Internet Security!?

Question

I am using Avira Anti-Virus Personal Edition (free edition) , Zone Alarm , Spybot -Search & Destroy, and Windows Defender. Avira im using to get rid of viruses, Zone alarm for a firewall, and spybot and windows defender for spyware. I am currently running on windows xp. If i use all these programs to protect my computer will it slow down my computer? are these programs good enough to protect my computer? and lastly, what are the best combinations of internet security that i should use?

Answer 1

That is a fairly good setup. Avira AntiVir is very good indeed and I use this myself, although I am currently using a 3 month trial of the Premium version.
Stick with Avira, it is very light on resources.

ZoneAlarm - I found this has become bloated recently, and the free version is not performing too good in recent firewall tests.
It scored "Very poor" in the Matousec leak test; http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php#firewalls-ratings

Good alternatives to ZoneAlarm, that offer better protection but use less resources are Comodo firewall or Online Armor free firewall -- both are free and very effective. I found Online Armor easier to use and it had less popups, etc.
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
http://www.tallemu.com/online_armor_free.html

I'm not sure if there is much point in running 2 real-time antispyware scanners. I would uninstall Windows Defender personally and use Spybot S&D for real-time protection, then just install 2 on-demand scanners that don't run 24/7.
Try SUPERAntiSpyware which has a free version and does not run 24/7 - it is highly effective and you should do a full scan once a week or so.
A-Squared free is also very good and does not run 24/7.
http://www.superantispyware.com/
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

Also, make sure you are using a secure Internet browser -- I cannot stress to you enough just how important this is. If you use Firefox with the addons "Noscript" and "Adblock plus" this will be the most secure browser available, and will stop browser hijacking, popups, ads and malware from exploting your browser.
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Browse google for the addons.

With the above setup, you will have an excellent combination of security tools, which are all free and should not slow down your PC or conflict.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

You don't say what resources that you have in your PC. Without knowing, I would say no. If any of these programs have a background scanners running, yes they will slow down your pc. And again that depends on how much resources you have.

I use Zone Alarm Free, Twister Trojan Antivirus, with a background scanner that runs 24 hours per day 7 days per week., Superantispyware with a background scanner, Trend Micro antispyware with a background scanner, Spyware Emergency 2007 with a background scanner, and A2Squard free without a background scanner. Also AVG antispyware with background scanner. And my pc is very fast.

I removed the phishing from IE7, because was slowing surfing down, taking to long to determine if a webpage is real or fake. Otherwise no problems.

Minddoctor, France

Answer 4

As always, the more programs you have the slower your computer will go...that depends also on your RAM memory.. I personally have Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite (Firewall, Anti-Virus, Anti-spy/Adware). But I also use Ad-Aware Personal (free). I highly recommend Ad-Aware over ANY other spy/ad ware program (in your case, spybot)

www.lavasoft.com

Answer 5

Avast and kaspersky -both are good. But i prefer avast over kaspersky. Avast comes with excellent features like :internet ad blocker,safe browser for internet bank transactions and it has an accurate virus detection rate.

Answer 6

Wow, I use McAfee AV, turn on MS updates, & have windows firewall turned on & defender loaded. Ya really don't need anything else. Yes, they can slow yer system down.
If ya don't want malware (adware or spyware), just don't install anything "free" from the internet. There ain't much out there that is really free - usually costs you your security. Usually when you install "free" stuff, it comes with some fine print you must agree to. Read it closely!!! It may say something like:
"In order to install this software you must agree to allow us to monitor the web sites you visit so we may send you advertisements from sponsors similar to those web sites you visit".
As soon as you click the agree button, you're hosed Lord help you if you accidently visit a porn site. That's when the popup's really start coming.....

GL.

Answer 7

They shouldn't slow down your computer muchu nless your computer is slow to begin with. It seems like the same basic combination of free programs I use, and I don't have any trouble with malware.

Answer 8

uve more than enough,defender is useless tho