preventing problems before they start

donnielighto · 07-19-2009, 09:56 PM

I know there is a lot of good common sense advice out there about how to avoid getting all these nasties on your computer i.e. avoiding P2P file sharing, being carful about opening attachment etc but what is the best firewall antivirus combination to use?

I am currently using the windows firewall and AVG as the virus scanner but can anyone recommend anything better (preferably free). I have heard that having more than one virus scanner on the computer is a bad idea but does it just slow the puter down a lot of does it actively cause conflicts?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

**TheBruce1** · 07-20-2009, 08:24 AM

Hello

See here:
PC Safety and Security--What Do I Need?

Baejung92 · 07-20-2009, 11:45 PM

As stated in the article that TheBruce1 linked to, Windows Firewall does not filter outgoing traffic. So you should probably look for another firewall (Zone Alarm and Comodo are both free I believe). Also, having more than one virus scanner onboard can result in both scanners trying to access the same file at once (hence the slowdowns, in addition to the fact that more resources are being used to begin with), and in some cases one scanner identifying the other as a threat. I believe there are other types of conflicts that can happen as well...

07-19-2009, 09:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
donnielighto Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 30 OS: xp	preventing problems before they start I know there is a lot of good common sense advice out there about how to avoid getting all these nasties on your computer i.e. avoiding P2P file sharing, being carful about opening attachment etc but what is the best firewall antivirus combination to use? I am currently using the windows firewall and AVG as the virus scanner but can anyone recommend anything better (preferably free). I have heard that having more than one virus scanner on the computer is a bad idea but does it just slow the puter down a lot of does it actively cause conflicts? Thanks for your thoughts on this.

07-20-2009, 08:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
TheBruce1 Moderator, Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Dùn Èideann,Scotland. Posts: 5,093 OS: XP	Re: preventing problems before they start Hello See here: PC Safety and Security--What Do I Need? __________________ Member of ASAP since 2007 Member of UNITE since 2008 Notice to BT customers BT to dump Phorm, see Here for more information. No DPI If we have helped you in anyway, please consider Donating

07-20-2009, 11:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
Baejung92 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 174 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: preventing problems before they start As stated in the article that TheBruce1 linked to, Windows Firewall does not filter outgoing traffic. So you should probably look for another firewall (Zone Alarm and Comodo are both free I believe). Also, having more than one virus scanner onboard can result in both scanners trying to access the same file at once (hence the slowdowns, in addition to the fact that more resources are being used to begin with), and in some cases one scanner identifying the other as a threat. I believe there are other types of conflicts that can happen as well...