Re: windows defender
jefs7 wrote:
> vista home basic. is windows defender and windows firewall enough
> protection?
Not even close. While Vista's built-in firewall is usually quite
satisfactory for most home consumer's needs, Windows Defender is only a
"less-than-stellar" anti-adware and anti-spyware product. It has no
anti-virus capabilities, whatsoever. You should consider adding both
Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search & Destroy from
www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free versions. It's even possible
to use SpyBot Search & Destroy to "immunize" your system against most
future intrusions. You'll also need some sort of anti-virus application.
> mcafee came with the system but many people say it slows down the
> system immensely.
It does.
You'll get nearly as many differing opinions as you will responses.
I'll start by saying that I don't think any security "suite" is a
good choice. It'd be better to use smaller, less-resource-draining
stand-alone products. And, having had personal experience with
Verizon's business practices, I certainly wouldn't trust anything they
offer. Even if the product/service itself is fine, there'll be hidden
costs and "unadvertised" conditions and limitations associated with it.
I used, and recommended, Norton Antivirus and then Norton Internet
Security, for many years, on Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP, all without
any significant problems. I had used McAfee prior to that. But it's
been several years since I've been tempted to try McAfee products. Their
quality seemed to take a steep nose-dive after they were acquired by
Network Associates.
However, when my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton
Internet Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially
higher than the preceding year's subscription), I decided to try less
expensive solutions. I downloaded and installed the free version of
GriSoft's AVG (
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ). It proved
to be easily installed, easy to use, and quite effective. Additionally,
I was pleasantly surprised to see a small but very noticeable
improvement in my PC's performance, once I'd replaced the Symantec
product. Another free (for personal use) anti-virus product is AVAST! 4
Home Edition (
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html), which is what
I'm currently using without problems on Vista Business.
For a recent comparison of anti-virus products:
Retrospective / ProActive Test
http://www.av-comparatives.org/
> this system is already very slow, i despise vista.
Why blame Vista?
> bought
> a toshiba satellite a135 laptop for my 11 year old child and even my child is
> dissapointed.
What are the system's hardware specifications? Does it have at least
2GB of RAM? Bear in mind that the A135 is pretty much from the lowest
end of the scale; it can't be expected to have outstanding performance.
> just wondering if uninstalling mcafee would help ....
Yes, as long as you replace it with another anti-virus application.
> ... and if defender
> is suitable protection ....
Definitely not.
> ... or if there is a more suitable software protection out
> there. thank you
As above.
--
Bruce Chambers
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