Last time I had a malware issue, it was recommended I download the trial versions of Ewido and Trojan Hunter. I found them to be helpful tools. I already had Spybot S&D, Adaware, Windows defender, spyware guard and spyware blocker on my machines. Is it worth the $'s to purchase licensed copies of Ewido and Trojan Hunter? Also, my subscription to McAfee anitvirus is expiring in August. Any thoughts on AVG Free as an antivirus? Thanks.
xct84,
Ewido and TrojanHunter perform pretty much the same task.
Both are good.
Ewido allows you to continue using its utility as a manual scan/remover in its free version.
The main thing you gain by purchasing, is the real-time background scanning portion of the utility.
I prefer Not to use the background always-on portion of any of the Anti-Malware tools (except one firewall and one Anti-virus) due to resource consumption.
Therefore, I would purchase neither for my own use, and do not recommend purchase to others that I assist.
Even with a purchased version of Ewido, I would not run it from the StartUp menu, and would only use it as a routine manual scan or for repair if my machine became infected.
Please understand that I wholeheartedly support the idea of financial support to those who work to improve Internet Safety and owner/user security, including Ewido and TrojanHunter. So it's a good thing if you want to pay for your copy of Ewido. Just like it would be a good thing if you decided to make a donation to TomCoyote or any other help forum you may benefit from.
As a better alternative for Real-time protection, I install SpywareBlaster, IE-SpyAd, and MVPS Host File.
These utilities are available free and comprise a list of "known-bad" websites and Registry entries that they block "passively" without comsuming machine resources. I highly recommend that you read up on them and consider installing them on your machine(s).
You list that you have: "spyware guard and spyware blocker" Hopefully, these are SpywareBlaster and Spyware Guard from JavaCoolSoftware. I have generally abandoned the use of Spyware Guard on low resource computers, but find Spyware Blaster to remain excellent and install it on every machine that I touch.
AVG from www.grisoft.com, is an excellent Anti-Virus which offers full real-time and email protection, while remaining comparatively "lite" on resource consumption. I like it better than McAfee, even though I used McAfee for about 10 years before discovering AVG.
There's always somebody who wants to argue which utility is "best".
And actually there are differences, but the top 10 are fairly comparable and no one utility can be expected to always be the first to identify new malware.
Personally, I'm glad there is an assortment. Use one of them…. your choice, ….but use one.
As to computer and internet security, your best defense remains as always, your own good judgement and internet browsing habits. Keep yourself educated and you will likely remain safer on the Internet.
One often overlooked Security practice:
Never browse from an Administrative Privilege login account.
Create a Limited User Account, and do almost all of your offline and all of your online work from that account.
Why?
Because a Limited User Account does not have the privilege to make basic System File changes and very few Registry changes. Therefore if you run afoul of any malware in your browsing, the bad-guy generally will get Stopped, in your temporary internet files, because the bad-guy will not have privilege to change system files or registry files.
Some people complain that they like to be able to download and install and have full privileges to make changes on their system at all times, and that it is inconvenient to "switch user login" just to install a program.
However, convenience is not a reasonable trade-off for actual security.
Best Regards
Dough,
Thanks for your reply. yes, Spywareguard and spyware blocker are from JavaCoolSoftware. I really like your idea about the limited account. I have to admit, that never occured to me but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks again.
