# Best Anti virus-firewall-anti spyware security suites?

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by The Lil Dark Piggy (This site is so "educational") on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 7:18:35

Hello guys, I was wondering what what is the best software that you have used for these sort of things. Just thought I'd do a survey. Well, with me using a computer for 4 years now, I can say that I love Eset Nod 32, I lvoe it becasue of how fast it scans, donesn't take up much resources. But I love the Smart security suite. But it has its drawbacks though, It doesn't catch every thing, but it still catches a lot. Have never tried Antiver, avast, or anything like that. I don't like Norton either. So let me know who, in your opinion makes the best software for protecting your computer.

## Post 2 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 10:33:11

Virus: Avira
Spyware: Super anti Spyware
Firewall: sygate personal firewall
If you don't want to use super anti spyware threat fire will do the job too and it has realtime protection and you don't need to configure it just run the setup file and leave it.

## Post 3 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 10:59:18

Agree with the last poster. I also have Malware Bytes Anti Malware set up on my computer, it's slightly fater and sometimes catches a thing or to that super anti spyware doesn't and vice versa.
Cheers
-B

## Post 4 by Nitrogen (Zone BBS Addict) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 11:06:48

hi,
my security suite consists of the following:
virus: esset nod 32
firewall: agnitum outpost pro
spyware: spyware doctor
trojan: anti trojan elite

## Post 5 by The Lil Dark Piggy (This site is so "educational") on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 11:11:30

What is anti trojan elite? I don't know about mucha bout trojan cleaners, but I'm using a program called Trojan remover. Had a nasty Trojan yester day, thought I was going to have to reformat the machine, but used that product to get it off. And isn't Seagate firewall out of date?

## Post 6 by Big Pawed Bear (letting his paws be his guide.) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 11:15:17

i use super anti spyware, esset nod 32 and windoes defender. i have also got c cleaner on here too.

## Post 7 by The Lil Dark Piggy (This site is so "educational") on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 11:23:17

Yep, I have CCleaner too. What about for registry cleaners? I've tried a few of them, I'ev heard Registry Mechanic is good.

## Post 8 by Nitrogen (Zone BBS Addict) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 12:21:42

well a program which specialises in the cleaning of trojans.
note that is also requires updating from time to time.
I know we suppose to post about suites but I feel a suite is just not good from one manufacturer so I combine it with other products.

## Post 9 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 14:07:40

Personally i wonder waht sort of things you guys are up to that these tools find stuff with some regularity. Personally i feel these tools sshould be your second line of defense with you being careful what you do/what you open on your system. That being said as far as suite goes the comodo internet security suite ihave heard good things about for and its free for non commercial use. I used their firewall in the past and it is truely a full enterprise level firewall So if you are looking for a suite and don't want to have to crack outpost pro and eset's products among some of the other stuff mentioned I think its the way to go. As for registry cleaners, registry scrubber and registry crawler are both good.. but i'll be honest the whole registry cleaning thing is more a myth than reality and if you already have ccleaner just stick with that in my opinion.

## Post 10 by The Lil Dark Piggy (This site is so "educational") on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 15:00:41

So Komoto is accessible then? Nice.

## Post 11 by Nitrogen (Zone BBS Addict) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 15:03:24

hmm, however the guys at comoto have been issuing certificates to makers of rogue antivirus 2009.
and outpost pro is now free. however alot of the jaws cursor is required so I guess people wouldn't be comfortable with it.

## Post 12 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 21:52:45

If sygate is out of date, I don't know of another firewall I can use. If you know of just a firewall, let me know. I use C Cleaner for cleaning and registry cleanup.

## Post 13 by The Lil Dark Piggy (This site is so "educational") on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 12:33:40

Hmm, there's Zone Alarm Free edition with just the firewall, theres others, that I can't remember right now. Oh, there's one by PCTools, called Firewall plus or something like that?

## Post 14 by Big Pawed Bear (letting his paws be his guide.) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 13:56:14

now, if you can't afford programmes, why crack them? we who pay for progs pay more because of illegal shit like this. and reg cleanres are good because uninstallers don't always do the job that well, leaving keys and folders all over the place.

## Post 15 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 16:33:43

To Smokey Bear,
I don't personally agree with your opinion on why software is cracked, and how it supposidly hurts the software industry. If you're refering to actual physical piracy, as in, buying one piece of software and selling it at a lower price, then yes, that indeed hurts the manufacturer, or software developer. But noncommercial piracy, which is what you just called cracking is useful sometimes, whether it's legal or not, well, that's on a case by case basis. I'll explain, using my college situation, as an example, and if I'm gonna get banned for talking about this, then so be it.
I just finished my Bachelor Of Science degree in Information Systems Security, about a month ago. While I was in some of my core classes, we had to do stuff with Windows Server 2003, and XP Pro. We were not allowed to use the Internet at all, while in class, because some of the stuff that we were doing: dns server setup, dhcp server setup would have screwed up the network.
For those of us who have legal versions of Jaws, you know, that unless you've got the dongle version of Jaws, you've gotta activate it everytime, this is fine, if you've got a network connection. And FS is seriously picky as to who it gives out dongles to. Do I have a dongle copy of Jaws, now, yes, I do, but when I originally took my classes I didn't.
I'm sorry, but I can't keep restarting a domain controler every 40 minutes, not when I had peiple relying on me to do the work, just like everyone else. Yes, I reformatted the computer, every term, on the final day, to get rid of the software. If FS would just ship the dongle as well as the ILM, we wouldn't be having many cracking software issues anymore, we wouldn't need to, we'd have a way to have it with us, wherever we went.
Yes, I know my case is pretty specific, and yes, I'm aware I broke copyright. But considering my circumstances, and the fact that I didn't get the dongle version until after I finished most of my server classes. I had to do what I felt was necessary to pass them. Now that I've got the dongle, I'll use it, when I need to, since it does do what it's supposed to.

## Post 16 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 16:55:21

I agree with the above view on cracking software. Also for firewall from what i hear/read zone alarm has become bloated (ala symantec's norton product line) and hasn't really been recommended by security gurus for a while now. And Comodo was another one where you have to use the Jaws cursur alot with as well. Haven't tried it lately to see if its gotten better or worst. And i was not aware of the issuing certificates to antivirus 2009 so i'll have to look into that to see if it was just like a one time error, or just plain irresponsibility on Comodo's part.

## Post 17 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 17:21:41

I also agree with what spike said about cracking issue.

## Post 18 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 9:51:08

So glad I didn't get banned for my last post.
I'll bring this topic back around to what it was intended for. I personally use sygate, yes, it may be out of date, but it does what it's supposed to, and is completely accessible, unlike ZoneAlarm. Unsure about any other firewalls. I've used Avast, nice, small, and light on system resources. Same for Avira. I currently do not have any antivirus software on this machine, but I do ocasionally install Avira, update and run it, to make sure I'm fine. What I do have and like is Malwarebytes Antimalware. Its Jaws friendly, even with Jaws 8, unsure about 7. As for uppdates, you've gotta do them manually, and the scanning is pretty fast, 6-7 mins on my current laptop. To the person who'd asked about whether comodo was still issuing certs to malware writers, the answer is yes, as of May of this year.
Comodo continues to issue certificates to known Malware - Hosts News: http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/archive/2009/05/16/1692519.aspx

## Post 19 by Polka dots and Moonbeams (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 12:16:48

It has never occured to me to get a firewall. Are you all saying windows firewall is no good?
I have nod32 and have had for probably 3 years now. Though lately, I can't make it through a whole scan of my system. Not sure whatt t do about this and it is a bit worrying. *smile*
I run the milicious removal tool from time to time as well.
Registry cleaners scare me! It doesn't seem like there is one out there I can fully trust! It says it'll get rid of these items, and how do I know if it is ok to do so? Scary time!

## Post 20 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 13:12:10

I've used C Cleaner for registry, but I agree with others on here, I don't see much performance difference really.
Polkdots, may be you should download either Malware Bytes Anti Malware or Super Anti Spyware onto your system and run it, if your anti virus scan is giving you trouble. Sometimes pieces of malware remain undetected by anti virus programs and can all sorts of funny things to the computer. You can link to the downloads sides from www.filehippo.com (also a great site for basically anything you need, usually freeware or shareware but basically the most popular applications for a given purpose).
There are lots of views on software piracy. I will say this though, I know big companies like Microsoft would much rather their software be pirated by personal users than ignored. A person who pirates a version of Visual Studio and learns to program in it will be recommending it as a product of choice when he or she joins an IT company that does software and thus MS will get money back.
They've become much better recently about making a more basic version of their coe free, the Visual Basic and Visual C# Express editions have all the functionality you need (ok, 95% of it) and you can become very efficient at those things without suffering when switching to a paid-for professional version.
Really, to some extent, same with screen readers I'd imagine. If a user can't afford any screen reader and cracks one, when he or she gets a chance to ask for a screen reader they will most likely go with the one they know.
I'm not ligitimizing piracy per say, but I see situations where I have no problems with liited piracy and also I think it often leads to business for the company, although not immediately.

## Post 21 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 13:57:03

Windows firewall is fine but if you are paranoid, or jsut want something that gives you a bit more feedback on things that are connecting into and out of your computer then you may want to try a third party firewall. If you are behind a router then whatever software firewally you have installed is really only good for connections leaving your machine anyways since your router/wireless access point will act as a firewall blocking incoming unsolicited traffic. I believe in bista the windows firewall does incoming and out going , i believe it may also for XP SP3 as well but not certain.

## Post 22 by Polka dots and Moonbeams (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 20:53:49

Wildebrew, I took your suggestion and downloaded Malware Bytes Anti Malware. It found 6 pieces of malware and successfully removed them. Is this the sort of thing, where I should trust the program? I decided to remove the 6 items. A log has been created and I suppose if there is a problem, I could restore...?
My next test will see if I can get through a nod32 scan successfully. Lol, maybe once we sit down to some tv or something. The scan takes forever! Over an hour!
*Smile,* I was panicked for a minute, my internet didn't connect streight away.
Thanks for the tip, I hope this helps my system.
Hmmm, having connectivity issues. I'm suspicious... *grin*

## Post 23 by Polka dots and Moonbeams (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 22:15:02

Ok, let's hope the connectivity issue was a fluke.
I like how the log file is so easy to read. Well, I don't understand the registry stuff. *smile*

## Post 24 by Big Pawed Bear (letting his paws be his guide.) on Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009 1:50:26

i understand spikes issue with his studies and fs, and in that case, using an illigit copy seemed to be the only way around, though in general, my point still stands.

## Post 25 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009 2:16:31

I didn't like avast as on my desktop it slowed it down tremendously, hence y I switched to Avira. If you don't get avira off of the site though, a pop up will appear in your system tray telling you. Jaws will not read it though, and the way that I found out was from my mom telling me what it said when she walked in when it was updating itself.

## Post 26 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009 9:44:55

hehe, I've never had an issue with MalwareBytes and the internet, let's hope I did not just ruin Polkadot's internet connection with my recommendations.
I can read the Avira pop ups just fine when it updates itself, that is with Jaws 9 on Windows XP SP3, may be it's different between screen readers somehow.
The biggest trick with Avira is to start a scan you have to select protection, I think from the file menu, then use arrow key to select the scan and the drives and then press f6 to get the scan started. I found out just by messing around and it worked eventually.

## Post 27 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009 9:55:39

To the person who'd manetioned about if Vista's firewall has outbound protection, it does, but its not easy to setup. Here's a tool for it, the name of the tool is Vista Firewall Control 32-bit version.
The download url is: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64950-order,4/description.html
Unsure how Jaws friendly it is, if at all, since I don't use Windows Vista, I might switch to Windows 7 though, when it comes out.

## Post 28 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009 20:28:32

yeah looking forward to Windows 7 myself gonna try and get my hands on a copy of professional so i can use XP mode for those things i may still need xp for. I The connectivity issues if they presist could have to do with the removal of the malware. Sometimes when those things get installed they sink their teeths into your connection path so that removing them will lead to all kinds of issues and then you are pretty much stuck trying to figure out how to fix it or just reinstalling windows . As for Avare vs. Avast i just found Avast to be a little more Jaws friendly so i stuck with that one. didn't notice a slow down of my system when trying out Avare, Avast and AVG myself.

## Post 29 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009 22:17:36

That's odd, I'm on windows seven build 7100 and jaws 10.1151 and it didn't read it. Maybe its something in my settings? I've never touched them. Did you change anything in yours?

## Post 30 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009 7:04:49

To post 29,
Do remember that Windows 7 is still not at its final release version. So maybe Jaws and it don't work all that perfectly together. It may not be your settings at all, but the fact that Win 7 isn't completely accessible, or Avira doesn't work with it like it does under XP SP3 when using Jaws.

## Post 31 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009 14:01:55

Even under XP though I couldn't get it to read.

## Post 32 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 18-Jun-2009 14:53:29

yeah i couldn't get avare to work under xp either in avast i changed the settings view from simple to advanced and that made it way more jaws friendly. I believe due to simple being more graphical and advanced being more text and check boxes.

## Post 33 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Saturday, 20-Jun-2009 19:58:27

ok so think i found out something on the Comodo certificate issue. Comodo has a free certificate issuing program, which anyone can use to issue an personal certificate for themselves. Its completely automated. You fill out a form they send you an email you click on the link in the email to authorize thats it your email and boom thats it certificate issued. While this makes it easy for the average joe to creat a certificate for personal use, it can be misused to let rogue or phony programs (like anti-virus 2009) look legit. This however appears to be a seperate operation from Comodo's internet security products and thus shouldn't mean that their internet security products will turn a blind eye to such programs. And i assume that because the personal certificate issuing aspect is free they probably don't donate a lot of man power to monitoring it for such issues. I'll try to dig a little more but thats what i found out so far .. just thought i'd pass this along.