I heard Symantecs Nortons Antivirus bogs down your computer, is the same true about Symantecs Spy Sweeper?

Answer 1

★★ SECURITY SOFTWARE & TIPS ★★

◙ The very best virus scanners are free. Mcafee & Norton Antivirus are mostly hype and won't do as good as the free ones. -- About.com & Smart Computing Magazine

◙ Download and install AVG. Use it first and see if it finds any viruses or trojans.

☞ http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

◙ After running AVG go here and run this virus scanner online. There is no need to install it on your computer.

☞ http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

◙ Microsoft's New Live Safety Center. Download this scanner to check and remove spyware, viruses, get rid of obsolete files and junk off your computer, and improve your PCs performance.

☞ http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm?s_cid=msep

◙ The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software—including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom—and helps remove any infection found. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed. You can run this tool online FREE.

☞ http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

◙ Best spyware remover is Ad Aware. Download and install the free version.

◙ http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

◙ Here is a wealth of information about fighting spyware and spyware producers. Join their free forum for answers to your questions. -- Smart Computing Magazine

☞ http://www.spywareinfo.com/
☞ http://www.spywarewarrior.com/
☞ http://www.google.com/search?q=adware+info

◙ Before downloading email attachments in Gmail and Yahoo Mail click on the link that says, "Scan With Norton Antivirus".

◙ Before downloading any software from the internet type it into http://groups.google.com/ to see if that title is known for spyware or viruses. Google Groups has over 1 billion posts spanning 25 years to help you. Even after checking it there ALWAYS scan it before opening it. You just can't be too careful. -- Smart Computing Magazine

◙ A lot of the download sites like http://www.download.com/ and http://www.tucows.com/ scan software before releasing it to the public. But just for safety sake you should still scan it yourself.

◙ If you have a broadband modem or network router the firewall in these is not as effective as a software firewall. The firewall that comes with Windows XP isn't very good either. Download ZoneAlarm and your system will be a lot safer. -- Smart Computing Magazine

☞ http://www.zonealarm.com/

◙ Here is a really great article on browser hijacking. This will show you how to get rid of it. There is a tutorial and software to get rid of part of it. You'll need to make some changes to your computer's registry to get rid of the rest of it. Click on the chatroom link on their main page if you need help.

☞ http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/

◙ Here is Yahoo!'s Internet Security section.

☞ http://security.yahoo.com/

◙ Get more information at these PC Magazine Web sites.

☞ http://www.pcmag.com/
☞ http://www.smartcomputing.com/

◙ Top 100 Computer & Software Magazines.

☞ http://netvalley.com/top100mag.html

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Spy Sweeper adds a number of processes and services to your PC. In addition, it is most effective if it is loaded during startup. So, "yes" it will slow down your PC's performance. But, in its defense, this is true for all anti-spyware applications, some more so than others. Spy Sweeper is better than many other anti-spyware when it comes to resource usage. CounterSpy and Spyware Doctor consumes a lot more resources than Spy Sweeper (I've tried all three programs). It is on par with Microsoft's Windows Defender beta 2.