Security Suite/Programs Update Time?

[General Lee]

Hi. I'm currently using McAfee Total Protection 2010 as my main security suite. It's having issues where it keeps turning the real-time scanning off and my computer freezes for like 10 minutes while it's doing that. I've been using McAfee for years and haven't had any problems like this before. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe I should change my security setup. So, I had a couple of questions that I thought I might ask you all:

1. Should I use a security suite or separate programs? (For example, McAfree Anti-Virus, Outpost Firewall and so on)

2. Which security suite/programs would you guys recommend?

3. The security suite/programs that you guys recommend; would they have any compatibles issues with the programs mentioned below?

4. Are there any trust able places to look for reviews and comparisons for these security programs?

I'm looking for programs that cover firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, trojans, malware, etc. and home network defense. Also, I already have Spybot - Search & Destroy on my computer without the Tea Timer option (McAfee compatibility issue), Malwarebytes' Antimalware and Superantispyware. Any help would be most appreciated.

[HX1]

What are your system specifications?

[General Lee]

I knew I was forgetting something, lol! :hehe: I'm using an old PC. HP Pavilion a1020n. I've only changed a couple of things:

* 512mb memory to 4gb.

* DVD drive (replaced with a better one, the one already in there stopped working)

* Upgraded from Windows XP to Windows Vista (Planning on upgrading to Windows 7 really soon)

Full Product Specifications

To sum it up, kind of:

* Pentium 4 - 3.06 Ghz

* 4gb memory

* Windows Vista.

:think::dunno:

[HX1]

1. I would say go with an overall Suite that is made to work together, and runs one main engine ( or in the event you get GDATA, two that have been coded correctly to run together staged ) ..Other advise here would state to go with a good lightweight AV, and use something like COMODO for the Firewall/HIPS...There are quite a few more factors to think about too.. but that another chapter somewhere..LOL

2. This would depend on what you want out of security.. ( I personally DESPISE McAfee.. ) ... I would use Norton [2010], Kapersky, or ESET 4 .. The were the three top Suites for 2009... overall performance.. I use ESET Smart Security and I have come to love it .. have used ESET since version 2.. I trialed the suite with version 3 and moved to ESS with version 4.. You will here man good things about all three from people here in the forum; depending on who you talk to.. so it might be a good idea to check it out for yourself..Prevx makes a handy quick scanner.. but you have two there I believe already.. I carry the installer with me on a Portable.. I carry archives of the top ten.. Microsoft Security Essentials has done well in the tests as well..

3. As far as I know there are not any incompatibility issues with the three main ones I mentioned above.. but you may want to wait for someone else to answer who has a combination setup this way.. precisely..

4. I usually go by the tests posted around the forum.. and by using the programs.. and noticing where they fail.. .. This is one of those threads.. which contains a link.. There have been several posted around.. Others here should be able to better assist you with it however..

BTW: I would recommend upgrading to Windows 7.. and upgrade your video card.. the only thing on your system that needs to upgraded to handle it well.. Vista can be tweaked to run well.. but I really like Windows 7 better.. some of the same tweaks with it though.. anyway.. I have it running ( Ultimate on a system I maintain which is an old HP 360n believe it or not with original hardware - only swapped the hard drive out for the failed one.. )

EDIT: Do you run servers of any type on your system? Tenable Nessus.. good program.. Also you mention Network Defense... could you expand upon that idea.. or were you just speaking of Firewall/HIDS/HIPS/NIPS?

[General Lee]

Wow, thanks for the informative response, heath28m. :) Well, I think I will go with a full security suite then. I've actually tried ESET before and I did like it but, I wasn't too sure about it at that time. I used to look at the Internet Security Suites reviews available at TopTenREVIEWS but, soon realized that they seemed a bit fishy. Based on their current ratings, McAfee is #9 even though it covers almost everything; ESET is #5. They haven't checked off that ESET provides real-time blocking and protection and a couple of other things; I'm guessing the information they are providing is fake...? :dunno: One thing I do hate about McAfee is the the memory usage. :angry: I am going to upgrade to Windows 7 as soon as possible. As for the video card, I did buy one a couple of months ago and tried to install it into the PC. It didn't work...I don't know if I got the wrong one or something. I thought it was compatible. I'm out $80+ bucks because of it. It was the PNY Verto NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB card. I don't run servers on my system. I was actually referring to a feature that's in McAfee. Here's an image from an older version of McAfee (not from my PC):

I've used this feature before. I don't know how but, some people other then my own family, were connecting to my network and I blocked them. So, that's why I found that to be quite helpful. I saw the thread to which you posted the link for and I found it to be quite interesting. I did trust the nsane.forums community with this information, which is why posted here seeing as how everyone is quite knowledgeable and helpful. I'd love to see more responses from everyone! :)

[HX1]

Thats interesting... I use other programs to do that actually.. nice feature.. The main thing to remember is to activate WPA for your Wireless Protection and use a custom key... There are several other ways as well.. I would have to look into it a little farther and more in-depth to be sure though..

ALSO.. I never trust those reviews.. You will see them everywhere..

[majithia23]

@ general lee

i was using mcafee about 2 years back .

hated it .

its not a good protection to go for .

plenty of issues that made me dislike it .

shifted to norton 2009 .

was very impressed with its overall performance .

and then got eset av 4 , on my new laptop .

almost going to be an year .

its the best that suited my needs.

low footprint + good real time protection + advanced heuristics + good web access protection .

pretty satisfied with it .

and good support for it ( read -- nsane support ! :) )

i use it with comodo + hips .

never felt a need for any antispyware.

use firefox with all the security addons for browsing.

peerblock and hostsman for blocking the bad ips and hosts .

kaspersky , norton and i also would say avira ( has good protection but some what more false positives .)

kaspersky is a bit more source demanding .

norton has a good setup ( sonar and the pulse updates )

search around for what suits you .

[General Lee]

Thats interesting... I use other programs to do that actually.. nice feature.. The main thing to remember is to activate WPA for your Wireless Protection and use a custom key... There are several other ways as well.. I would have to look into it a little farther and more in-depth to be sure though..

ALSO.. I never trust those reviews.. You will see them everywhere..

Yes, this kind of program is quite helpful. I do have wireless protection with a custom key. I would like to know which program(s) you're using since I won't be using McAfee's "My Home Network" program/feature anymore and also, the other ways of protecting my home network. If you do have the time and don't mind; please do let me know. :) I always like to learn about all the possibilities that I might have, just in case. ^_^

@ general lee

i was using mcafee about 2 years back .

hated it .

its not a good protection to go for .

plenty of issues that made me dislike it .

shifted to norton 2009 .

was very impressed with its overall performance .

and then got eset av 4 , on my new laptop .

almost going to be an year .

its the best that suited my needs.

low footprint + good real time protection + advanced heuristics + good web access protection .

pretty satisfied with it .

and good support for it ( read -- nsane support ! :) )

i use it with comodo + hips .

never felt a need for any antispyware.

use firefox with all the security addons for browsing.

peerblock and hostsman for blocking the bad ips and hosts .

kaspersky , norton and i also would say avira ( has good protection but some what more false positives .)

kaspersky is a bit more source demanding .

norton has a good setup ( sonar and the pulse updates )

search around for what suits you .

Based on what both of you guys have mentioned; I'm starting to lean towards ESET. :) Majithia23, you also mentioned that you use Comodo + hips...do you mean that you use ESET and Comodo together? If you do, are there any compatibility issues and which one is your main security suite? Also, what is hips? :huh: Thank you for telling me about PeerBlock; it seems like a great program! :thumbsup: I selected the p2p, ads, spyware and educational lists. I wanted to add more lists from I-BlockList but, I'm not too sure if I should and I haven't really read how to do it either. As for HostsMan, I want to install it but, there's an option during installation that says: Disable DNS Client service, what should I do here? :think:

[karachidude]

Norton AV +Commodo

[majithia23]

Thats interesting... I use other programs to do that actually.. nice feature.. The main thing to remember is to activate WPA for your Wireless Protection and use a custom key... There are several other ways as well.. I would have to look into it a little farther and more in-depth to be sure though..

ALSO.. I never trust those reviews.. You will see them everywhere..

Yes, this kind of program is quite helpful. I do have wireless protection with a custom key. I would like to know which program(s) you're using since I won't be using McAfee's "My Home Network" program/feature anymore and also, the other ways of protecting my home network. If you do have the time and don't mind; please do let me know. :) I always like to learn about all the possibilities that I might have, just in case. ^_^

@ general lee

i was using mcafee about 2 years back .

hated it .

its not a good protection to go for .

plenty of issues that made me dislike it .

shifted to norton 2009 .

was very impressed with its overall performance .

and then got eset av 4 , on my new laptop .

almost going to be an year .

its the best that suited my needs.

low footprint + good real time protection + advanced heuristics + good web access protection .

pretty satisfied with it .

and good support for it ( read -- nsane support ! :) )

i use it with comodo + hips .

never felt a need for any antispyware.

use firefox with all the security addons for browsing.

peerblock and hostsman for blocking the bad ips and hosts .

kaspersky , norton and i also would say avira ( has good protection but some what more false positives .)

kaspersky is a bit more source demanding .

norton has a good setup ( sonar and the pulse updates )

search around for what suits you .

Based on what both of you guys have mentioned; I'm starting to lean towards ESET. :) Majithia23, you also mentioned that you use Comodo + hips...do you mean that you use ESET and Comodo together? If you do, are there any compatibility issues and which one is your main security suite? Also, what is hips? :huh: Thank you for telling me about PeerBlock; it seems like a great program! :thumbsup: I selected the p2p, ads, spyware and educational lists. I wanted to add more lists from I-BlockList but, I'm not too sure if I should and I haven't really read how to do it either. As for HostsMan, I want to install it but, there's an option during installation that says: Disable DNS Client service, what should I do here? :think:

@general lee

i dont use a complete security suite .

eset av with comodo firewall+hips .

eset has no compatability issues with comodo .

comodo is one of the better firewalls . almost passed all the leak tests.

and it comes with a powerful feature -host intrusion prevention system(hips).

the name should be self explanatory .

doesnt need a whole lot to understand , install it , read about it and you shall learn .

and its free.

dns stands for domain name system

read here to better understand -http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System

enable the hosts server along with also .

improves speed .

install the default 4 lists and search iblocklist.com for any other lists you need .

remember excess lists can also affect ur browsing .

again read , to better understand .

[Sl@pSh0ck™]

I don't use security suite ... try a layered security setup.

For AV I suggest any of these:

Norton AV

Eset Nod32 AV

Kaspersky AV

For Firewall I suggest any of these:

Comodo

PC tools firewall +

Outpost

Online armor

If you would want additional antimalware use any of these:

malwarebytes antimalware

superantispyware

..:: then add Sandboxie (for browser, email client, chat client, running keygens etc)

..:: Turn off system restore and use Comodo Time machine instead.

[General Lee]

All right, I read what you all posted and I'm getting some interesting information from it. I've also gone ahead and read a little bit about the Anti-Virus and Firewall programs you guys have mentioned. I decided to list all the possible security programs that I'd probably want to install/will install. So, the ones with the question marks next to them, I'm not sure about yet. The ones with the tick marks, I will be installing after my upgrade to Windows 7. What do you guys think about these programs; any cons, pros, similarities, differences, etc.? Anything with a tick mark that I shouldn't install? Anything especially important about some of these programs that I should know about? Are there any compatibility problems? Anything not listed here that I should have? I still don't know about any programs (other then McAfee's) to protect my home network, so if anyone has some information on that, please post it. ^_^ So, all in all, please let me know your opinions; I hold them in high regard. :) And thank you all for all the information you have provided thus far. It's been very helpful and I look forward to reading more. :cheers:

P.S. - I'd create a poll here but, I don't see an option for it. :mellow:

Anti-Virus:

* Avira AntiVir Premium 9.0.0.452

* ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.2.22.0 Beta

* Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 9.0.0.736

* Norton AntiVirus 2010 17.1.0.19

Firewall:

* Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 (6.7.3 3063.452.0726)

* Comodo Firewall

* Online Armor Free 4.0.0.15

* PC Tools Firewall Plus 6.0.0.88

* ZoneAlarm 9.1.008.000 Pro

Anti-Spyware/Malware:

* Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.3.51 Beta

* SUPERAntiSpyware Professional 4.33.1000

* Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.44

Anti-Trojan:

* Trojan Remover 6.8.1 Build 2593

Other Security Tools:

* HostsMan 3.2.73

* PeerBlock 1.0+ (r277)

* PeerGuardian 2

* Sandboxie 3.44

[DKT27]

I recommend ESET NOD32 Antivirus (stable).

While installing "select credentials later". ;)

I prefer box, mara- fix v1.3 with it. But there are many others fixes on nsane.down. :)

I really like Comodo Firewall. While installing, select to install Firewall only. If you want, you can easily enable it's AV later, but not needed if you already have a AV installed.

Go for Peerblock beta. Stable is not as good as beta. About PeerGuardian 2, Peerblock is an enhanced and newer version of it. Peerblock beta has not crashed even ones on my PC, whereas PG2 is known to crash, Peerblock is being developed everyday. ;)

[HX1]

I still don't know about any programs (other then McAfee's) to protect my home network, so if anyone has some information on that, please post it.

Explain to me what this does and has the capability of doing exactly please..

[General Lee]

Same post from other thread:

Hey guys. I lost my internet connection since yesterday (weather problems, wires, etc). :badmood: I'm using my friend's laptop to quickly leave a message. I'm going to put all these comments/questions/answers on hold for now. When everything is fine again, I'll come back. Talk to you all soon. :)

[Pachuco]

I've been using Norton Internet Suite 2009 and now 2010 and find it absolutely great. It has a small footprint and, in comparative tests, rate among the best. Additionally, I use the free version of Prevx, which often kicks in earlier than NIS2010 whenever I handle a suspicious file.

In handling suspicious files I use the excellent Virus Total Uploader which (with a right-click) allows me to immediately send hash details (or the file itself) directly to www.virustotal.com, where - in an instant - I get the results from 42 antivirus engines. It doesn't get better than that!

Finally, Sandboxie allow me to check out applications in a completely isolated environment (e.g. may allow you to get a key from a virus infected generator).

Good luck.

[chlorophyll]

its safe not to go for mcafee. follow our SENIORS advice as they listed above.

my personal choice is kis 2010 v 9.0.0.736.i dont use anyother AV or malware programmes.

[*dcs18]

Hi. I'm currently using McAfee Total Protection 2010 as my main security suite. It's having issues where it keeps turning the real-time scanning off and my computer freezes for like 10 minutes while it's doing that. I've been using McAfee for years and haven't had any problems like this before. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe I should change my security setup. So, I had a couple of questions that I thought I might ask you all:

Hope you conduct the funeral at the earliest :lol:

1. Should I use a security suite or separate programs? (For example, McAfree Anti-Virus, Outpost Firewall and so on)

If you're someone who demands each of your Programs to be comprehensively configurable, you need a separate program.

2. Which security suite/programs would you guys recommend?

Personally speaking I'm dead against a Security Suite (check out point # 1 for the reason.) However, if forced to use a Suite there is only one Security Suite that has managed to compete strongly against separate Programs . . . . . . . Kaspersky Internet Security. Nevertheless, suggest you against opting for a Suite.

3. The security suite/programs that you guys recommend; would they have any compatibles issues with the programs mentioned below?

I'm looking for programs that cover firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, trojans, malware, etc. and home network defense. Also, I already have Spybot - Search & Destroy on my computer without the Tea Timer option (McAfee compatibility issue), Malwarebytes' Antimalware and Superantispyware. Any help would be most appreciated.

In all likelihood, yes compatibility might take a beating (especially if you love the 'Tea Timer' option.) :(

4. Are there any trust able places to look for reviews and comparisons for these security programs?

There are plenty, to name just a couple:-

http://www.matousec....rity-challenge/

and

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

I'd use the sites such as the above as a reference point to start with. However, as a :pirate: it's important to have a hands-on feel for comfort based on your level of proficiency and compatibility with other existing Programs and also based on the system hardware configurations.

Goodluck :thumbsup:

[Heedna]

After using Norton Internet Security 2010 for last 2 months, I find it is good for beginners and in fact maintains stringent intrusion control. ON WIndows XP SP3, the start up time is like 2.5 minutes but after that it is fast. No issues of freezing etc.

[Drakester]

I'd recommend you follow the previous advice of a layered approach.

I'm using NOD32 v4.2, Prevx SafeOnline (free if you have a Facebook account - I just created a fake one for it) and either Comodo or Windows 7 Firewall (I tend to swap choices).

All of this running fine in Windows 7 x64 Enterprise.

BTW if you're going to update to 7, you should uninstall any security software before doing so, some may have issues after upgrading (at least NOD and KIS in my experience).

[Night Owl]

... either Comodo or Windows 7 Firewall (I tend to swap choices).

I run both Comodo Firewall and Windows 7 Firewall at the same time.

[spootnack]

... either Comodo or Windows 7 Firewall (I tend to swap choices).

I run both Comodo Firewall and Windows 7 Firewall at the same time.

:think:

I think you shouldn't...

[DKT27]

... either Comodo or Windows 7 Firewall (I tend to swap choices).

I run both Comodo Firewall and Windows 7 Firewall at the same time.

:think:

I think you shouldn't...

Yes you shouldn't. This will keep shought at a bay. Do we it to happen? :P