This question is very important to me because I'm not clear with what Miccrosoft security if any I should use and what does my Avast Free addition covers. I want to have all bases covered both on my desktop and my laptop. The desktop has Vista Ultimate and the laptop has Windows 7 both have the Avast free anti virus. What concerns me is do I have a firewall with Avast do I have all the necessary features needed to keep my systems clean. Also if you could recommend anything that I should do to keep everything tidy. What about defragmenting, should I do this and if so how often? Thanks for whatever tips you can give me to keep my systems healthy, you are more than appreciated, your my "computer bible" lol
Reply 1 : Maintenance and Security
It's a good question, and of course a very important one.
First of all, defragmenting is not required that often. With today's large hard disks it could take an age to do anyway, but constant defragmenting is not called for and doesn't help with maintenance or performance that it may have done with Windows 95/98 or ME. Once or twice a year may be sufficient, but I have been using my system for some time now and have not even considered it.
Your free version of Avast is a good option for anti-virus scanning and I see no reason to change that if you are happy with it.
It does not include a firewall so you need to ensure your Windows Firewall is turned on on both machines. Both Vista's and Win 7's Security Center should be telling you about this if their firewalls are not turned on. But if not, goto Control Panel > Security Center, (that may be Control Panel > Action Center, then Security in Win 7), to check.
Windows Updates needs to be turned on.
Anti-virus scanners do a good job with viruses, but make sure the scanner is kept up to date and is scheduled to scan regularly, (mine scans every day). However, viruses are not the only threat and you also need 'additional' protection against malware. We often recommend the two free versions of Malwarebytes Anti-malware and SUPERAntiSpyware.
They are stand-alone scanners and do not need to be set to run in the background. Just run them once a week or so to update their definitions and run a full scan. SAS will attempt to set itself to run on startup, so you may want to look out for that and disable it.
Both your systems may already have Microsoft's own Windows Defender installed, and this is also a reasonable anti-spyware scanner, but I would not have it running in the background. Instead, use the scanners I suggested above.
There are plenty of other tips, and you could do worse than reading Jimmy's TIPS FOR A PROBLEM FREE COMPUTING EXPERIENCE.
That post of Jimmys' is about other problems, but his Tips are relevant in general. You do not need to heed all of his {personal} suggestions.
I hope that helps.
Mark
Reply 2 : Maintenance and Security
Thank you so much Mark I am going to take heed and install Malwarebytes Anti-malware , just to verify I just install one version per computer, correct? I don't understand what you mean about running in the background and how you set that up on your computer. If you could please explain that and also all the programs that I don't use (mainly all the Micrsoft prograsms) but scared to click them off and would it make much difference in adding space to my drive? Thanks again for your help Mark, I wish they came with user manuels
Reply 3 : Maintenance and Security
If you treat each of the two computers separately then each one needs a firewall, an anti-virus, and one or two 'anti-malware' scanners.
It isn't an absolute necessity for either computer to have both MBAM and SAS installed; just one would do on each computer, but on my computers they all have both MBAM and SAS installed. My systems have the anti-virus scanner scheduled to run every day, but MBAM and SAS are not scheduled. I simply choose one or the other utility, once a week, update its definitions, and run a manual scan then.
Running in the background is what your Avast free version does. At least it should be. When it is installed it should set that during the installation process. Every time the computer opens programs or uses data, the anti-virus, (AV), scans the data for viruses. Neither MBAM nor SAS needs to do that and in fact having them running in the background can cause conflicts as they try to scan the same files as the AV does.
The free version of MBAM doesn't allow that anyway, so no problem there, but the free version of SAS does attempt to set itself to run at startup, and that is not advisable.
If you have Windows Defender installed on each, (or on either), computer, then it may already be running in the background. If so, I would disable that.
I hope that helps.
Mark
Reply 4 : Maintenance and Security
Thank you for lifting a worry some problem, I now have both MBAM and SAS. One more thing, to disable Windows Defender I'll be monitering my own security correct?
Reply 5 : Maintenance and Security
Yes that means you will be in control.
But before doing anything further, lets see if Windows Defender is actually installed and running on both of your computers. Easy to do.
With Windows loaded and running, right click the Taskbar and select "Task Manager" and a new window will display. This window should have tabs. Click the "Processes" tab. This will list all processes running on the computer(s) in alphabetical order. If the list is not in alpha order, click the column header called 'Image Name'.
If there is an option along the bottom for "Show Processes for all users", click that. This will list all processes which might not normally be listed.
Look down the list for "MsMpEng.exe". If you do not see that, then Windows Defender is not running.
If you do see that entry, then Windows Defender is running in the background. Close the Task Manager down then goto Start, and search for Windows Defender. Click the entry that is listed. In the Windows Defender window that opens, goto Tools then Options.
Look down the list (use the scroll bar if necessary), and remove ticks for automatic scanning and any Real-Time Protection settings. More about these settings here;
http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/configuring-options-in-windows-defender/
Why turn it off? If WD is scanning the whole time in the background, then it can interfere or conflict with Avast's background scanning. Scanning for viruses continuously is much preferred over scanning for spyware, because viruses present the greater risk.
Once WD is disabled that doesn't mean you are less protected. Both MBAM and SAS do a better job of scanning for spyware and other malware than WD does, and you only need to run those once a week or so.
How to do smileys?
: ) (with no space between the two).
More smileys in
this FAQ.
Mark
Reply 6 : Maintenance and Security
But as I say, the more of my tips you follow, the better the overall experience will be. I try to cover the full spectrum, not just avoiding malware. If everyone were a more considerate neighbor, so to speak, there would be considerably fewer issues with the Internet. We can't control the actions of others, but we can control our own actions and make a conscious choice to rise above it all in the hopes of inspiring others to do the same. Even should we fail, we can at least go to sleep each night knowing that we are not part of the problem.
Reply 7 : Maintenance and Security
In as much the "freebies" do a good job, they have usually been proven to be less than capable in *all* regards of security. Basically, in most reports or reviews I've seen they come in at 3-4 place or worse. Not, that they can't do the job on typical or "in the wild" malware, etc., they simply don't measure up in a severe test of abilities. A paid-for version of some virus protection or its suite, will do better and offer faster up-to-date protection signatures, etc.. It boils down, you get what you paid for. If you feel your PC protection is worth at least the price of 1-install or 3-install package price against all the problems you may face to correct one, then think freebie vs. commercial product.
You will need a firewall, virus and trojan protection and malware scanner. As stated above the freebie do a good job and I firmly believe that free firewall and malware scanner are very good, but virus and trojan are a weak area int he earliest stage(day-0). If you interest is for some small or any business, then buy the commercial product period.
tada -----Willy
Reply 8 : Maintenance and Security
Willy, Thank you for the much needed advice, right now I'm just beginning in college and haven't reached the point to where I need to upgrade but now I have a better idea when to switch to a more secure product, thank you for your valuable advice
tuttles--Karen311
PS How do you put the emotioncan after your name???
Reply 9 : Maintenance and Security
Depends on the threat. Commercial AV suites tend to do a horrendous job when it comes to detecting malware compared to fee programs. OTOH, programs like MBAM don't even attempt to discover viruses, trojans, worms, or rootkits.
The problem is you Windows users have been poisoned by this idea of a single super cure-all program that does everything for you. It doesn't work that way. It may be a pain to keep a small fleet of programs maintained, but having different programs that focus only on a single task, and excel at that task above all others, is far far better than a single uber program that will try and do everything and fail to do much of anything in the end. It also provides would-be attackers a common point of attack. All your defenses are tied to a single mass of code written by the same people. Any defect in that code provides a way for attackers to shut down all your defenses at once. As opposed to a more layered system with different programs from different vendors, where would be attackers have to defeat them one by one.
The alternative, is my method of carefully selecting your programs and altering your behaviors to avoid things which may be problematic. It's the computer version of avoiding parts of town known to be dangerous, and making sure you lock your door at night, etc. If you don't use Internet Explorer or file sharing programs, your malware exposure risk drops to near zero for example. A few simple things of that nature and you can all but eliminate the need for all those programs.
Reply 10 : Maintenance and Security
Tear it apart and clean it all once done. Re-assemble again to include the cpu paste, etc., and reseat all cards. If it works, great, if not, then do a total re-install. If you can get it going, maybe do a back-up. I find it strange you mention "humidity" if that's factor where you're at, then by all means, recheck everything. A small bridge can develop in some area and/or cause an issue. However, when it comes to non-boots and infrequent stable boots, I tend to swap the PSU out and try again. You may want to dissemble and try on cardboard or non-conducting material and build a minimum system and restart again.
tada -----Willy
Reply 11 : Maintenance and Security
They follow the same convention as they always have been. The forum however acknowledges only the common ones. So enter your smiley and then "preview" your post to see if it took.
the : + ) =
(minus the +)
Please ignore the other post as it was placed in error for another problem, begins as;
"Tear it apart and clean it all once done.", sorry. -----Willy
Reply 12 : Maintenance and Security
you can also try speedmypc
Reply 13 : Maintenance and Security
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/speedmypc.com
Before you advise such places, check WOT.
Reply 14 : Maintenance and Security
Seeing as how your username is the same as the product you are promoting I would suggest you heed Bob's advice and sort out that WOT rating before you promote your software any more. Reputations are important in this world.
Mark
Reply 15 : Maintenance and Security
Willy
I can't lie, you did throw me into left field with all the tear this down then use cpu paste, I wish I had the capabilities to do those kind of repairs, thats, my dream to be able to access all my problems and be able to fix them. All you guys are my heros!! I love tech gadjets. Thanks for ALL your help, this is a priceless site keep up the great work! Karen311
Thank you very much!!!! 
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