Newbie questions. Will anti-spyware, etc. slow down comp? Best way to optimize comp?

hirowhite

Solid State Member
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I have been reading on different sites to download different anti-spyware programs. Right now I have:

1. Ad-aware
2. Spybot
3. IE Spyad w/ Zoned Out
4. PC pitstop driver alert
5. Spyware Blaster
6. ATF Cleaner
7. PC Pitstop Driver Alert
8. Hosts Xpert
9. Windows Defender

Will these slow down my system, or make it take longer to shut down and restart my comp? Is there anything on this list that I should not have? If it's not a big deal, does anyone recommend any more apps I should download or things to do to make my system better?

If I install almost all of the reputable spyware removers and system optimizers, etc. on my comp, will it slow down my system? Will there be any negative consequences?

Right now I would opt for a faster computer over a secure one, so I would prefer speed over an increased possibility of a virus, etc (still want an anti-virus though). I'd like my comp to shut down and restart quickly, but of course it's not that big of a deal.

With that in mind...I was wondering what the computer "gurus" think is the best way I can optimize my computer? If you have a lot of experience, then what would/do you do, and what do you download for your comp? What programs should I download or buy? I'm willing to pay money for programs that I can buy at the store or pay to activate full versions of trial software, etc. if it will help optimize my computer or help my computer's speed. My system specifications are at the bottom of this post.


Also, what is the best anti-virus that you would recommend?

My comp came with Norton 2007, and I just upgraded to Norton 2008 at the recommendation of an HP customer support specialist.

I realize these are subjective questions, but I can't understand why that is. I would think that there would be a "best" program out there for everything. Really however I'm just interested in an expert opinion.

Right now I am running disk defrag on a daily schedule. I regularly run ad-aware, spybot, ATF cleaner, and the disk cleanup tool. I just deleted a lot of junk on my desktop, a lot of programs/junk using the add/remove programs window, and went into the folder browser and manually deleted several things. I very rarely run scandisk (where you have to restart your comp). I don't think I have ever heard anyone mention it. Should I run it more often?

I used to have 3 antivirus programs, but someone recommended against that, so I only have Norton now. Would it be ok if I also installed AVG antivirus along with Norton?

Would it be beneficial to download all the antivirus' free trials as possible and do a scan on my computer with them just to make sure I don't have a hidden virus, and then uninstall them all?

Is the best way to do a full scan with an anti-virus (such as Norton) in safe mode?

Thank you. I know there are a lot of newbie questions on here, but these are the things I've always wondered, so I thought I might try to post my questions.

My main question is just how do I best optimize my computer for speed (besides what I'm already doing), and the secondary question...what is the best anti-virus. Is Norton any good?

Thanks a lot for reading.
Brad

HP Pavilion Media Center m8102n, Intel Core 2 Quad CPU 2.4 GHz, 289 GB HD space, 3GB RAM, Vista Home Premium 32-bit, GE Force 7350 LE video, DirectX 10, RealTek HD audio or VXI 7.02 Generic USB audio, and DVDRW
 
first off, having THAT many spyware programs doesnt work, you can only have ONE spyware, ONE adware and ONE virus program, or these programs will recognize each other and ugh it just makes a bigger mess to clean up.. for anti-spy i cant answer that... but for the best freeware anti-virus go with AVG just search google for "AVG free download" make sure you uninstall all those programs before installing AVG

as for optimization of the computer, first off get O&O Defrag, it is the best defrag software you can buy http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/order/
windows defrag has actually been shown to slow down your computer

second, again, dont have soo many extra programs running in the back, i dont know how many you have now, but you shouldnt have more than 50 processes if that..

lastly, i dont mean to sound rude here, but to me it sounds like your being way over anal about keeping it running good, you only need a defrag program, one anti-virus and that should do it, you really dont need everything you have listed up there...
 
first off, having THAT many spyware programs doesnt work, you can only have ONE spyware, ONE adware and ONE virus program, or these programs will recognize each other and ugh it just makes a bigger mess to clean up.

not true.
I have never seen an anti-spyware program list another anti-spyware program as spyware. This might happen with anti-virus programs, though sometimes 2 different av's can run together without any problems.



Psychotron said:
Will these slow down my system, or make it take longer to shut down and restart my comp? Is there anything on this list that I should not have? If it's not a big deal, does anyone recommend any more apps I should download or things to do to make my system better?

They will slow down the system a little since they use ram. (just like any other program you have open) But you do have 3gb of ram so you really don't need to worry about this that much. And it will take longer when you enter windows because it needs to load all of those programs.

I'd just delete most of those programs. I only use spybot s&d and I've never had problems with spyware. (at least no problems that I know of. :D)
So I'd recommend keeping spybot, ad-aware and spyware blaster. All of these are good programs to use. But even if you choose to only keep 1 of those you should be just fine.

Psychotron said:
Also, what is the best anti-virus that you would recommend?

My comp came with Norton 2007, and I just upgraded to Norton 2008 at the recommendation of an HP customer support specialist.

hehe, never trust what the customer support "specialists" say. ;)
Just deleting norton should make your computer that much faster. I'd recommed either AVG or Avira AntiVir if you want a good & free anti-virus program. If you want to pay then I'd go with nod32. But I don't see the point in paying since both of those free ones do an excellent job.



Psychotron said:
Is the best way to do a full scan with an anti-virus in safe mode?

yes

As for defragging I'd suggest you use 0&0 defrag, the link is on bullzi's post. It's the best defragging program I've seen.


bullzi said:
to me it sounds like your being way over anal about keeping it running good

hehe, definitely. :D
 
not true.
I have never seen an anti-spyware program list another anti-spyware program as spyware. This might happen with anti-virus programs, though sometimes 2 different av's can run together without any problems.

well i said this because when i used to be like this about viruses with my computers, i had mcafee and norton running at the same time, both of them gave me errors saying they detected another AV program and to uninstall the other, ultimately it disabled protection automatically since it detected another was installed, so having two programs really = having zero
 
I use ad-aware and avast anti virus and I'm perfectly fine. BTW less programs running = better performance. It frees up your system and ram so it doesn't have to do so much work.
 
well i said this because when i used to be like this about viruses with my computers, i had mcafee and norton running at the same time, both of them gave me errors saying they detected another AV program and to uninstall the other, ultimately it disabled protection automatically since it detected another was installed, so having two programs really = having zero

yes, like I said that can happen with anti-virus programs. But I've never seen anti-spyware programs behave like that.
 
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