Conflicting Programs

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by Gizzy, Oct 5, 2007.

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  1. Gizzy

    Gizzy Registered Member

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    I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this but I want to make sure none of my security programs will conflict with each other,

    I have
    AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5
    AVG Anti-Rookit Free
    A-squared Free
    Ad-aware SE (I'll be downloading 2007 soon)
    Spybot S&D 1.4 (will be upgrading to 1.5 soon)
    Spyware Terminator
    1-2-3 Spyware free on a usb flash drive
    Spyware Blaster
    IE Spy-Ad
    Comodo Boclean
    Comodo Firewall
    Threatfire
    Avira Antvir Personal Premium
    Clamwin Anti-Virus
    And the U3 version of Avast Anti-Virus on a usb flash drive

    I'm using the AVG anti-spyware shield but when the trial runs out I'll be using Spyware terminator's Shield

    I just want to make sure there won't be any conflicting between the programs listed,

    I know it all seems like overkill but I figure the more the better :D

    I have Windows XP Service Pack 2,

    Also any suggestions for other security software will be appreciated unless everyone thinks I have enough ;) .
     
  2. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Overkill is an understatement...

    It wont conflict but I believe theres overlap between IESPY-AD and SpywareBlaster.
     
  3. acr1965

    acr1965 Registered Member

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    IE Spyad and SpywareBlaster could cause issues. Running clamwin and antivir will probably conflict as well. I would also choose between SpywareTerminator and Spybot if you want to run them both in realtime. I tried ad-aware 2007 and it runs processes even when it is not scanning. It would be one of the first to go IMO.
     
  4. GES/POR

    GES/POR Registered Member

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    I would narrow it down to only 3: BoClean,AntiVir and ThreatFire.
     
  5. solcroft

    solcroft Registered Member

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    Seriously, that's like undergoing vasectomy, having your wife take tubal litigation and the pill, AND THEN dropping by the pharmacy on the way home for condoms just to be safe. :ninja:
     
  6. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    IMO, if your just using Ad-Aware for an occasional scan, drop it in favor of SuperAntiSpyware. I'm not sure you need SuperAntiSpyware with AVG AS and A-squared. If you enjoy collecting scanners, you might as well pick up SAS :D .

    If you would run your browser Sandboxed, you would save yourself the trouble of having to scan so often with all your on demand scanners. Sandboxie, Geswall and DefenseWall all come highly recommended.

    I personally only use SpywareBlaster and MVPS Hosts file. I would also only use one Anti-virus real time to avoid conflicts. Running Antivir realtime should be enough ;) . I would also consider using an alternative browser if you already aren't using one. Firefox with NoScript and AdBlockPlus is a nice combination.

    Is this what your running for real time (active) protection? If so, it is overkill and can be trimmed down.

    AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5 (until trial runs out)
    Spyware Terminator (after trial runs out)
    Comodo Boclean
    Comodo Firewall
    Threatfire
    Avira Antvir Personal Premium
    Clamwin Anti-Virus
     
  7. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Gizzy

    Greetings friend and a hearty W E L C O M E to Wilder's Community Forums.

    You are my kind of guy, pile on the layers and as long as they gel well enough together, at least you can take stock in that you have MULTIPLE shields/monitors to ward off today;s latest intruders.

    I've held to a habit in the past of doubling HIPS/AS's and a flurry of various different security wares and believe it or not, 99% of the time, THEY ALL WORKED to perfection, overlap and all.......................but, please stay and read around and become keenly attentive to our members configurations as well as study Topics/posts and you'll eventually trim that list down to a more lighter but ever more effective design that will work in your favor and save you both space and overhead on resources.

    EASTER :)
     
  8. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    OP-running 2 AVs resident tisn't wise.
     
  9. Gizzy

    Gizzy Registered Member

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    Some things I forgot to mention, I have a router, I use spybot S&D's immunization feature, and I mostly use firefox or opera,

    some people said it's not good to have more than 1 AV, This I know so to clarify clamwin doesn't come with an active scanner sorry I did not mention this before.

    as of for spywareblaster and IE-spyad and probably spybot's immunization which I forgot to mention I've heard mixed results somewhere I heard they all would conflict but other places I heard they worked fine together, so should I only be using one of them?

    I don't use Spybot's teatimer it never worked right on my computer so right now I'm using AVG's spyware shield but when the trial runs out I'll be using spyware terminator's shield,

    and I did not know ad-aware 2007 ran processes even when it wasn't scanning.


    I'll download SAS I was looking at it before but never downloaded it but everyone on this forum seems to recommend it,

    I'll have to look into sandboxing I never heard of it before this forum,

    I am using firefox with noscript and adblock plus already, I don't use internet explorer all that much I just put the security on it for the rare occasion I have to, other wise I mostly use firefox or opera,

    I looked into MVPS Hosts file before but I read something about it slowing down the computer so I never tried it, does it slow down your computer?

    you got everything right on the active scanners except for clamwin it doesn't have an active scanner I should've mentioned that in my original post.
     
  10. screamer

    screamer Registered Member

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    Since the OP is new here, he probably(?) has a case of S.A.D. (Security Add-on Dilemma) I too suffered from this "more is better" affliction when I first joined Wilders. Only after a few months of slowdowns, hanging software & BSODs did I eventually start on a healing process. It was a slow process for sure. I had many slips. Some so severe that they resulted in a total re-install. I would be down & out for days at a time, notebook in hand, WinXP disc sitting in front of me. Just staring at a blank screen. After several attempts of saying "I can handle it this time, this time will be different, I'll just control myself", did I realize that I was just kidding myself. I needed help, professional help. That's when I sought out PINOSS, People In Need Of Security Software. This is a non-profit group run by Monks in the Tibetan mountains. While they do advocate that prevention is better than cure. They also advise that less is actually more. And subscribe to the prophecies laid before them by the Imaging Gods. After what seems like years of meditating on imaging an restores do I feel comfortable enough to proclaim my addiction to security software and my new found faith in Instant System Recovery and Imaging apps.

    While I still pay homage to security software. I do not let it get the better of me. I know if I do get infected, there is a cure just by pressing F1 at re-boot.

    ...screamer
     
  11. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    screamer :D

    Very good read. One of Wilder's most excellent posts. ;)
     
  12. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    ROFL. I love it, I love it. All I can say is ME TOO.

    Pete
     
  13. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    Most scanners now have that added process that runs in the background. This is to make it Windows Vista compatible. SAS does have the option to turn theirs off and other scanners can have they extra process manually disabled.

    Like I said, you probably don't need it, but it is a nice extra scanner.

    I'm fairly new to sandbox programs too and I'm relying more and more on them rather that piling on the real time protection. Give Sandboxies site a look see.

    Good move, I also use SpywareBlasters and Spybots protection for the rare occasion I use IE.

    No slowdown here. Their site has a good description of everything that needs to be done. It was my first hosts file and I learned everything I needed to know right there. Best of all, it doesn't use resources.

    Screamer makes a good point. There is a point in the 'evolution' of securing our computers where we think more is better. Everybody goes through this stage. I'm just getting past this stage myself. I didn't know about PINOSS or I would have joined :p As one of the Monks would say 'your on the right path my friend'. Virtual enlightenment can be found with those using sandboxes, ISRs and Images.
     
  14. Arup

    Arup Guest

    Do you have any memory or CPU resource left to do other work on your PC? Just wonder with all those apps.
     
  15. Gizzy

    Gizzy Registered Member

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    yes I still have resources left to do other things my ram shoots up pretty high sometimes like 80-90% but my cpu is fine I guess because I do have alot of programs but not all of them are active.


    nice read screamer I think I'm getting better already, I'm starting to shave off some layers, my S.A.D is subsiding :D I just need to start imaging I'll have to pick up a portable hard drive, by the way what's an OP?:shifty:


    innerpeace I dowloaded superantispyware and did a scan it scanned pretty fast, it didn't find any threats but I'll keep it as another scanner,

    I added the hosts file and I haven't noticed any slowdowns :D so I'll be keeping that,

    and as of for sandboxie I read about it and heard a few problems with it so I was unsure about downloading it but I did anyway,:rolleyes: it seemed like more people had no problems then people with problems so now I'm using sandboxie whenever I browse and it makes me feel safer, and I also downloaded returnil for testing new programs or if I go into any sites that I think are really dangerous then I'll run sandboxie and returnil together along with my security programs ofcouse. :cool:
     
  16. SoCalReviews

    SoCalReviews Registered Member

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    All those various programs seem to be confusing for you. I don't usually recommend this but maybe you should just purchase a very long subscription for one security suite of your choice. NIS, KIS, ZASS, Avira SS are all possibilities. :cool:
     
  17. Gizzy

    Gizzy Registered Member

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    They were confusing at first but I'm getting used to them now, and besides it's a good way to learn ;)
     
  18. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    To my way of thinking security learning goes in stages:
    (1) No security
    (2) Friend tells you you need an anti-virus program
    (3) rapid explosion phase adding firewall, antispyware
    (4) joins Wilders and learns about the layered approach --no such thing as enough programs - adds at least one HIPS - essential to change security at least weekly.
    (5) From here on the road forks
    (5a) Continues to add even more security and the becomes obsessed with figment of the imagination threats - better known as having Fits.
    Or
    (5b) goes back to (1) with a hardware firewall and Firefox
    computer magically speeds up
    5a and 5b both think of the others as heritics :cautious: ;)

    would those of a different religious persuasion please forgive my 1000th bit of nonsense ?
     
  19. SoCalReviews

    SoCalReviews Registered Member

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    I guess if you're having fun then keep on learning. :rolleyes::thumb:
     
  20. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    Hi Gizzy,

    It's good to hear that your getting along well with Sandboxie and Returnil. I think in time that you will trust in them more and shed some of your other protections and scanners.

    I also want to point out that some of your other on-demand scanners may have a background processes running all the time. A-squared, the newer Ad-Aware, AVG anti-spyware and SuperAntiSpyware can all have these processes running. SuperAntiSpyware does provide an option to stop it's process. The others you will have to make a manual fix. That is if it really bothers you. If not, don't worry about it. Personally I got rid of some of my on-demand scanners because of the extra 'useless' processes running all the time. As you get more comfortable with your sandbox program, you will eventually find that you don't need to scan as much. You will also find out you can shed your real-time anti-spywares or limit them to 1.

    OP = original poster (you)
     
  21. steve161

    steve161 Registered Member

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    Agree with Zapjb. Really no need for it, and the fact that one is only on-demand, conflicts can still occur. I once downloaded Bitdefender free on-demand to supplement my KAV6. It was like someone tasered my system. I swear I heard this little scream coming from my box.
     
  22. StevieE9

    StevieE9 Registered Member

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    I agree with all the comments re two installed (even if only one is active) AV programs. It is known to cause system conflicts for many people and, with free online scan & clean AV scanners as a back up, it isn't necessary to have both.

    In the OPs signature I see they have Spyware Terminator and Comodo BO Clean listed as 'active' - I seriously believe that to be a) A definite waste of system resources with little or no benefit, and b) A very real risk of system conflict if they both hit on the same possible infection at the same time.

    In terms of spyware, there really are two main scenarios for 85% of windows users:
    1. No protection at all, and they don't follow good net practice
    or
    2. They have multiple protection, slow their system down and risk possible conflict and also don't follow good net practice.

    Not using an activeX based web browser (eg IE) and never opening a suspect or spam email, and never visiting porn or other suspect sites, and restricting p2p use will of themselves reduce possible infection by about 99%.
    In addition, no one should ever click on a link in an email (even 'safe' emails) or website but copy and paste the actual site address into their browser.
     
  23. Gizzy

    Gizzy Registered Member

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    Quite a few people advised against having 2 anti-virus's even though 1 was only on-demand so I uninstalled clamwin thanks for the suggestions, theres online scanners I can use every so often. ;) :thumb:


    Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions. :D

    The extra running process doesn't bother me too much but I just prefer not to have too many extra processes running because of it slowing down my system, I'll have to remove a few scanners, :)

    Thank you for clearing up what OP means. :oops:
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2007
  24. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Hi Gizzzy! I have not read the whole thread expect ur first post but all I can say that it,s too much. Have u bought ur PC for running only security software or some other purpose? It,s more than overkill.

    Out of all ur list, just use Antivir in real time. Add ThreatFire to it and that is enough for u. If u want still more add some sandbox like Sandboxie, GesWall or Defence Wall. Should be no conflicts.

    Don,t forget a FireWall.
     
  25. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    I am not sure which will conflict, but I would strongly suspect that sooner or later you will have some conflicts.
    My own choices of what you are using would be:
    Avira Antvir Personal Premium
    AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5
    AVG Anti-Rookit Free
    SAS Free
    Comodo Firewall

    I did substitute the free SAS for a-squared.

    Unless you want the U3 Avast to protect the thumb drive, I would not bother with it. If I wanted an additional scanner from time to time, I would go to an online AV scanner, and probably Kaspersky.

    Some of us have learned the hard way that more is often not better.:D

    Regards,
    Jerry
     
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