AVG Anti-spyware.

[Poppa_Meth]

I installed the trial of AVG Anti-spyware, which is quite good but I've disabled the resident shields since I'm not planning to pay for the full version anyway. It seems it was costing me 30 seconds additional startup time just for that program as well. What I'm wondering is whether I should go ahead and ditch Ad-aware now that I'm using this. Ad-aware hasn't done me any real good that I can see. It never finds anything but MRU lists. I'm not complaining. Evidently Spybot and Spyware Blaster are keeping me clean. It just seems that AVG can do anything Ad-aware can. I guess it never hurts to leave it so long as it's not actively running. Anyone have a preference between two programs?

[3Simon7]

I installed the trial of AVG Anti-spyware, which is quite good but I've disabled the resident shields since I'm not planning to pay for the full version anyway. It seems it was costing me 30 seconds additional startup time just for that program as well. What I'm wondering is whether I should go ahead and ditch Ad-aware now that I'm using this. Ad-aware hasn't done me any real good that I can see. It never finds anything but MRU lists. I'm not complaining. Evidently Spybot and Spyware Blaster are keeping me clean. It just seems that AVG can do anything Ad-aware can. I guess it never hurts to leave it so long as it's not actively running. Anyone have a preference between two programs?

I use AVG and AdAware at the same time and haven't had any problems.

AVG sometimes delays the start-up of Windows 2000 while it is updating
but that's not really a hassle.

AVG caught problems that other virus programs didn't.

AdAware catches a different type of problem, at least on my PCs.

Together they catch almost all of the problems.

[redwudz]

I haven't noticed AVG doing much of anything to slow things down at bootup. After everything has been up and running for a while, it goes for it's updates. I use AVG, SpyBot and SpyWare Blaster with good luck on several computers. The programs all cover somewhat different areas. And I also have a router hardware firewall.

You can have other anti-malware programs running as long as they don't interfere with each other or slow down your system. But more than one antivirus program like AVG running at the same time may cause problems. I use Stopzilla for popups and an older version of Sygate firewall on my other computer to limit outgoing access and they all get along fine with no problems. They each have their own task. I also use Protowall on one computer that is most exposed to the net (24/7), along with the others for added protection.

And it should be obvious, but keep all of them updated regularly. And with Spybot do your manual scans every week or two. If I'm in doubt about my protection, I do a free Trend Micro scan for a added checkup. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

If none of my programs find anything, then I feel I have a good safe setup.

[Poppa_Meth]

I use Spyware Blaster, Spybot, Ad-aware, and now AVG anti-spyware on a regular basis. I keep them updated weekly and run scans with Spybot and CCleaner each week before backing up with acronis. I also run a scan with Ad-aware monthly. It never finds anything but MRU lists so I don't feel the need to run it any more frequently. I'll probably do the same with AVG, at least for a while. I don't think I need the resident shield running and slowing things down. Kerio should stop execution of unwanted programs and the only benefit left to the resident shield in my opinion would be blocking tracking cookies. Since I've got Firefox set to accept only limited types of cookies I'm not too worried on that either. I think AVG is worth using, but not worth upgrading to the full version for me. I'd rather use as a stand alone scanner. The new version of AVG Anti-virus seems quite good though. Updates are much faster now.