[drdrill]

The last few days vsmon.exe has been using 100% of my cpu for a few seconds then normal for 20 seconds and then high again etc. I now know this to be a recognised conflict between the latest versions of Zone Alarm (free version) and Spyware Doctor. There does not appear to be a fix available at the moment. My question is would it be better to get a new firewall and keep Spyware Doctor or keep Zone Alarm and ditch Spyware Dr? I am using xp sp2 fully updated, 2.8 pentium 4, 1.5 gb ram. Any advice much appreciated.

[TOGG]

Personally, I would have thought that a fully functional firewall was more important than anti-spyware software (if there was a recognised definition of exactly what is included under 'spyware'!) so I would sacrifice Spyware Doctor if I had no other choice. I don't actually have a dedicated, real time, anti-spyware program, but my AV (NOD32) includes antispyware definitions and I have SpywareBlaster installed. I also run BOClean which is supposed to stop just about everything!

If you are inclined to look for an alternative firewall, check the results at Matousec; http://www.matousec.com/projects/fir...ge/results.php (Note that only ZA Pro is listed, I believe that the free version got a fairly poor rating in the earlier lists). I have no idea how valid the Matousec tests are but I am, coincidentally, using Comodo. It can be fiddly to set up and I read somewhere that, if you don't have the Defense+ function enabled (which is the one that seems to cause most of the alerts), Comodo is only a fairly average performer..

[drdrill]

Thanks for the advice Togg. I am looking at other firewalls, Sunbelt Software - ex Kerio - seems popular but I'll check with the site you suggested.

[drdrill]

Interesting reading on the firewall website. Sunbelt not recommended! Back to the drawing board.

[Blackmirror]

Do you have the full version of spyware Doctor ??

[drdrill]

Hi Blackmirror, I have the full version but spyware only, I do not have the anti virus. It is the latest version. I'm getting more confused with firewalls though. I couldn't configure Sunbelt to work with Outlook, so am now trying Comodo. Shields Up gives it a good report, but I have just visited another site which gives completely different results - www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php - and also Spyware Dr is using a lot of cpu again. I guess it must depend on the threat levels with firewalls.