[bikerdude1]

Hi everyone and thank you for reading my post. I have a Vista machine and as yet, have not downloaded any anti-virus, malware, firewall, etc. software. My computer tech advises AVG, and it is free. But I have read some threads on here that say others are better. Cost is an issue.
As Vista has its own firewall, I know I would need to disable a firewall, not sure which one.

On my XP machine I have:
AVG-seems to work fine
Ad-aware 2008-loads slow and delicate, only runs in Smart Scan. Full Scan goes for a while and then stops. I have uninstalled/reinstalled several times to try and solve it.
RegSeeker-seems to find a set number of items each time it runs. Leads me to believe it is not removing them. Sometimes it does find more though.
SpyBot-never seems to find anything, pretty slow too.

I also from time to time, run Defragmenter, DiskCleanup and on rare occasions, chkdsk on my XP machine.

What is best for XP? What is best for Vista? Thank you!
Bruce

[RetroGuy]

I find that Avast Home Edition gives adequate protection, provided you keep it updated. That of course goes with all antivirus utilities I'm sure.. It's just that a lot of people say "Avast didn't catch the virus" when they last updated the definitions say a month back.
If you want control over what programs are running and accessing the net/system files, go for Comodo Internet Security, or in conjunction with Avast: I use it without the included Comodo antivirus, and Avast antivirus because it's just so good and I didnt' wish to change to Comodo Antivirus (Comodo recently started distribution Firewall + Antivirus as Internet Security package)

[1002richards]

Hi bikerdude1,
Well written reviews of free security (and other) progs at this independent site:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

Written in ways that help you choose what may suit your experience and needs.
Richard

[stantley]

Originally Posted by bikerdude1

AVG-seems to work fine

I've used both AVG and Avast and I like Avast better because you can install only the parts you need and it's an anti-virus program but also scans for spyware.

Ad-aware 2008-loads slow and delicate, only runs in Smart Scan.

Try the new version, Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition 8.0 and see if it works any better.

SpyBot-never seems to find anything, pretty slow too.

It has several other useful functions like "Immunize" and the Hosts file, so use both of those.

RegSeeker

This shouldn't even be listed with the others since it's a registry cleaner and not a security program. Don't delete anything this program finds. It's a very aggressive registry cleaner and can do a lot of damage.

You could also add SpywareBlaster and SuperAntiSpyware.

You can use the Vista firewall or try Comodo or Online Armour.

[golferbob]

i use comodo 3.0 free firewall on my xp. i don't know about vista's firewall ,i hear different stories about it.

http://www.filehippo.com/download_comodo/

[rOadToIS]

Firewall - COMODO
AV - Avira AntiVir free or AVAST!
AS - SuperAntispyware free
Other - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

[perfume]

Dear Bikerdude1,
first un-install reg-seeker! Then we can discuss your other problems.otherwise you won't have anything to post' 'cause you're gonna land up with a big bang and a system crash!

That's my first advise as a well-wisher.

[mrss]

Originally Posted by bikerdude1

As Vista has its own firewall, I know I would need to disable a firewall, not sure which one.

From this blog on Consumer Reports ,,,, Vista's firewall is disabled, even if you turn it on.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/ele...oft_vista.html

Vista's outbound firewall has no mechanism for this. The only way you can block a bad program is to know it's there (unlikely in the case of a Trojan horse), know its exact name and where it is on your hard drive, then go into an obscure interface in Vista's Computer Administration Control Panel and enter that information. If a malicious program renames or relocates itself (common in the case of malware), your blocking will be rendered ineffective. Vista doesn’t warn you of any of this.

[bikerdude1]

Thanks Perfume, I tried through the usual methods to remove/uninstall regseeker. No luck. Didn't see it in windows explorer, add/remove programs. should I just pull the desktop icon to recycle bin? Will that fully remove it? Which brings up a new point. Sometimes when removing software, it doesn't all get removed. Doesn't regseeker find and remove those remnants? If Regseeker is to agressive, what do you suggest? Sorry about this late post. Long day.

[perfume]

Dear bikerdude 1,
Have you tried this piece of software to uninstall?The beauty about this particular Absolute Uninstaller Pro version 5 is,it will allow you to use for 7 days or 12 uses! After that it's a redundant piece and you can flush it out!You can download from: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/U...ller-Pro.shtml

If this software dosent work, then i have another uninstaller(Real Aggressive) which iam keeping up my sleeve for the moment. Tinkering with the registry is dangerous for most people, except the select few,who know their way around it! Most of the times,we tend to cause damage than repair when we touch the registry,that's the reason why i wanted you to remove Reg seeker. Best wishes.

[Gizzy]

From reading about that program "absolute uninstaller" that uninstall program looks very similar to revo uninstaller which is free,

[stantley]

Originally Posted by bikerdude1

I tried through the usual methods to remove/uninstall regseeker. No luck.

Regseeker is a stand alone executable so it doesn't need to be uninstalled. You can just delete the program or delete it's folder. It might be in Program Files, if you can't find it search for RegSeeker.exe.

It's better to stay away from all registry cleaners, because they don't improve performance and they can potentially cause a lot of damage.

[perfume]

Dear Gizzy,
Good guess! Yes,many friends on this site don't like it as it will take you to the registry,if you select options 3 or 4! Pretty radical and a bit dangerous too!

[perfume]

Dear Bikerdude1,
I agree with rOad's choice of programs since budget is a constraint. It's better to have two anti-spyware programs and why don't you check out the free version of "A-Squared", though it comes up with quite a few False-Positives.You can download it from: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

[perfume]

Dear Bikerdude1,
There are ways to remove programs/software not found in ADD/REMOVE. Mostly, they include entering the registry and deleting the program from there! Some paradox iam offering you here,lol.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2385912_dele...addremove.html