVG may not be causing you problems at present, I have to say that for many reasons it is an AV I no longer recommend.

- The availability of good online AV scanners/cleaners (see the list in Bugbatter's sticky at the top of this board) replaces the usefullness of having a second AV loaded on one's PC. I recommend one use them only when problems are encountered that your real-time AV cannot solve.

 

[edit: Slow typer here, as I see ky331 made many of the same points- but will leave as is for emphasis]

Re AVG Active.  Just reporting what it shows on the overview tab under each component.

And I have a routine to update them all each day because it just takes a second to do it and that way I won't miss any.  I use most of them as on demand scanners. I have lots of time and a little paranoia. lol

 

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR ALL THE INFO!  :smileyhappy:

 

I'll print it out the recomendations.

My Insp 1501 Trend Micro just expired and it's $69 for 1 year.  So I guess I'll dump it and put on another free one.

 

 

Thanks Again,

Christine

Re SP3  not brave enough to do it yet especially when I read here about problems people have had.  It's been out a while now so I should take the plunge.

 

I even have an old compaq still w/ sp1 and I got a disk for sp2 but never put it on.  Also I have a old Dell with a 4gb HD and win95.  And a very very old pc w/ dos, a 120 megabyte hard drive and a 51/4 floppy. we still play games on.

 

I've been using pcs since that first came out. 

 

Christine

 

 

re:  DIM E520

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that AVG anti-virus is "active", while its resident shield is "disabled".   to me, the main component of a (resident) anti-virus program is its resident shield... so if that is disabled, as far as i'm concerned, the anti-virus protection is disabled.  

[unless by "active", it's saying that you can still use it as an on-demand scanner????]

 

I concur with Beversol's analysis, that Trend can conflict with AVG, and so one (presumably AVG) should be completely removed.   The fact that you don't notice any problems at present may just be a fluke... and you may discover that your computer will perform faster with only one of them running.

at some future point, when your trend subscription runs out, you might consider replacing Trend with a free anti-virus program.   at present, the recommendation would be either avast or antivir --- but it would be best to check back in the future, when/if you're ready to make a change.

 

by the way, Updating SpyBot manually every day is overkill:  typically, the program offers updates on a weekly basis, each Wednesday.   so there's no point to checking more often than that.

Make sure the HOSTS file is checked under immunization... and as Beversol suggested, you might have to apply the immunization more than once.   if repeated attempts fail, then it's likely that some other program (trend micro??) is "protecting" your HOSTS file, and so is resisting SpyBot's changes...

 

i don't see SpywareBlaster listed... I strongly suggest using it as well.   it works very similar to SpyBot's IMMUNIZATION, and they supplement each other nicely.   updates are available every few weeks --- and if you monitor our daily update thread, it will certainly be listed there.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

since the focus of this thread was on resident protection, I did not mention on-demand anti-malware scanners.   MBAM (free version) is a great first choice.   But since no single anti-spyware program will catch everything, we advocate using a second on-demand scanner.   My recommendation would be SAS - SuperAntiSpyware.   Others here will recommend A-squared Free, and their opinion has merit (although I personally don't use it).   You can use any two --- or all three --- depending on how much time (and paranoia) you have.  

http://www.superantispyware.com/   (go for the FREE home-user edition)

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/  (a-squared)

 

I would not be overly concerned about anti-spyware programs finding "tracking cookies"... MBAM takes the view that they're not "real" spyware, and so, doesn't even check for them... whereas SAS (and I believe A2) scan for tracking cookies, often finding "a lot".

 

by the way, one must be very careful, as ALL scanners (anti-virus, anti-spyware) can be guilty of generating an occasional "false positive" (FP)... i.e., erroneously declaring a good/safe file as being "bad"... so always be sure to quarantine [rather than delete] any problems found.

on another issue, you mentioned having xp sp2 on each of the machines.   i assume you're aware that sp3 was released a few months ago.   initially, some people had problems/conflicts with the installation [Trend Micro might have been one], but hopefully, they've all been resolved by now. 

[I myself had no problems installing sp3 on at least 4 differently configured computers.]

 

is there a reason why you haven't upgraded to sp3?   (it's a HUGE download)   while not absolutely required now, there'll come a point when microsoft will insist on sp3 in order to get any newer windows updates.

joe,

 

always a pleasure to be "dualing" in a thread with you... even when we both offer similar suggestions, i believe its still worth reading.   each of us offers a "flavor" --- a way with words --- of our own.

I suggest since you are concerned about having problems installing SP3 and Service Packs in general that you invest in a backup imaging program so that you can image the computer before you install major updates such as a Windows Service Pack and then if you have issues with that Service Pack you can just restore the image to right before you installed it.  Also if you don't have one invest in an external hard drive for your backups.  It is a good idea anyway to do backups regularly and if you do, then these scary Service Packs become not so scary.  And I would just stick with just one installed Antivirus as was already suggested and do online virus scans whenever you choose.

if the size of the download is a factor, you might consider purchasing an SP3 update disk directly from microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsxp/sp3/default.mspx

 

scroll down to where it says

Get Windows XP SP 3 now

Order the Windows XP SP3 CD

 

fill-in your desired language, and click on GO... follow any additional directions.

 

i believe the price is $3.99, plus tax and shipping.

 

Note:   i believe as part of the ordering process, microsoft will detect [and validate] which version of windows you're running (e.g., HOME edition, PRO edition) and ship the appropriate CD.   So if you're running different versions on the 3 different systems, i don't know if one disk will suffice, or if you'll need to obtain separate ones.