I have a security program that damages my security ... feel free to list or comment

See title.

(I'm on Windows XP)

Ever since I bought this computer, EVERY single piece of security software has had at least once a very negative effect on my security, which includes the functionality of the hardware, software, and services. I mean this in a very broad way. A program disconnecting me from the internet, negatively affecting another security program, freezing my computer, repeated crashes from which I could only recover by spending a lot of time and effort, destructive interaction with the operating system, offering insufficient antispyware protection, and a lot more.

I'm talking about big issues, not minor ones.

The only exception that I have encountered was Counterspy, although I must admit that updates can be a problem ... So I'm not sure if it is an exception ... The smallest exception maybe ...

Examples: McAfee, Pctools software, the Spy Sweeper, Kaspersky, Panda, to name a few ...

Feel free to include your imaging software/hardware combo if this applies ...

After my latest problem with the Spy Sweeper I'm beginning to think that every option is insecure or places an unacceptable burden on computer performance/computer use.

You may think you have an exception, but maybe it only takes time for your particular approach to become a problem.

One is tempted to go 'naked', but this is not without risk either.

 

I have found some problems are due to SW having conflicts with hardware. I used BlackIce for ages until I upgraded my Motherboard - then i got BSOD with BlackIce. My brothers new motherboard gave him the BSOD when he ran Spycop.

The setup Im running now works smoothly. Although there is lots running and lots so layers, it is still fast and light - whereas if I uninstall nearly all my real time scanners and just stick in KAV8, it gets too slow when surfing.

With the setup I have now, the only conflict I hav is MBAM incorectly IDing EE as Rogue (just added it to the whitelist) and A2 V4 Beta wont complete an update if Im running a virtual PC with Powershadow - but I very rarely do this.

 

my only bad experience was with samurai hips(no longer develop)
and comodo firewall(a true nigthmare)other than that i am ok.

 

also dont forget to update microsoft frecuently and also the drivers too

 

I'm not sure what you're saying ?

On at least one occasion, a Windows Update, probably in combination with security software offering real-time protection, caused a total system failure. At the time the only solution was to reformat and reinstall the OS and the rest !

 

I'm not sure that it works for you, but I'm running my computer now for 2 years without any anti-virus.
I've only been infected one time because I used somebody's USB stick (won't happen again )

I do a full virus scan every month just to be sure (I'm paranoia )

 

that bad

 

Re: I have a security program that damages my security ... feel free to list or comme

A person can get very lucky while "going naked" and see a year pass before a malware meltdown (as my brother did [ as it was his only Windows OS he regretted the experiment]).

But eventually it seems inevitable that a malware infection will force a re-installation or re-imaging.

 

As I told Peter once, my problems have not been software\hardware related, but user\hops related.

 

it is very risky to do that one must be very brave and it is also very risky
sometimes one is not to lucky but some people are.i know some people that
they dont use any security software and their pc is clean and some of us that try to get as protected as posible and with have to deal with scanning once in a while.it also depends on how risky are we?my wife is a happy clicker so i need protection and if is silent the better

 

After I finally mustered the courage to dump my realtime AV in favor of DefenseWall and Norton AntiBot, I must say that I am very happy that I did it. Of course, I have a clean image of my C drive just in case something goes horribly wrong. But from what I am experiencing I believe I won't be touching that image for a while.

 

you will do ok with those 2

 

I've used many security softwares without any problems in my SO, in my pc and in my browsing. Sometimes I had some problem with particular combo of softwares that was in conflict. But I use several combo who run very good. I.e.: KIS 7.0.1.325 + SSM + Returnil + A-Squared.

 

If you consistently have these problems with security apps, I am tempted to think there's something else wrong with your set up. I have installed apps that were good, and uninstalled apps that were crap for the last 11 years, and I never had an app cause big problems, with the exception of Norton AV that caused a BSOD every time I shut down. I ripped that out immediately. But that was a long time ago.

 

I'm the proverbial exception to the rule or one that cuts against the grain of the latest & more popular brands that promise customers the moon but more often then not just lead a user to total frustration and that sick feeling of having been taken.

AV's for me are history & out completely (except for research purposes only)

HIPS are "in" and extremely versatile plus configurable the way the user needs them to be and is a razor-wire against forced intrusions.

AE + DF is a excellent combo for a static approach.

Classic FD-ISR if it should even be mentioned anymore is the cream of the crop of ISR's

Returnil is efficient enough either always on or on-the-fly

CyberHawk beats TF in my book hands-down but you have to dig up some early versions which are far and few between. Still it's dependable in more ways then one plus stable on XP depending on which version. No TF fp's thank goodness.

SandboxIE is one of those no one should be without, dumps whatever lands in it, or keep what you want.

SSM although an excellent HIPS in it's own right might prove too time consuming for some to even bother with, but if you do, you got a safety net thats dependable/reliable.

DefenseWall is a very excellent addition to any system, constantly improved and totally reliable.

SuRun + Kafu = LUA w/ SRP is virtually untouchable but also very restrictive too, most will pass on it because of that.

MBAM + SAS are exceptional anti-spyware apps that seem very reliable as well as compatible, very good choices.

I like to mention also i impliment AnalogX's abandoned ScriptDefender, but problem there is on uninstall it fails to return your associations back to normal, so requires digging up Doug Knox's & Kelly's reg/vbs scripts to return those associations again back to normal defaults.

EASTER

 

My only problem happened with my foolish paranoia of protection. It was:

Kav 5.0 + Spyware Doctor + SpyCatcher + Spybot + AVG anti spyware + Spybot, all with realtime protection. My system got screwed and it wouldn't recognize it's internal modem. No internet for me. I had to format. From that time never had anymore problems with security software.

 

It's a learning-curve

I've learned a lot. And I've started to use imaging software and hardware, not that that always goes smoothly.

 

When I had problems with software in general the problem was related with my user account. After that I created another and the problems were gone.

After you tried a software did you checked also device manager for leftovers? Sometimes leftovers can cause conflicts with your other security software. Go to the view menu and select show hidden devices. Expand the section non plug and play compatible drivers. Expand also the other sections.


Installing windows updates at shutdown is very risky. At the next boot nothing worked safe mode failed to load, uninstalling off recently installed patches didn't work. From that moment I decided to buy back-up(Acronis True Image Home) software which already came very handy.

Conflicts that I had:

Acronis True Image Home mount option in read-only mode cause a crash off one off BitDefender drivers. Disabling the BitDefender driver will cause that BitDefender realtime protection doesn't work anymore.
As an result a totally system freeze. At that moment the pc will not shutdown also task manager doesn't work for ending tasks or try to shutdown,reboot your pc. I gave Acronis all information but they still haven't fixed it. Each time they say it will be fixed in the next build and that was said many times but the problem is still there. The only way for bypassing it is just exploring the .tib archive on your external hard disk.

Spyware doctor but I can't remember the version I used always caused a blue screen when performing a full scan.