Vista - AVG, Zone Alarm, Spybot, Avast Some Help for You

Just thought I would post this to help anyone else who is having trouble with wireless connection drop outs and programmes freezing with only a hard reboot fixing the problem.

I got a new Vista laptop a week ago, I did what I normally do, that is got rid of McAfee and installed AVG8, Zonealarm and Spybot.

After a while I started noticing the wireless indicator would drop internet connection and keep local connection to other computers.

Programmes would freeze particualrly Firefox and Internet Explorer and Ctr Alt Del would not close them.

The Acer Help desk could only suggest restoring to factory settings. This I did, but this time I used McAfee and started to install programmes one by one.

First I loaded Spy bot, this worked fine. No problems at all so after a day or so, I then put on Avast. I prefer AVG but thought I would try Avast.

Again everything working well.

I then read that Zone Alarm caused many problems with Vista and that if you use a Wireless Router with Security, then Vista Firewall is sufficient for a Firewall.

So I closed firewall in McAfee and Open Up Windows Vista Firewall.

Again all OK and working well.

After using Avast for a while I thought I would try AVG again, as I prefer it for some reason.

So uninstalled Avast and put on AVG. Almost straight away the wireless connection started dropping out. Not a big problem because as soon as I checked email or opened a webpage it would restore itself, but it was a bit annoying keep seeing the little icon show that local access only.

So I had to assume that AVG was causing this. So uninstalled AVG and started McAfee again to control Antivirus and since then no problems at all.

So for me to conclude the problems initally I think were zone alarm freezing the programmes and AVG dropping the internet connection.

Currently using Windows Vista Firewall, Spybot, Avast, Windows Defender, internet explorer and system is working perfectly.

Would like to try Firefox again but will wait a few days to see if the system keeps working OK.

Hope this might help anyone else out there who may have the same sort of problems.

Glad someone else noticed this happening with AVG, which I also like. I thought it was me!

I think you were having a conflict of programs. Why were you running AVG and ZoneAlarm? One should suffice.

In my opinion, AVG is extremely bloated. Almost along the lines of McAfee, Norton, or any of the other big names. I use Malwarebytes Antimalware free edition, and I'm doing just fine.

When it comes to security software, only use the basics. You only need one antivirus, one firewall and one (maybe two in extreme conditions) antimalware programs. Having more than one usually causes conflicts, false positives and a whole slew of other problems.

My suggestion is that you set a restore point, and run Windows Update. And update until you can no longer update.

What other programs are you running? Limewire? any torrent programs?

I recommend SUPERAntiSpyware as well. Also SpywareBlaster is a good program & easy to use. Layered protection is the best approach to malware.

The primary concern with using more than one anti-virus program is due to conflicts that can arise when they are running in real-time mode simultaneously. However, even when one of them is disabled for use as a stand-alone scanner, it can affect the other. Anti-virus software components insert themselves into the operating systems core and using more than one can cause instability, crash your computer, slow performance and waste system resources. When actively running in the background while connected to the Internet, they both may try to update their definition databases at the same time. As the programs compete for resources required to download the necessary files this often can result in sluggish system performance or unresponsive behavior.

Each anti-virus will often interpret the activity of the other as a virus and there is a greater chance of them alerting you to a "False Positive". If one finds a virus and then the other also finds the same virus, both programs will be competing over exclusive rights on dealing with that virus. Each anti-virus will attempt to remove the offending file and quarantine it. If one finds and quarantines the file before the other one does, then you encounter the problem of both wanting to scan each other's zipped or archived files and each reporting the other's quarantined contents. This can lead to a repetitive cycle of endless alerts that continually warn you that a virus has been found when that is not the case.

Anti-virus scanners use virus definitions to check for viruses and these can include a fragment of the virus code which may be recognized by other anti-virus programs as the virus itself. Because of this, most anti-virus programs encrypt their definitions so that they do not trigger a false alarm when scanned by other security programs. However, some anti-virus vendors do not encrypt their definitions and will trigger false alarms if used while another resident anti-virus program is active.

To avoid these problems, use only one anti-virus solution. Deciding which one to remove is your choice.

Most anti-virus vendors recommend that you install and run only one anti-virus program at a time:
Symantec's statement (Should you run more than one antivirus program at the same time?)
Avast's statement. (Installation / Uninstallation)
AVG's statement. (AVG Free - FAQ)
Dell Support advises the same for their systems.(https://support.dell.com/support/top...481&l=en&s=gen)

The same can be said about antispyware programs, especially those that have a real time scanning engine. The easy answer is that multiple programs can cause problems. You should run a 3 man defense... Antivirus, Antimalware, Firewall. Anything more than that is either bragging rights, or just plain.. well... yeah.

I agree with what you are saying, especially about anti-virus programs. However, I use MS Defender in real time with SAS & MBAM as on demand scanners. I also use *SpywareBlaster, which is a passive defence system. I use the freeware versions of SAS & MBAM & I have found them to be far better than Defender at finding malware. SAS will remove the tracking cookies that MBAM ignores as not a threat. However, the SAS scan is around an hour long. I can use the quick 5 minute scan of MBAM as a regular tool to scan at the end of a session, if I think I may have a problem. MBAM also has a postable log of any scan & a two hour full scan which must be one of the most thorough scans ever. They both have useful (although rarely used system tools) & are updated DAILY.

If you visit Spyware Warrior Spyware Warrior (home page) they will tell you that the best approach to the horrendous problems we now face with malware is to have a layered approach to anti-malware. There is no problem in having a couple of good 'on demand' scanners as well as a realtime protection application. In fact, although SAS & MBAM are the best in the business at present, not all apps can always catch everything. It is true that you can't have 2 anti-viral programs running together, but there is no problem in having more than one 'on demand' scanner for malware scanning & detection/removal. In fact, I would recommend it (I wouldn't run more than one realtime application). SAS found a trojan that Norton & MS Defender missed on my laptop not so long ago. The fact that it didn't get very far into my system was probably because I have SpywareBlaster.

*SpywareBlaster blocks the installation of most ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers and other unwanted programs from the user's computer. SpywareBlaster works by blacklisting the CLSID of known malware programs, effectively preventing them from infecting a protected computer. This approach differs from many other anti-spyware programs, which typically offer the user a possibility to "scan" the memory of the computer and remove the unwanted software, after it has been installed.
SpywareBlaster also allows the user to prevent privacy hazards such as tracking cookies. Another feature is the ability to restrict the actions of websites known to distribute adware and spyware. SpywareBlaster supports several web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Seamonkey, and Flock. ~ Wiki

Interesting comments from everyone.

Can I just point out that I was only running one Anti virus. I had uninstalled McAfee and loaded AVG. Zone Alarm was only used as a Firewall. With these two I had the freezing programmes, unable to use ctl, alt, del to close them down and itermittent drop off of my wireless internet connection.

Once I took the computer back to factory settings I disabled McAfee but did not un-install. I used AVG and it was at this point that the wireless connection again started to drop off. Are you telling me that this is because McAfee, although not being used, was still on the computer, and that if I remove it totally, I should be OK with AVG.

Just wondering.