AVG - In a spin - running alongside Norton - Melissa, you were right!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeni
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeni

Hi Melissa

Yes, it's me again. I took your advice re running more than one
Antivirus program - in my case, Norton AV, alongside AVG7 [new update
as of earlier this week]. My "spin" problem with AVG returned.

Cutting a long story short, I again d/loaded the NEW version of
AVG7 Free V7.1.0.321, installed it OK but when accessing my email,
it still kept spinning relentlessly. I had disabled the Auto-protect
function *ONLY* of NAV. Big mistake! Eventually I realised that if I
disabled it completely AVG might be happier. YES. It worked!
[Partly..see below].

However I also realised there might be a problem with Windows firewall.
Er....hmm...
At Grisoft's website forum, [you have to register with a username &
password] it suggests you remove AVGcc.exe, AVGinet.exe and AVGemc.exe
from the Windows firewall [under the Exceptions tab], then *re-add*
these 3 components to the Exceptions. Apparently Win XP looks at the
new update as a completely new program, so it won't let AVG in unless
you do this....AND although my previous versions of AVG ran along
comfortably with NAV, the new version doen't like it. So you were
right Melissa. Thankyou for your help.
Just thought you'd like to know this or that it might help someone else
who's got no hair left. Ah... the joys of computing...

Kind regards

Jeni
 
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Hi Jeni,

I had disabled the Auto-protect function *ONLY* of NAV. Big
mistake! Eventually I realised that if I disabled it completely
AVG might be happier. YES. It worked!
Click to expand...

I'm glad it's all working for you now! :-)

There was a time when I seemed to believe that no "software overkill"
was too much when it came to avoiding viruses and such. I've long
since decided that I was quite wrong about that. Now I'm a "software
minimalist" when it comes to these sorts of things.

Protecting one's computer from viruses, worms, and Trojans should
involve a multi-layered approach, but such an approach isn't just
about AV/AT and other protective software. In fact, I'd venture to
say that AV/AT software should be a "last line of defense" rather
than the first and foremost thing you depend on.

While I wouldn't go so far as some people do in saying that one should
*never* save/open *any* attached file (attaching certain types of
files can indeed be a very convenient way to exchange files between
trusted correspondents), knowing what not to click on really isn't
that difficult once you know what to look for. Then, choosing
Internet software - email clients, browsers, etc. - that are designed
with security in mind, and that also offer the possibility of "safe"
configurations is a good idea. Just these two things (some basic
knowledge and reasonable software choices/configurations) will
already eliminate 99.999% of the risk of infection; even before any
AV/AT software is added to the mix.

Though I still feel more comfortable running on-access AV/AT software
(in my case, NOD32 and BOClean), and continue to recommend such
things, I've realized over the years that my AV/AT software, as good
as it is, has *never once* had to actually "save" me from an
infection; because my machines have never been infected, and even
this has nothing to do with the fact that I had AV/AT software
running. Even though the occasional pop-up warnings about incoming
infected email messages/attachments have been interesting, they've
actually been unnecessary *in my case* because when I go to look at
the messages in question (with or without an AV warning), I realize
that I would have simply deleted them anyway, because I already know
what to look for. Additionally, my email client itself is designed
with security in mind, and I would have to try *really, really* hard
to infect my machine with anything that arrived via email (and I
still couldn't do it from within the email client itself).

In any event, by the time you get around to deciding upon which
"protective software" packages to use (AV/AT/anti-spyware/firewall,
etc.), you can choose programs and configurations that are both as
effective as they can be, and that will not become something you have
to constantly monitor and/or tweak just to make sure they're working.

In the past, when I had much slower and less powerful computers,
resource usage was a major concern of mine. Even now, with a much
faster machine, I still see no reason to waste both disk space and
resource usage with bloated, resource hungry programs if more
efficient alternatives are available. Efficiency is gained both by
choosing efficient programs and by not piling them up, one upon the
other, in futile overkill configurations.

All that said, it is unfortunate that we have to be so vigilant in
order to protect our machines from the work of malicious idiots, but
the inherently insecure nature of the Internet itself, and certain
elements of human nature that would exploit such insecurity makes
such vigilance necessary. At the same time, once you've learned what
to look for, and have set up your OS and various programs in a way to
greatly mitigate the risks, you can just go about your business
without having to constantly fret about becoming a victim. Awareness
is always a must, but even that becomes second nature, so it really
doesn't get in the way of just doing what you want with the computer,
then getting on with the rest of your life. :-)

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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