Spyware Warrior

[damians]

Hi,

After working all day long with AMATEUR, a great helper, in cleaning my home PC, I´d like to know which would be the best protection for my computer.

I´m running:
-Norton Antivirus
-MS Antispyware
-Spyware doctor


I read in the forum that Spyware Blaster and Spyware guard are recommended. Should I install them? Should I uninstall anyone of the programs I´m running. Is it worthy to have so many programs active at the same time?


Thank you very much for your help.
_________________
Thanks!
damian

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,
First, there is no such thing as BEST.
There's only MOST suited to your needs and knowledge.
Personally, I would do two things in your place:
1. Learn about computers - that way you won't rely on black boxes to help you - you will be controling them.
2. Build a layered strategy for your computer life.
How to do this?
A "good" computer is protected from several avenues of threat. Most importantly, you must always remember that 99% of all crap happens because the user clicks on something. He / she may be fooled or confused or whatever, but in most of the cases, the user inadvertently deliberately infects himself / herself.
So, you need to know your weakness and avoid them.
Basically, some simple rules:
Do not download and execute programs you do not know.
Do not open and read mails you are not sure of - even if the sender might be someone you know.
Do not visit sites you are not sure of and click things on them.
This will help you a lot.
Now, furthermore:
Using a firewall would be smart. You do not have a firewall in your setup. So ZoneAlarm Free for starters is a good choice.
Using alternative programs to IE, Outlook Express / Outlook and even Office is a good thing - you will drastically reduce your exposure factors.
Choose Firefox / Opera for browser.
Try Thunderbird for mail client.
Try Open Office.
Avoid chat, p2p and im if you don't know what you're doing exactly. If you must, use opensource programs like eMule and GAIM.
Have your Windows fully patched, as well as all programs that run on, like flash player, media players etc. Make sure your java engine is fully up to date and that you do not use MS java.
As to specific anti-virus / malware etc.
Spyware Doctor is ok, you can keep it, beware occasional FPs.
Personally, I would switch to ewido.
MS Antispyware, do you mean Beta 1 or Defender Beta 2. It's surplus alongside Spyware Doctor or ewido, you can dispose of them.
Norton is not the best anti-virus. Try maybe AVG, Avast, NOD32. or Kaspersky.
SpywareBlaster is a nice addition to your system. SpywareGuard is not needed if you use Spyware Doctor or ewido.
You could also install Spybot Search & Destroy as your on-demand anti-spyware scanner. Ewido as primary real-time guard will protect you very nicely, and alongside Firefox as your browser, which has lots of very useful extensions, you are not likely to see much activity if at all. Opera is also a very nice asset. In fact, you can have both of these browser.
So to sum it up:
ZoneAlarm, anti-virus (NOD32, Kaspersky payware, AVG, Avast free), Ewido (payware), Spyware Doctor if you must, SpywareBlaster and Spybot.
Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office.
Full updates for everything.
Learn, learn, learn.
Come here often and ASK about programs, downloads etc, get advice before you do anything.
Enjoy.
Mrk