Computer newbies forum: Zone Alarm AND Norton Internet Security AND Windows Defender

Vista has a firewall that works both way. XP and earlier version of Windows didn't. That's when Zone Alarm played an important role.

Norton, depending on what you purchased, has a firewall. Norton is a resource hog and slows down your computer. It's your option on which firewall to use, Vista or Norton's.

Windows Defender comes with Vista. It seems to work well. Windows Defender also slows down your computer. I tried using Windows Defender with XP and since it was slowing down my computer, I decided to un-install it. Unknown if you can un-install this with Vista. I would consider disabling it.

I setup my sister's computer. She has Vista. I added Avast Free home edition as her virus protection. I left everything else install, including Windows Defender. She uses the Vista Firewall. I never really got into the spyware issue with her because she only reads her emails and does limited things. I did go to Windows Updates and installed all the recommended updates for her. I gave her the latest Java. I then told here to go here and download the Update Checker. Had her update the FREE items. If you pay for the items, I told her to let those programs update on their own. If you update a paid program, you may have to pay over again.


Hope this helps.


Rick

Thanks for your input..your reply was very helpful. One question...can recommend some antispyware applications? I'm pretty much behind in technology, so I don't know where to look.

Thanks again,
Bridget

Spyware Dooctor comes in three versions. Yes, you can pay for it. Yes, you can surf the Internet and get what purports to be a freebie. On the contrary, it is just a revealer--it just says--you have so many infections, etc., and cannot fix that. This is the Internet freebie Spyware Doc. Then you can download Google Pack and make sure it includes Spyware Doctor. This version is slightly less than the paid version, but it will do real time scanning, on demand scanning and also repair or eject infections.
Therefore, a big version for bucks, a middle version from Google Packs, and a little tease from freebie Internet sites of all kinds. I use the Google Pack version and find it helps a lot.

I suggest that you do run more then one virus checker but to only install one.
People seem to think that a good virus program will catch eerything but, they don't. So what I recommend is that you install a good virus checker and have it running all the time in on-access scan mode and doing scheduled scans (I run a scan every night) but also use an on-line virus scanner at least once a month (or once a week if you have the time) to 'supplement' the installed checker.
These systems are written by people ad people make mistakes. The chance that two people from different companies making the same mistake gives more coverage. Just don't use the on-line checker from the same company as you installed main virus checker.
As for firewalls, you should be running two, one on the machine you are using and one in your router/firewall appliance. make sure the firmware in the appliance is updated regularly and check the settings once a month to be sure no-one has changed them on you allowing access to your network.

I would advise you to keep Zone-Alarm and Windows Defender, and get another anti-virus solution.

Norton is really bloat these days. You may want to use Kaspersky. Don't try NOD32, it is quite a piece of junk because it doesn't kill processes, leaving the virus itself to run until a reboot.

Zone-alarm has very good blocking techniques with anti-kill.

Windows Defender can block unauthorized changes to the registry. You can also change the auto-start options.

Norton products uses a lot of ram and slows the PC down a lot.

AVG anti-virus is free and quite good and very easy to use. http://free.grisoft.com
ClamWin AV is free and fast but not very easy to use. http://clamwin.com

Thank you so much for the info! Quite helpful. I do have a few issues though. I've disabled Windows (Vista) defender (because of the Norton), but there are some utilities I'd like to use that I can't because it's disabled. Well, I contacted Norton about getting 360 (what I really want is system works) and they told me I can't add either of those to my Internet Security I'm now using. I have over a year left on my subscription, so I don't really want to uninstall my I/S. I need some kind of utility program to keep things cleaned up like System Works provides. And by the way, I have the 2007 version (bought with my new Dell computer mid-2008; I'm wondering why they didn't send 2008???). Anyway, Norton Internet Security is the only thing I'm currently running. Thanks again!
Bridget

Vista,
Yikes!
Ok,
You installed, norton... I hope you like them because your stuck with them. They have the absolute worst resourse issues on planet earth. The RTVscan will run continuously, and there is an added "new" scan that runs on top of that on boot. If you never shut off your PC you should be fine... But good luck with that in vista.. (removing norton to install another AV, you can try Nonav, but it will most likely be easier to reformat)

Removing Defender requires extensive modification of your registry, i will not tell you how to do this, as i do not want to see a post on here about how your PC will no longer boot.
I would suggest stopping the service, you will get pop-ups warning you that this is disabled..
I would also disable superfetching, which will speed up your pc, unless you use it for games alot... superfetching is just an annoyance... and steals memory to run..

I would recomend staying away from AVG as they have the highest false possitives out of any AV or spyware scanner, in other words it will tell you that your PC is infected with a print driver... helpful!

Check out this site, they will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about AV and spyware....
http://www.av-comparatives.org/