[luckylisa03]

Hello...I have windows xp and currently our virus protection expired. My husband downloaded a free trial of one that I hadn't heard of and it really seemed to slow things down. Is that normal? Are there certain antivirus that work better with certain systems?

Thanx

[Frank4d]

Norton and McAfee are notorious resource hogs and slow many systems. AVG free seems to be a good choice for many people (what I use).

[luckylisa03]

I will look online for that. Thanx

[luckylisa03]

Question...I already have windows repair pro and registry repair pro. Can I still use them? I dont have them running all the time. Didn't know if they were compatible.

[07clarkm]

Yes they are compatible.

Download all of these in bold, the rest is to tell you what it is used for:

Antivirus - AVG 7.5 - Free
Spyware - Spybot Search and Destroy - Free
Malware/Adware - Ad-Aware 2007 - Free
Other Types Of Threats - Zone Alarm - Free

None of these will bog your computer down at all!

You will see a huge difference,

Glad to help,

Mikey.

[luckylisa03]

Cool...thanx....do the zone alarm and adaware and spybot run all the time or do you have to scan your computer with them occassionally?

Sorry so many questions.......not real literate here with the computer......trying though

[golferbob]

i use avg7.5 free and it does a nice job as for firewalls here is a site that shows you whats what with firewalls.

http://www.matousec.com/projects/win...ewalls-ratings

[07clarkm]

Nice one golferbob...

Zone alarm runs all the time, Ad-Aware 2007 and Spybot Search and Destroy doesn't, they need regular scans. But even with the ones that run all the time you should think about weekly scanning.

Some people do not like Zone Alarm as there are always pop ups coming up from everywhere in the corner. Uninstall it if you don't like it, the other Antivirus will protect you enough... I don't use Zone Alarm but use the others.

**UNINSTALL THE ANTI VIRUS SOFTWARE YOU WERE USING PREVIOUSLY.**

Mikey.

[luckylisa03]

you guys are great!! Now could you just come over here and disable all of the processes running in the background that I dont need too??? LOL Its all way too confusing to me. I actually think hubby messed something up because it wasn't quite this slow b4 he was messing with the antivirus stuff....grrrr

Thanx again for the info!

[07clarkm]

I have something for that as well.

http://www.ursoftware.com/

This program eliminates processes from starting up at bootup. I got it free of a mate and I swear by it. Used to have 60 processes starting up at bootup but now only have 35.

Be careful what you stop from starting up! I am not taking any responsibility from what you stop booting up.

Only delete the stuff with the recognizable icons next to them.

Glad to be of quite reasonable service...

Mikey.

[luckylisa03]

Thanx Mikey.....Not sure about disabling things myself...little frightened of screwing up my computer.

Question on spybot.....it says its for adware and spyware.....do you still need the adaware with that or is it ok to just use the spybot??

[patmac]

Hi,
If you do a Google search for terms like: "process modules, running processes and startup", there are many sites that give good explanations on how to figure out what should be running in the background and what should not. Some sites like "MajorGeeks" and "BleepingComputer" have lists and explanations on startup and questionable exes that are running. Just search for those sites and look around when you get there.

[luckylisa03]

Will definitely check those sites out to see if it makes sense to me....lol

Thanx!

[07clarkm]

Wow thanks patmac. Will check them out too... you learn something new everyday!

Mikey.

[WhitPhil]

Originally Posted by 07clarkm

http://www.ursoftware.com/

This program eliminates processes from starting up at bootup. .

From the website, this is an uninstaller NOT a program designed to eliminate processes from startup.
Now, if you uninstall and there happens to be a startup, obviously it will be gone. But most people just want to slim down their startups by stopping them from starting, NOT by completely getting rid of them!

luckylisa03 Download, install and run HiJackThis. Do the scan and save logfile. When the LOG file opens in Notepad, select all, copy, then come back there and start a new thread asking for help in reducing unnecessary startup programs and paste the log in that post.

BTW things like windows repair pro and registry repair pro may be "compatible" but you really do not want to be running these types of programs unless you are reviewing each and every entry that is being removed. If you are not, you run the risk of ending up with a PC that will not boot, or applications that will no longer function.