Virus scanners?

[Lane]

Do You guys bother to turn them off when running SH3?
I have the Avast free VS installed. get free updates daily. I am runing XP Home SP2 I know it has a fire wall.
I don't mess with that. and never play Multiplayer.
I have had two freeze ups since i got sh3 and I was
on line and vs was running? So now I just go off line
and disable VS don't mess with screen saver.
When i play SH3 May have not been the problem?
but I have not had a lock up since I do this
One lock up I had was moving a crew member mouse
just locked?
Thank's for any come back
I guess by now you known I don't spell worth"crap"
some times I grab my hand held spell checker most
of time I don't
Lane

[Venge]

I leave it all going and dont seem to have many problems.
Haven't tried multiplayer yet though. Firewall or antivirus may rear it's ugly head then.

[BlitzPig_Rivet]

I personally leave mine running. I use AVG Free edition by Grisoft. It works fine and uses minimal system resources. Windows firewall is turned off, as is most of the extra "we'll sort of do it all for you" stuff that comes with SP2. My router serves as a hardware firewall.

Without knowing the spec of your machine, I can only suggest checking for adware/spyware etc. These are things that can have a crippling effect on your pc if ignored, from slow downs to lock-ups and even crashes. Antivirus programs won't detect those.

[Lane]

Guys are they any free adware/ spyware programs?
I know there are free scanners but removal?
I know there is a ad up top this forum for a free
scan. I think there are a free scanners.
Thank's for any info
Lane

[Lane]

Just downloaded AD-ware SE. Personal Edition 1.05
It's free not installed yet. Any good?
Lane

[Dominico Baggio]

adaware is good, it finds most little things. So its worth a run, and it shouldnt delete anything important. Mine never has!

[Venge]

Use spybot as well, a lot fo people use them both.
www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
It is free and is a great finder of the nasties.
it also does an automatic Restore Point before it removes the nasties just in case.
I use it first, so I have the restore point to fall back on, then I run adaware.

[BlitzPig_Rivet]

Spybot isn't one of my favourites although I do have it installed as well as Pest Patrol.

If you use Spybot S&D make sure it's the 1.3.1TX version, otherwise you'll be irritated with it displaying "DSO exploit" every time you run it. The TX version fixes that. You can get it here:

www.majorgeeks.com/download4392.html

My favourite is Pest Patrol but they do want money for it. It uses far less system resources that Spysweeper for example and is equally effective. It's also very easy to use.

Adaware is good but I found that Pest Patrol found everything that Adaware did and more. Having said that, no one utility will find every bit of malware ever created, so it's as well to have a small arsenal of utilities at your disposal.

[Lane]

Thank's guys ,
I d/l and installed AD-Ware SE Personal Edition 1.05
Did my first scan Did not throw up any flags that it
found any bad guys or any files to isolate.
I need to spend some time reading how it operates.
I have the spybot 1.3.1 tx downloaded ready to
install may install after i learn how ad-war works
first
Thank's for info guys
Lane

[grandpacharlie]

The free adware is fine but it really doesnt find the job the way the paid programs do. imo
I checked out some reviews ( cant remember where) and NOADWARE was rated the best. You can get a free scan of your system at their website www.noadware. net . Try doing a scan with the free programs remove all it finds and then try this one. I did and it found two serious problems and several minor ones the other missed. Of course you have to pay a small fee for the program but its a one time only charge.

Its not only good but very fast as well.

[Lane]

Thank's guys and grandpacharlie
will check out those links out I have one free program
AD-Ware installed and spybot 1.3.1 tx ready to install
Will check that other site out for a free scan.
Lane