How much security is TOO much!

[Localmotion]

ok so i just reformatted my computer, for the first time in about 7 or 8 monthes, the computer is only about 9 monthes old. i reformatted because my beautiful new machine had become somewhat slow because all of the **** i was putting on it. i mean i had a firewall and spysweeper and everything but spyware still seemed to get thru. anyways now taht i reformatted i went all out on security stuff, and im wondering how much is too much. right now i have too much probably... i have PC-Cillin (antivirus)... Zone Alarm Pro (firewall)... Spysweeper, SpyBot S&D, and Ad-Aware (for spyware, adware, & malware). im using mozilla firefox, and i think thats is... i have winxp sp2

i think im going a little overboard but i dunno give me some feedback

 

[Tedster]

you got it right.
You need an anti-virus
You need anti spy-ware/ trojan horse programs
you need a firewall

 

[poertner_1274]

That doesn't sound like too much to me. That's pretty basic, I know some people who freak out and have more than 1 firewall, as well as a hardware firewall, etc.

The easiest way to say it's too much is if you keep off the internet. That is the ultimate security threat stopper.

The smartest and best security, is your own head. Be smart when surfing the web, and downloading stuff.

BTW
:wave:Welcome to TechSpot:wave:

 

[IronDuke]

Firewall & anti-virus are the absolute minimum. What you have is a sensible minimum. There is not really too much.

 

[tha_reaper]

im up to 9 antvirus/anispyware/firewall programs and i also sometimes still have something that menages to bypass all the security (having big problems at the moment i would say that you only have too many security programs on your PC when your PC is getting really slow

PS: for a program that blocks almost all spyware and also has live protection i personally recommend microsoft antspyware beta1. works fine for me (unless you install a piece of hard to delete crap on your computer yourself, just like i seem to have done)

 

[Nodsu]

For all types of security programs you should not use more than one resident program at a time. So only one realtime virus protection, only one firewall, only one resident spyware scanner.

Running two similar daemons side by side only means trouble. Programs not functioning, race conditions, driver conflicts, high CPU and memory consumption is what you get out of it.

 

[Tedster]

that's a little overkill.

If you have broadband, here is what you need:

a router (acts as a hardware firewall),
Windows firewall OR a 3rd party firewall (don't use both)
antivirus
and an anti trojan horse / adware program (some anti virus programs cover this)

 

[Vikkilea]

For all types of security programs you should not use more than one resident program at a time. So only one realtime virus protection, only one firewall, only one resident spyware scanner.

Running two similar daemons side by side only means trouble. Programs not functioning, race conditions, driver conflicts, high CPU and memory consumption is what you get out of it.

yeah, i usually have MS firewall switched off because i have a perfectly good one with mcafee... it MSs firewall switched itsself on one day after an update, and my internet went haywire i use a lot of programs that connect to the internet and they stopped funtioning.

didnt take me long to fix, of course, but... silly MS

best to stick to one of everything, as Nodsu said. Also best to scedule scans with all of your antivirus and spyware programs throughout the week when youre likely to not be on the computer.

Ive set all mine to scan at seperate times when im at school

 

[tha_reaper]

ive had no problems so far with the programs. i have 2 liveprotect programs: pc chillin for the virusses and firewall, and MS antispyware for the spyware (duh )
all the other programs are scanners like spybot and dont run at the same time.