Spy Sweeper, McAfee, and SLOOOW Computer

I have both McAfee (all protections) and Spy Sweeper (with Anti Virus, v.5.3)
loaded on my Dell computer. Start up is VERY SLOW. I have done de-frag,
general housekeeping (emptying unused files, programs, etc.) nothing seems to
help much. Any suggestions? Will I be safe if I remove McAfee and just leave
Spy Sweeper?
--
Helmut

Helmut:

By themselves, McAfee Total Protection and Spy Sweeper w/Antivirus will
cause your computer to start and operate slowly. You have both.

Moreover, you should never have two anti-virus programs installed on a
computer. The same is becoming increasingly true for anti-spyware
programs, too.

Choose the program you want and uninstall the other.

Earl Grey

Helmut wrote:
> I have both McAfee (all protections) and Spy Sweeper (with Anti Virus, v.5.3)
> loaded on my Dell computer. Start up is VERY SLOW. I have done de-frag,
> general housekeeping (emptying unused files, programs, etc.) nothing seems to
> help much. Any suggestions? Will I be safe if I remove McAfee and just leave
> Spy Sweeper?

Earl Grey wrote:

> Helmut:
>
> By themselves, McAfee Total Protection and Spy Sweeper w/Antivirus
> will cause your computer to start and operate slowly. You have both.
>
> Moreover, you should never have two anti-virus programs installed on a
> computer.


I don't agree. There is nothing wrong with having two or more installed at
once. But there is a lot wrong with having two or more *running* at once.


> The same is becoming increasingly true for anti-spyware
> programs, too.


I disagree vehemently with that statement. One anti-spyware program is
simply not enough. Note that Eric Howes, who has done extensive testing on
Anti-Spyware products, states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the best-performing
anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the
"critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Hi Ken:

I'm glad we can disagree and still be respectful of each other's points
of view.

As the threats facing users become more and more complex, which they
unfortunately are, security software has to sink deeper hooks into a
system. Also, malware is becoming more of a blended threat, so the
distinctions between viruses and spyware, for example, are beginning to
blur.

Consequently: Whereas in the past it might have been fine to have two AV
applications installed if only one was active, that is fast becoming no
longer true. And whereas in the past it was not only fine, but
recommended practice to have several 'anti-spyware' applications running
at the same time, that advice is also starting to fall by the wayside.

Nowadays, many AV and/or AS apps won't even install if they detect the
presence of similar apps, whether running or not. And the newest version
of Zone Alarm Security Suite is not the only application that will crash
under different circumstances in the presence of other AV's and AS's.

(In my particular case, on-demand disk scans crashed vsmon until I
uninstalled Spy Sweeper, even though it wasn't active at the time.
Interestingly enough, there are other anti-spyware applications that
cause no trouble for ZASS.)

It's still possible to combine security software from different vendors,
but you have to keep on top of what is still compatible with what. I
have not read any recent advice saying that it's still OK to have to AVs
on the same computer.

For better or worse, suite solutions are gaining traction over a
best-of-breed approach, even where a suite combines products from two
vendors (SS w/AV and ZASS are examples). It comes down to compatibility.

Earl Grey

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> Earl Grey wrote:
>
>> Helmut:
>>
>> By themselves, McAfee Total Protection and Spy Sweeper w/Antivirus
>> will cause your computer to start and operate slowly. You have both.
>>
>> Moreover, you should never have two anti-virus programs installed on a
>> computer.
>
>
> I don't agree. There is nothing wrong with having two or more installed at
> once. But there is a lot wrong with having two or more *running* at once.
>
>
>> The same is becoming increasingly true for anti-spyware
>> programs, too.
>
>
> I disagree vehemently with that statement. One anti-spyware program is
> simply not enough. Note that Eric Howes, who has done extensive testing on
> Anti-Spyware products, states:
>
> "No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the best-performing
> anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the
> "critical" files and Registry entries" See
> http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm
>
>

thanks to both of you for sharing your expertise, this is an interesting
back-and-forth! A further note on my situation: I actually tried uninstalling
McAfee (after reading some posts that said McAfee hogs resources) and left
Spy Sweeper on. My computer was soon after infected with something (Spydawn?)
that just took over every time I tried to connect to the internet. I was able
to fix this (at least, I THINK I fixed it) by doing a system restore to
before I removed McAfee.

I think this experience means that Spy Sweeper alone doesn't protect my
computer. Ken, if your opinion is not to run more than one at a time, do you
have a recommendation about one protection program that really works?

Earl Grey, if your opinion is more than one is needed, do you have any
recommendations about fixing the REALLY SLOW start up?

Any other opinions out there?

Thanks.
--
Helmut


"Earl Grey" wrote:

> Hi Ken:
>
> I'm glad we can disagree and still be respectful of each other's points
> of view.
>
> As the threats facing users become more and more complex, which they
> unfortunately are, security software has to sink deeper hooks into a
> system. Also, malware is becoming more of a blended threat, so the
> distinctions between viruses and spyware, for example, are beginning to
> blur.
>
> Consequently: Whereas in the past it might have been fine to have two AV
> applications installed if only one was active, that is fast becoming no
> longer true. And whereas in the past it was not only fine, but
> recommended practice to have several 'anti-spyware' applications running
> at the same time, that advice is also starting to fall by the wayside.
>
> Nowadays, many AV and/or AS apps won't even install if they detect the
> presence of similar apps, whether running or not. And the newest version
> of Zone Alarm Security Suite is not the only application that will crash
> under different circumstances in the presence of other AV's and AS's.
>
> (In my particular case, on-demand disk scans crashed vsmon until I
> uninstalled Spy Sweeper, even though it wasn't active at the time.
> Interestingly enough, there are other anti-spyware applications that
> cause no trouble for ZASS.)
>
> It's still possible to combine security software from different vendors,
> but you have to keep on top of what is still compatible with what. I
> have not read any recent advice saying that it's still OK to have to AVs
> on the same computer.
>
> For better or worse, suite solutions are gaining traction over a
> best-of-breed approach, even where a suite combines products from two
> vendors (SS w/AV and ZASS are examples). It comes down to compatibility.
>
> Earl Grey
>
> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> > Earl Grey wrote:
> >
> >> Helmut:
> >>
> >> By themselves, McAfee Total Protection and Spy Sweeper w/Antivirus
> >> will cause your computer to start and operate slowly. You have both.
> >>
> >> Moreover, you should never have two anti-virus programs installed on a
> >> computer.
> >
> >
> > I don't agree. There is nothing wrong with having two or more installed at
> > once. But there is a lot wrong with having two or more *running* at once.
> >
> >
> >> The same is becoming increasingly true for anti-spyware
> >> programs, too.
> >
> >
> > I disagree vehemently with that statement. One anti-spyware program is
> > simply not enough. Note that Eric Howes, who has done extensive testing on
> > Anti-Spyware products, states:
> >
> > "No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the best-performing
> > anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the
> > "critical" files and Registry entries" See
> > http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm
> >
> >
>

Hi Helmut:

I won't address your questions to Ken, for whose knowledge and
experience I have great respect, but I will make the following points:

One of the reasons many experienced users love to hate McAfee and
'Norton' products is that they can be difficult to uninstall. I have not
had the (dis)pleasure of using McAfee software, so I suggest you get
advice on how to uninstall it completely.

If in fact you have a malware infection it may be due to the fact that
you had two AV products active on your system at the same time. Each AV
program can view the other program as malicious software, so neither can
do their job properly.

System Restore does NOT fix a malware infection. You need to remove the
malware. That will go a long way toward speeding your startup.

Earl Grey

Helmut wrote:
> thanks to both of you for sharing your expertise, this is an interesting
> back-and-forth! A further note on my situation: I actually tried uninstalling
> McAfee (after reading some posts that said McAfee hogs resources) and left
> Spy Sweeper on. My computer was soon after infected with something (Spydawn?)
> that just took over every time I tried to connect to the internet. I was able
> to fix this (at least, I THINK I fixed it) by doing a system restore to
> before I removed McAfee.
>
> I think this experience means that Spy Sweeper alone doesn't protect my
> computer. Ken, if your opinion is not to run more than one at a time, do you
> have a recommendation about one protection program that really works?
>
> Earl Grey, if your opinion is more than one is needed, do you have any
> recommendations about fixing the REALLY SLOW start up?
>
> Any other opinions out there?
>
> Thanks.

Helmut wrote:

> thanks to both of you for sharing your expertise, this is an
> interesting back-and-forth! A further note on my situation: I
> actually tried uninstalling McAfee (after reading some posts that
> said McAfee hogs resources) and left Spy Sweeper on. My computer was
> soon after infected with something (Spydawn?) that just took over
> every time I tried to connect to the internet. I was able to fix this
> (at least, I THINK I fixed it) by doing a system restore to before I
> removed McAfee.
>
> I think this experience means that Spy Sweeper alone doesn't protect
> my computer. Ken, if your opinion is not to run more than one at a
> time, do you have a recommendation about one protection program that
> really works?


Again I know nothing about Spy Sweeper, and have no comments about it. I do
not recommend running more than one anti-virus program at a time, but I very
much *do* recommend using more than one anti-spware product to scan the
system

And I do *not* think that that you can rely on "one protection program."

I use all of the following

Firewall:
ZoneAlarm free

Anti-virus:
Avast

Anti-spyware:
Spyware Blaster
Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware
Windows Defender.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Earl

A UK computer magazine conducted tests on the latest versions of 12
leading anti-virus prpgrammes. Symantec was 8th, McAfee 10th and Trend
Micro was 11th. These are the three market leaders. Alwil Avast was
12th. Kapersky Lab was 1 and Steganos 2.


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Earl Grey wrote:
> Hi Helmut:
>
> I won't address your questions to Ken, for whose knowledge and
> experience I have great respect, but I will make the following
> points:
> One of the reasons many experienced users love to hate McAfee and
> 'Norton' products is that they can be difficult to uninstall. I
> have not had the (dis)pleasure of using McAfee software, so I
> suggest you get advice on how to uninstall it completely.
>
> If in fact you have a malware infection it may be due to the fact
> that you had two AV products active on your system at the same
> time. Each AV program can view the other program as malicious
> software, so neither can do their job properly.
>
> System Restore does NOT fix a malware infection. You need to
> remove the malware. That will go a long way toward speeding your
> startup.
> Earl Grey
>
> Helmut wrote:
>> thanks to both of you for sharing your expertise, this is an
>> interesting back-and-forth! A further note on my situation: I
>> actually tried uninstalling McAfee (after reading some posts
>> that said McAfee hogs resources) and left Spy Sweeper on. My
>> computer was soon after infected with something (Spydawn?) that
>> just took over every time I tried to connect to the internet. I
>> was able to fix this (at least, I THINK I fixed it) by doing a
>> system restore to before I removed McAfee. I think this experience
>> means that Spy Sweeper alone doesn't
>> protect my computer. Ken, if your opinion is not to run more
>> than one at a time, do you have a recommendation about one
>> protection program that really works? Earl Grey, if your opinion is
>> more than one is needed, do you
>> have any recommendations about fixing the REALLY SLOW start up?
>>
>> Any other opinions out there?
>>
>> Thanks.

Gerry:

You didn't say what the ranking means: Speed? Effectiveness (at doing
what?) Something else?

Earl Grey

Gerry Cornell wrote:
> Earl
>
> A UK computer magazine conducted tests on the latest versions of 12
> leading anti-virus prpgrammes. Symantec was 8th, McAfee 10th and Trend
> Micro was 11th. These are the three market leaders. Alwil Avast was
> 12th. Kapersky Lab was 1 and Steganos 2.
>
>

Gerry Cornell wrote:
> Earl
>
> A UK computer magazine conducted tests on the latest versions of 12
> leading anti-virus prpgrammes. Symantec was 8th, McAfee 10th and Trend
> Micro was 11th. These are the three market leaders. Alwil Avast was
> 12th. Kapersky Lab was 1 and Steganos 2.


I am personally very suspicious of comparison and reviews done by computer
magazines. These are companies that derive much of their income from
advertisements, and I therefore don't trust them to be even-handed.

I also have personal experience with reviewers in such magazines. A number
of years ago, I had a young woman working for me as a technical writer. Her
previous job was writing product reviews for PC Magazine. She wasn't a bad
writer, but she could barely spell *PC*, and I certainly wouldn't trust her
opinions on anything technical.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



> Earl Grey wrote:
>> Hi Helmut:
>>
>> I won't address your questions to Ken, for whose knowledge and
>> experience I have great respect, but I will make the following
>> points:
>> One of the reasons many experienced users love to hate McAfee and
>> 'Norton' products is that they can be difficult to uninstall. I
>> have not had the (dis)pleasure of using McAfee software, so I
>> suggest you get advice on how to uninstall it completely.
>>
>> If in fact you have a malware infection it may be due to the fact
>> that you had two AV products active on your system at the same
>> time. Each AV program can view the other program as malicious
>> software, so neither can do their job properly.
>>
>> System Restore does NOT fix a malware infection. You need to
>> remove the malware. That will go a long way toward speeding your
>> startup.
>> Earl Grey
>>
>> Helmut wrote:
>>> thanks to both of you for sharing your expertise, this is an
>>> interesting back-and-forth! A further note on my situation: I
>>> actually tried uninstalling McAfee (after reading some posts
>>> that said McAfee hogs resources) and left Spy Sweeper on. My
>>> computer was soon after infected with something (Spydawn?) that
>>> just took over every time I tried to connect to the internet. I
>>> was able to fix this (at least, I THINK I fixed it) by doing a
>>> system restore to before I removed McAfee. I think this experience
>>> means that Spy Sweeper alone doesn't
>>> protect my computer. Ken, if your opinion is not to run more
>>> than one at a time, do you have a recommendation about one
>>> protection program that really works? Earl Grey, if your opinion is
>>> more than one is needed, do you
>>> have any recommendations about fixing the REALLY SLOW start up?
>>>
>>> Any other opinions out there?
>>>
>>> Thanks.