Is my protection enough?

Good evening

With all the news about virus, trojans, spyware, etc etc Im a little worried. Because of the good reviews of NOD I plan to use NOD32 2.5 together with the freeware version of ZoneAlarm.

Would that combo be enough for me or do I need additional programs which are specially for spyware and other threats?

Thanks a lot

Kind regards
Marco


PS: Are there any negative points about using NOD32? The reviews are really good but doesnt every medal have a backside? Where are the weaknesses of NOD or is it just a perfect software?

 

Hi Marco, you can see various setups within the link of my signature, I would suggest that you do not even have a minimum amount of security, you are covering Viruses and Trojans, with Riskware to an extent. The firewall is good, but you do need to cover Spyware better.

You are asking in the “Nod32 Support Forum”, and thus your answer would expect to be perfect or close to it, given that if you asked how good a Ford car was within a dealership you would be given the same answer.

Cheers

 

Thanks for the answer Blackspear especially for the funny answer on part 2 hehe. Have to agree on this.

To cover spyware better I found the Microsoft AntiSpyware Program which has good reviews. I have downloaded it and like it. Do you know if that would cover spyware enough or is it not sufficient?

Many thanks

Marco

 

I would also add in SpywareBlaster, link in my signature.

Cheers

 

Thanks Ive installed spywareblaster now too. cant see the process running tho when i exit the program (it says i can do that) but i guess its somewhere in the background

my only problem now is zonealarm. for some strange reason it doesnt work well together with opera. some webpages get a bit messed up by it. when i shutdown zonealarm (the free version) the pages get loaded again as they should.

im looking for a simple, good firewall which needs close to no attention (ZA was good in this), using little ressources and just doing what it should do. i once tried LnS but that was way too complicated for me.

any suggestions? ive just downloaded comodo firewall, never heard but suggested from a guy on this board

thanks for a better suggestion

 

I would try ZoneAlarm again and after installing it try repairing Winsock with this tool: Winsock XP Fix and then repair IMON, I think your issue should be resolved, you may also have to adjust your browser compatibility in IMON.

Let us know how you go...

Cheers

 

SWB is not a running process. Just enable all protection and check for updates every week or so,

http://www.javacoolsoftware.info/kb/idx/0/052/article/?pt_sid=52325d476a4b10ee8d8e5045b3ff81c0


snowbound

 

I have followed your instructions and fixed the winsocket & imon. same result still. i'd say thats operas problem. some webpages just dont load as they are supposed to (check screenshot on the right side).
with IE they load perfectly. but i prefer opera, just great with the integrated email client



thanks for the information snowbound, now i understand why it doesnt show up

 

Did you try adjusting the Browser in IMON?

Cheers

 

ive just found ur update about how to configure nod32 and edited imon. to my surprise *shock* every program listed in http was on max compatibility. no idea why. ive changed all to high efficiency now.

thats bit the wierd thing with nod32. in my opinion you have to configure everything before its efficient thats a program ive always the feeling not to be protected well because of my little knowledge and mistakes from my side.
plz invent a nod which helps dummies like me

 

So, did it fix the problem?

Cheers

 

Some web pages do not render well in Opera or other standards compliant browsers, in other words, some pages won't look or (more rarely) work the same as in IE.

If you'll provide a url, I'll take a look and see if this is what you might be observing. I don't have Opera installed at this time, but I'll look at it in Firefox and run it through the W3C Markup Validation Service.

I run no anti-spyware real time protection, just antivirus (NOD32), anti-trojan (BOClean), registry protection (RegistryProt), script blocker (ScripTrap) and firewall (Kerio 2.1.5) and haven't had a problem with spyware nor any detected by Spybot Search and Destroy and AdAware scans since I switched to Gecko based browsers (except for Windows Update) several years ago.

IE can be configured to be pretty secure without adding anti-spyware apps running in the background (or setting kill-bits), but the endless prompts drive me crazy.

 

You didn't consider the consequences of switching to higher efficiency mode. You may not have any streaming media player set to higher efficiency mode, or it wouldn't work. Also, some websites might not load properly in HE, hence there's an option to set HC mode for particular websites.

 

I would say that you have viruses covered well, but you need additional protection from Spyware. At a minimum I would:

1. Get Spybot Search and destroy (free)
2. Adaware (free)
3. Spyware Blaster (free)
4. Use a locked MVP Hosts file (free)

The above list will still not protect you from all threats, but should keep you protected from most. If you aren't hitting the nasty websites, you should be pretty well covered with the above suite plus NOD and ZA.

 

thanks a lot guys for your help.
the webpage problem i mentioned seems to be solved. not sure why but the errors dont show up again.
mostly ive running a filesharing program in the background and on a forum i read that xp limits the numbers of connection at 10. i followed some instructions and could increase that to 50. since then all works fine. i could also configure imon to my needs. all is green at efficiency except the windows media player. to use streams well i put that on compatability.

thanks again
marco

 

I must recommend using Firefox with the NoScript extension... Nothing will get installed without your permission and there are many settings for customization, also you can easily enable scripts on sites you trust. It's "nearly" like zonealarm allow or block And sites you have allowed scripts to run on will be remembered aswell as the no-script ones.

 

Hiya

thanks for suggesting firefox. its a great browser and i would use it but opera with the integration of email is just too handy for me. i love it not to bother with 2 different programs opened. thanks tho

marco

 

Is that snapshot from one particular website that Opera has issues over? I far love Opera much more than Firefox...several features I feel are better for me. I'd love to see if that website you show a shot of is hosed on my installs...what site is it?

 

Hiya

this webpage here quite often (not always) messes up my opera.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/

most of the time it can be solved by reloading the page. but mostly its a little bit screwed...

can u try and tell me how it works for you?

marco

 

I find Opera to be clunky and cumbersome to use and I abhor Opera's mail client.

Cookie management in Opera is a nightmare, at least for me, but to each his own.

What features do you think are missing in Firefox? There are probably extensions to add or change just about anything you want.

I guess this is OT, so nevermind.

[added]

Looks okay in Firefox, I think.

 

hiya

its definately the email client i love. one program for both, surfing and email. thats what i miss in firefox.
the email client of opera is really good because i can organise my emails with filters. i can move them automatically into the folders to have as little mess as possible rox

btw im having a access point problem. i setup a home network and id like to watch on my 2nd computer movies i have on a harddisk on my first computer. i can stream them but the signal is only 2mbit instead of 11mbit (its an old access point). this makes the movie freeze for a few seconds every now and then.

my question is: shall i use a expander to increase the signal strength? or shall i use a newer access point, are they stronger? mine is quite old, a dlink dwl-900ap+

thanks

marco

 

Hi Marco, as your question that related to Nod32 has been answered, can you please start a new thread in a more appropriate forum to discuss your computers setup.

Cheers

 

yeah true
thanks blackspear