Vista - Best Security Suite For Vista?

Can anyone offer suggestions? I bought a new computer recently it came with
a trial of Norton which is getting ready to expire. I use Cox Cable as an
internet provider and they offer a free protection suite but I am unsure of
its quality.

--
Thanks in advance... Bob

Hi Bob,

What brand is the cable company's offering? Basically, "best" is a relative
term and all advice you will get on this subject will be opinions. Mine is
to avoid suites like Symantec and McAfee's software. Instead, find a decent
av solution and if you find it necessary, a third party firewall
(personally, I find the one included with Vista to be perfectly fine). Also
check other antimalware solutions for spy/adware programs.

The point is that each program will have strengths, and you need something
that is effective but without imposing on the user experience. I've not seen
one that encompasses all the facets of security without sacrificing the
system resources to the point where it's unbearable.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Bob Newman" <bobnewman@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aJj1j.851$iw1.67@xxxxxx

On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:17:13 -0500, "Bob Newman" <bobnewman@xxxxxx>
wrote:

Several points here:

1. First, I am very much against the idea of "security suites" (or
almost any other kind of suite, for that matter). You should look for
the best product of each type, without regard for whether a single
company bundles several products together and sells it as a suite. It
is *not* true that the company who makes the best anti-virus program
necessarily makes the best anti-spyware program.

2. Second, when it comes to anti-spyware, a single anti-spyware
product--even the best one--is *not* good enough. Note what Eric
Howes, who has done extensive testing on Anti-Spyware products,
states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the
best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one
quarter of the "critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

3. Norton anything is probably the worst possible choice of anything
on the market, and I recommend you get rid of it asap.

4. For complete protection, you need a firewall, an anti-virus
program, and two or more anti-spyware programs. I recommend the
following, all free:

The free version of ZoneAlarm

Avast! anti-virus

Two or more of the following:

Spybot Search & Destroy
Adaware
Spyware Blaster
Super Antispyware
Windows Defender.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Rick and ken are right. Bob if you want killer security for your Vista system use a good AV. I use NOD32 and it works great. Remember these are just my preferences not everyone elses. I use the Vista firewall control in conjunction with the built in VIsta firewall. It works great. All i use from there is spybot and the premium version of A-Squared. With that and a router firewall(netgear n gaming router). I stay invisible and bug free.

Zone alarm's free version made a poor showing at the reviews I read. I belive I found the links to that review here somewhere. The pro(paid) version rated way better.

And hey Ken I see you like SpywareBlaster. Is it x64 compatible. I can't find a definite answer on that. It is a good program as well.

"Bob Newman" <bobnewman@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aJj1j.851$iw1.67@xxxxxxwww.avast.com and its free for the home.

I got rid of Mcafee and my running processes went down a whopping 10! NAV is
probably the same

Bill

Forget suites.

AVG or Avast free anti-virus work well, and if you want to pay for one, then
try NOD32.

Comodo Firewall, free too, gets good reviews if you want more than the
Windows firewall

WinPatrol, Windows Defender, and Hostsman will complement your security.

--
Mike Hall - MVP
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx




"Bob Newman" <bobnewman@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aJj1j.851$iw1.67@xxxxxx

Thanks for all of your input. I think I have a better understanding now.

Bob

"Bob Newman" <bobnewman@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aJj1j.851$iw1.67@xxxxxx

I also used to recommend ZoneAlarm. But now that Comodo has released their
free COMODO Firewall Pro for Vista, I will not likely be using ZA again any
time soon. Try it yourself and see!

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4bkbk39vpck05e6pvcl5g7r4k4bgr2riv9@xxxxxx

I don't recommend ANY security suite, whether from an ISP or retail or
bundled or whatever. Get a good free antivirus program (AVG is my personal
favorite), be sure that Windows Defender and Windows firewall are on and
active, then add a free spyware/adware protection program and you're done.
Lots less drag on system performance and excellent protection.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@xxxxxx
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bob Newman" <bobnewman@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aJj1j.851$iw1.67@xxxxxx

On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:17:13 -0500, Bob Newman wrote:
A number of experts agree that the retail AV version of McAfee, Norton and
Trend Micro has become cumbersome and bloated for the average user.
The retail version of Norton can play havoc with your pc. Uninstall it
using Norton's own uninstall tool:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...05033108162039
As suggested on the site, you may wish to print out the directions before
proceeding.
Or
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Norton_Rem...NRT_d4749.html

If the Norton removal tool doesn't work satisfactory use this:
Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Remove unwanted programs and traces easily
http://www.revouninstaller.com/
and/or
RegSeeker
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
RegSeeker will remove all associated detritus (registry keys,files and
folders) from any application. I found this application user friendly and
very effective but suggest *not* to use the 'Clean the Registry' option.
Click onto 'Find in registry' and in the 'Search for' box type *Norton*;
The pertinent registry keys can then be safely deleted (just in case,
ensure that the 'Backup before deletion' is checked). Repeat the task by
typing in the Search for' box *Symantec*. You can then go on search and
remove associated files as well.
Then use NTREGOPT to compact the registry; Follow instructions.
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt
Steer away from 'suites' and ZA!!!

You are not going to find anything better than the Vista FW and Vista in
itself due to the advanced features the FW and Vista are using.

"Personal Firewalls" are mostly snake-oil.
http://www.samspade.org/d/firewalls.html

Jesper's Blogs-
At Least This Snake Oil Is Free.
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesp...l-is-free.aspx
Windows Firewall: the best new security feature in Vista?
http://blogs.technet.com/jesper_joha...01/426921.aspx

Exploring The Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec...l/default.aspx
"If you try to block outbound connections from a computer that’s already
compromised, how can you be sure that the computer is really doing what you
ask? The answer: you can’t. Outbound protection is security theater—it’s a
gimmick that only gives the impression of improving your security without
doing anything that actually does improve your security. This is why
outbound protection didn’t exist in the Windows XP firewall and why it
doesn’t exist in the Windows Vista™ firewall."

Vista Firewall Control.
Protects your applications from undesirable network incoming and outgoing
activity, controls applications internet access.
http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/

Real-time AV applications - for viral malware.
Do not utilize more than one (1) real-time anti-virus scanning engine!
Disable the e-mail scanning function during installation (Custom
Installation on some AV apps.) as it provides no additional protection.
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3
In fact, most of experts (incl. Norton) believe that scanning incoming and
outgoing mail causes e-mail file corruption.

Avira AntiVir® PersonalEdition Classic - Free
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html

Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
(Choose Custom Installation and under Resident
Protection, uncheck: Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange.)

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
http://free.grisoft.com/

ESET NOD32 Antivirus - Not Free
http://www.eset.com/
Have you seen these "extra settings for NOD32"?
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=37509

On-demand AV application.
(add it to your arsenal and use it as a "second opinion" av scanner).
BitDefender10 Free Edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-1...e-Edition.html

A-S applications - for non-viral malware.
The effectiveness of an individual A-S scanners can be wide-ranging and
oftentimes a collection of scanners is best. There isn't one software that
cleans and immunizes you against everything. That's why you need multiple
products to do the job i.e. overlap their coverage - one may catch what
another may miss, (grab'em all).

SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/supe...freevspro.html

Ad-Aware - Free
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

Spybot Search & Destroy - Free
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Windows Defender - Free (build-in in Vista)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx
Interesting reading:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136195/article.html
"...Windows Defender did excel in behavior-based protection, which detects
changes to key areas of the system without having to know anything about
the actual threat."

A clarification on the terminology: the word "malware" is short for
"malicious software." Most Anti-Virus applications detect many types of
malware such as viruses, worms, trojans, etc.
What AV applications usually don't detect is "non-viral" malware, and the
term "non-viral malware" is normally used to refer to things like spyware
and adware.

Some more useful applications:
Spyware Blaster - Free
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Rootkit Revealer - Free
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys...tRevealer.mspx

Crap Cleaner - Free
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender".

CW Shredder - Free
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Interne...Shredder.shtml

Good luck
--
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.
(Benjamin Franklin)