BleepingComputer.com: Overkill-what Is To Much Protection

When is to many protection programs overkill ? I think I may be doing this.
What i use are these
1. AVG 7.5 free
2. Ad-aware SE
3. Spybot S&D
4. SUPERAntiSpyware
5. AVG Anti-Root
6. CCleaner
7. Zone Labs Security
8. Reg Supreme


I'd like an opinion from the experts of BC to advise me if i should remove some of these and which ones i should keep, what free programs should i be using in your opinion ?


Thanks so much,
jr1955

There is no such thing as overkill when it come to the protection of your computer. However there are such thing as to many interface as in using to many firewall or antivirus as a primary. For example, having spyware terminator and Spybot S&D due to the fact the spybot is mostly wanted for it teatimer.exe but occasionally spyware terminator would stop the app from running, hence to much interface. Hope it helps.

This post has been edited by Spigon: 17 December 2007 - 01:03 PM

1. AVG 7.5 free - if it's antivirus, does 7 include ativirus? If it's the suite or pro, it does. Drop AVG.
2. Ad-aware SE - ok to use only as a scanner it 1 and/or 7 include antispyware
3. Spybot S&D - ok to use as a scanner, exclude teatimer, if 1 or 7 watch the registry
4. SUPERAntiSpyware - ok to use as a scanner
5. AVG Anti-Root - if 7 includes Kaspersky AV, don't include this
6. CCleaner - ok to use anytime for cleanup, it's never resident
7. Zone Labs Security - which one? they have 4-5 flavours of this
8. Reg Supreme - no idea

Bottom line: ONE firewall. ONE antivirus. ONE antispyware resident, at most two. Other antispyware as on demand scanners. You don't need antispyware much if you have a good protection otherwise.

Try stick to using one of each, one firewall, one anti-viral, one anti-spyware. Having too many programs that doo the same thing can clash makign them not work properly or similar issues.

1. the AVG 7.5 Free is my anti-virus
2. Ad-aware se Personal is not the 2007 version
3. Spybot is the 1.4 version
4. AVG anti root-kit 1.1.0.42 version
5. Zone Alarm 7.0 is my firewall
6. Registry Supreme,, was put on by someome who fixed a virus once over a year ago via remote access,, i probably shoudnt have done that but i was desperate at the time.

I think i will keep SUPERantispyware and ccleaner,,, should i get rid of any of these or is this ok ? or make any upgrades ?

You should probably ditch Registry Supreme. You shouldn't be messing around with the registry anyway but if you insist on having a registry cleaner, CCleaner comes with one. I use CCleaner strictly for automatically cleaning out cookies & junk files and I'm not planning on using the registry cleaner ever. IMO, I would ditch Spybot & Adaware and replace it with AVG Anti Spyware. I use that and Super Anti Spyware as on demand scanners and are currently more effective than Spybot & AdAware. I occasionally use the Eset online virus scanner and the Defraggler defragmenter from the folks behind CCleaner.

Thanks for your input Frank,,, i thought i read somewhere on BC that they more or less promoted or used spybot and adaware alot ? I probably will ditch RegSupreme,,, i just didnt want to have overkill and want to use what is really nessesary. Is that AVG-anti-spyware an anti-virus also ? Anyone else with comments ?

AVG Anti Spyware is seperate from AV. It used to be Ewido and Grisoft bought it. If you go through the various threads here, guys have been beefing about Ad Aware since the new edition was released last summer. The experts here don't recommend it anymore. Both Ad Aware & Spybot used to be the best spyware scanners. They've been surpassed by AVG & Super Anti Spyware and probably some others. IMO, both AdAware & Spybot are living off their past goodwill and neither have made a concerted effort to keep up with the competition. They're not as good as they used to be.

Another good Temp file cleaner to use is ATF Cleaner. Comes without the registry cleaner that CCleaner has so you don't get the temptation or opportunity to screwup your registry.
http://www.atribune.org/content/view/25/2/

No single product is 100% foolproof and can detect and remove all threats at any given time. The security community is in a constant state of change as new infections appear. Each vendor has its own definition of what constitutes malware and scanning your computer using different criteria will yield different results. The fact that each program has its own definition files means that some malware may be picked up by one that could be missed by another. Thus, a multi-layered defense using several anti-spyware products (including an effective firewall) to supplement your anti-virus combined with common sense and safe surfing habits provides the most complete protection.

However, you can overkill your system with resource heavy security programs that will drain your resources and slow down performance. Sometimes you just have to experiment to get the right combo for your particular system as there is no universal solution that works for everyone.

Everything your using except for Zone Labs Security should not be running in real-time mode unless you purchased the upgraded versions of AVG AS or SAS. If that's the case, then your using them as stand-alone scanners which is fine. I would probably eliminate the use of Ad-aware SE. Although definitions updates are still available, support may end at some point. The new version is much larger in size (18,694 KB) because in includes additional enhancements available only if you choose to purchase them. This is not very helpful to those who only want to use the free features. Although it has a new look, Ad-aware 2007 does not seem to offer much in major improvements with its scanning.

As far as Reg Supreme goes!! Registry cleaners are extremely powerful applications. There are a number of them available and some are more safe than others. Keep in mind that no two registry cleaners work entirely the way. Each vendor uses different criteria as to what constitutes a "bad" entry. One cleaner may find entries on your system that will not cause a problem when removed, another may not find the same entries, and still another may want to remove entries required for a program to work.

The Windows registry is a central repository (database) for storing configuration data, user settings and machine-dependent settings, and options for the operating system. It contains information and settings for all hardware, software, users, and preferences. Whenever a user makes changes to settings, file associations, system policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in this repository. The registry is a crucial component because it is where Windows "remembers" all this information, how it works together, how Windows boots the system and what files it uses when it does. The registry is also a vulnerable subsystem, in that relatively small changes done incorrectly can render the system unbootable.

The usefulness of cleaning the registry is highly overrated and can be dangerous. In most cases, using a cleaner to remove obsolete, invalid, and erroneous entries does not affect system performance but it can result in "unpredictable results". Unless you have a particular problem that requires a registry edit to correct it, I would suggest you leave the registry alone. Using registry cleaning tools unnecessarily or incorrectly can have disastrous effects on your operating system such as preventing it from ever starting again. For routine use by those not familiar with the registry, the benefits to your computer are negligible while the potential risks are great.