Good antivirus/malware software - which one?

johnr August 15, 2011 at 07:08:08

You don't want more than one decent security program, they will conflict and, as you've noticed, slow down your machine. Avast is well-rated these days as is MSE, but not together, so remove all except one of them. You can keep Malwarebytes with whatever you choose as it is a complementary security program - it does things differently. "I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the most of us..." Pink Floyd

Thank you, JohnR. Any suggestions on Avast vs. MSE?

XpUser4Real August 15, 2011 at 08:09:59

avira is really weak, I would suggest you unload that and MSE which is not too good either and just using Avast free: http://www.filehippo.com/download_a... This is my line-up: 1- Avast 2- Spyware Blaster 3- Malwarebytes 4- WinPatrol 5- Threatfire 6- Windows Firewall They are all free and work great together. Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions 7 Medals

Thanks. Why Spywareblaster, WinPatrol, and Threatfire in addition to Mawarebytes and Avast? I am curious since I don't want to sacrifice too much speed but do want the best protection.

XpUser4Real August 15, 2011 at 08:34:45

they all find and protect different things. You have 4GB of ram, I'm sure you won't be sacrificing speed. There is not ONE AV that will stop all viruses, spyware, etc. The above all work well together. I install that combo on almost ALL of my clients PC's and then I'm like the Maytag Repair Man...I don't many calls for help after I'm done. Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions 7 Medals

Thanks! Will try these. I also have Auslogics BoostSpeed. I believe it is a registry optimizer with some other features - any experienice with it?

XpUser4Real August 15, 2011 at 09:42:45

in my opinion, NONE of the registry booster programs are worth anything....using winpatrol you can remove startup programs easily, all you really have to run at startup is your AV and your scheduler...all other items will work fine and don't have to run at startup. You may also want to use Ccleaner slim: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/bu... run the cleaner and remove all it finds and then run the registry icon on Ccleaner and remove all the redundant registry items that are missing, etc. Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions 7 Medals

I would recomend a lil different s/w Combination :- Avast Free antivirus+Comodo Firewall+SuperAntispyware+Malwarevytes+Usb Disk Security= Complete Protection

XpUser4Real August 15, 2011 at 12:46:37

I used Comodo for awhile and found it extremely nagging....the new windows firewall works extremely well and I don't see a use for comodo any more. Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions 7 Medals