Spyware, viruses, & security forum: Is there such a thing as too much computer security?

I can only offer that you don't double up on programs, running two of the same type at the same time can cause you problems. Some security programs look at others as if they were a virus and can hang you up.
Otherwise I am not an expert but I find that by keeping my security updated I have done well. You get what you pay for with free programs.

Yes, you can have too much security. Too much slows your PC down and some may not operate correctly with other programs. Be careful what you run together. It could lock your PC and/or cause a crash. You can also have too much garbage too. "AVG" is a good on to toss in the waste bin. Don't waste your time. There far superior ones much better and less to worry about. Trust me on this one, "I have been on the internet since Windows-95 was the hottest thing around." I know of many things you can run and just because something is free don't be too hasty or too quick in judging some of them. There really are some good free programs out there. (Except junk like avg).

I totally agree with the first poster on AVG being junk.

As for it being the industry leader, where do you get your information from? If you do a search on Google for best free anti-virus you'll find numerous websites that constantly list AVG quite low down, especially for detection, with others like Avast and Avira.

I have known a few viruses to get round AVG, the worst one being when the fake anti-virus software got round it, although I also have seen Avast! miss that one too, usually you can't beat a paid for anti-virus software though, I use ESET Smart Security.

I also agree with first poster...

I used AVG for more than a year in two or more computers and it never found anything.. and the few times it did it could remove it.. neither in WinXP, Vista or Seven... Now I'm using Comodo with it's own firewall. and I'm quite satisfied. It can control registry entries, changes, autoruns, it has a sandbox...

I can't count the clients who have been hosed using it. And I'm talking about the newest version!

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After years of too much worry about virii and dealing with security programs for my PC I stumbled on what I think is a very good solution. Find a local ISP that offers postini as part of it's service package and either use their internet services or just buy their email service if you don't want to switch your internet provider. I use such a local service (email service only) with postini and I haven't had an infection in the 7 years I've used them. I have no virus program on my PC because postini catches EVERYTHING at the ISP server where I can go look at what it is. VERY effective and reasonably priced - $5 a month for a 1000mb email cache. And a bonus is that my PC runs fast and flawlessly for the lack of security programs!

Unfortunately, there are so many threats every time that you access the web that every best available protection that you can afford is the norm that should apply.
I personally run Avast AV Pro,Malwarebytes, Spyware Doctor & PC Tools firewall & Key Scrambler as my front line protection. I think that key scrambler is very good as it effectively hides your keystrokes to the bad guys .I also have Spybot as a backup scanner ( I run it every so often to check things),as it is impossible for any program to find all the nasties.The Tea Timer function is also very useful.I use Firefox as my browser - it has a very good website rating add on called WOT, which warns when a site has been rated as dangerous or doubtful, just another little tool that can help security.
Encryption is certainly a great option for protecting sensitive data - Credit card details etc the things that are the most likely areas to give you a whole lot of grief.
The real key is awareness and vigilance in what you visit and never taking anything at face value - always check and ,if in doubt -DON'T!
regards
bazbean

It slows down your computer to a crawl. Or you aren't processing Top Secret Items for the Government, (oh wait a minute, we have Wikileaks for that). Windows security has improved tremendously and Microsoft has a free set of "Security Essentials" which my son who is in graduate school in Computer Engineering uses. You can Google it to get the link to the free download. I personally use and prefer ESET Smart Security as I sometimes seem to find "risky" sights as I get a warning when anyone trys to put a trojan or virus on my comupter, however I have not had any actual problem, at least not since I have had ESET which has been over a year. It is not free. I would not suggest that one use encryption, unless it is required to treat your paranoia, or if you are in a business which a hacker may really want get into for a profit motive. Otherwise it just slows things down for overkill.

I have fixed many a computer by turning off redundant anti-virus and malware programs. I have seen some users have three or four real-time protections running. Select one good anti-virus/malware combo, set your firewall. Most importantly use good passwords! Stay away from dark alleys and you will be OK. I would run one such as Norton/Symantec$ or Microsoft Security Essentials (free). If you are going to install additional progrmas like Malwarebytes, do not have them start automatically and do not run them real-time protection. You can use redundant programs as you feel needed or scan on a schedule.

Ok, maybe.

There's always a trade off between security and usability. You could create the most secure computer in the world, but you wouldn't want to use it. For one, it wouldn't have an internet connection, because the only way to stay perfectly secure is to disconnect. For two, you'd never be able to get anything done because you would be too busy responding to security software asking if you want to grant permission for an application to do something, like open a file.

Be smart. That's the best advice there is. You can (and should, and do) have a firewall, anti-malware, a couple of antivirus apps, and some milk, because it does a body good, but it will always be possible to circumvent those if you do dumb stuff, like not encrypting your wireless network, or using easy-to-guess passwords, like "password" and "admin". Don't download pictures of Anna Kournakova in a bikini from a Ukranian website. Don't include your checking account number in your chat handle. That sort of stuff.

Encryption is not a bad idea, but the trade offs of slower performance and larger file sizes have always inclined me to decide to have another margarita and not worry about it. I'm sure I will change my mind when my (solo) sex video is stolen or all my emails to that Nigerian prince about the money are posted in a public forum somewhere.

All in our family have a VERY HARD TIME READING YOUR SMALL FONTS and we do not wish to keep changing our font settings in order to do so.Please HELP. Jim L. & Family

I believe most browsers today have hot keys to change font sizes "on the fly." With Firefox, hitting "Ctrl" and "+" makes the font larger, while "Ctrl" and "-" makes it smaller.

This applies only to the page you are on. Your next page showing will be the default font size.

If you read the Firefox and IE help files, you would know enough to press "CTRL plus the +" keys to increase the size.
Works better than fake Canadian viagra.

I have a lot of S/W that I need Windoze to run, can't find good equivalents in Linux. So my solution was to setup all my PC's to dual boot with either Windoze or Ubuntu. My kids know that they are strictly to use Ubuntu for all internet access. I haven't had a single virus since doing this. One of my kids came to me one day to ask what the box was that popped up on his screen. It was Linux asking what the heck he wanted to do with this file that was trying to be installed. It was a website trying to install a Windows virus. I used to get horrible infections at least once a month. None of the free or paid antivirus tools out there can catch everything. I tried a lot of them and still got infections.

So yes, I agree with chuq00 - Go Linux! But if you have to, share the box with Windoze. Another option is virtualboxes, I just preferred the dual-boot route. Of course, you need to be a little more of an advanced user to get everything to work in Linux. Printers, print shares, networking, etc. may need a few tweaks to get everything working and you may need to learn a few Linux commands (command line) as well as vi (the built-in editor). But mostly, it does work right out of the box. I prefer Ubuntu to Fedora, Ubuntu was much cleaner out of the box.