Is removing a virus checking program necessarily unsafe?

Question

Hi everyone, a seemingly dumb question here. I recently got a Dell D630 with Vista, 4 Gig of RAM and it is really quite slow. Reading a lot of posts suggests that the McAfee small business anti-virus that came with the package might be to blame.

So I uninstalled, ran the cleaner - and now I'm free of McAfee. And sure enough everything runs pretty quick now. But of course I'm nervous.

I'm behind a hardware router, I don't visit p**n or other dubious sites on this computer, I use a buttoned down version of firefox, and I switched on the (doubtfully effective) Vista firewall and "Windows Defender" - is this enough?

McAfee seemed to be doing nothing in the six months I had it (never found a virus, never seemed to be doing anything, except intermittently telling me a program wanted to connect to the internet ie reverse firewall) and it all seems so much better now, and I really don't want to go back to the dark ages of a crippled machine. Am I a fool for even trying this?

Answer 1

Windows Defender is anti-spyware only, it cannot detect virus.

ANY website can be "hacked" and used to compromise a computer, not just p**n sites...that's an old wives tale!

Recent example's include the websites of an NFL football team, Boston Herald newspaper (I got "hit" there) and (how ironic) the website of anti-virus vendor, CA!  None could be considered "dubious".

Bottom line is you are playing Russian Roulette without an anti-virus.

I suggest that you give Avria  anti-virus a shot. It showed no slowdown on either my XP or Vista boxes. Ran light as a feather.  Virus detection rates are as good as McAfee and best of all they have a free version. For life.

Download here:

http://www.free-av.com/

Answer 2

I have never used the business version of McAfee but I have a Dell laptop with 2GB of RAM and the McAfee Security Center 12 in 1 and I don't notice any slow down issues at all. Part of it might be the fact Vista sucks up massive amounts of memory itself where as XP doesn't use nearly as much leaving more open for programs like McAfee to run better. I highly suggest you get a decent anti-virus program other than those given by Windows. I have a list of some helpful programs which include good anti-virus and anti-spyware stuff that won't slow your computer down:

-Spyware Doctor with AV (anti-spyware and anti-virus in 1)

-PC Tools Firewall Plus(free) (firewall)

-ThreatFire(free) (added virus protection)

-CCleaner(keep computer running pretty good, cleans up history and whatnot)

-Firefox(safe browser)

Answer 3

do NOT let yourself be fooled into thinking McAffee is gone !

download and install Avast anti virus as you ABSOLUTELY need an anti virus program.

I have over 15 other Vista screencasts [ free ] if you'd like to look those over and deals with every Vista program set up and use,just e-mail me for them

REMOVE PROGRAMS

add/remove is only ONE section you remove programs.

REMOVE PROGRAMS/VIRUS/WORMS/ECT.

Vista removal methods are SOMETIMES different than XP's. when that happens,you will be directed to Vista footnote to equal the XP process.

Vista has deleted the My from all the start page folders.

VISTA REMOVE PROGRAMS SCREENCAST

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/...

VERY 1st thing will be to open System Restore [ see Vista System Restore footnotes for Vista ]:

programs like to hide in System Restore and after you clean up the puter and reboot...SURPRISE !!

Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore,Settings,turn System restore OFF

this deletes all previous restore points [ and the bad guys ]

after a COMPLETE clean up,return to System Restore and click create new restore point.

give it a name like today's date.

click create

REMEMBER TO TURN SYSTEM RESTORE BACK ON AFTER REBOOT

next,open the All Programs listing and click the program to be removed.

look for uninstall file.

click that to begin uninstall process.

do NOT expect that this is ALL you need do,uh,uh!

next step is Add/Remove [ Vista is Program & Features,see Program & Features footnote ].

start,control panel,Add/Remove

click change & remove

wait till the list is populated with all programs

click the program to remove

click change/remove

once that's done,it's off to your Downloads folder

start,put your cursor on your username at top of start page

if it opens up to a submenu,choose My Downloads

if it doesn't open,right click username and select open THEN select My Downloads

right click the program download and select delete

now open All Programs,right click program,select delete

Taskbar/Desktop:

right click taskbar and desktop icons

select delete

right click start

click start menu if it isn't already

check hide unused icons

click customize

choose hide or show for each icon/program listed

apply...ok

close

Program Folder:

next,remove program from:

program folder

program data folder

temp folder

prefetch folder

start,My Computer,local disk drive (c),windows

program folder:

click view,choose select all,press delete key on keyboard

back out and continue to Temp folder:

Temp:

click view,choose select all,press delete key on keyboard

back out and continue to Prefetch folder

Prefetch:

click view,choose select all,press delete key on keyboard

close window

INDEXED LOCATIONS:

this is a LONGGGGG list of EVERYTHING in place on your computer. be prepared for a few minutes looking through this longggg list!

start,my computer [ computer in Vista ],local disk drive (c),users,your username,searches,indexed locations

start--computer--disk drive (c:)

program data--microsoft

windows--start menu--programs

delete program

Internet Options:

next,off to Internet Options:

start,control panel,general

history:

click clear history & set days to keep to 0

Temp files:

click clear temp files

cookies:

click clear cookies

close window

System Restore:

Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,Disk Clean:

click Disk Clean,wait till the removable items are listed

anything with a number in the right box gets deleted,check each

click ok

you'll be asked [ several times ] if it's ok,click yes or delete

Recent:

Recent  Documents,email,music,ect.

right click username

when menu is up,click search

check each recent folder for files to delete

close window

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!

FOR ADVANCED USERS ONLY !

there are 4 "keys" that you need to open and delete program "keys" from.

THIS IS BRAIN SURGERY !! WRONG MOVE HERE AND POOF! GONE PUTER !

NOT! RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE DONE !!

so much for the legal stuff!

many software programs will have duplicate names,like Symantic/Norton--Avast/Alwil.

be sure you know what program file names are associated with the program you are removing

press the Windows key on your keyboard [ 1 with the 4 part flag ] and the letter R

in the text box,enter:

regedit

the next box to open will have 5 Hkey's in it.

they are:

hkey_classes_root

hkey_current_user

hkey_local_machine

hkey_users

to the left of each will be either a + or diamond shape.

to open each "key",you need to click those.

+ hkey_classes_root

click the "opener"

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

+ hkey_current_user

click the "opener"

click the "opener" for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

+ hkey_local_machine

click the "opener"

click the "opener" for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

+ hkey_users

click the "opener"

click the "opener" for Default

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

click the "opener"  S-1-5-18

click the "opener"  for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

click the "opener"  for S-1-5-19

click the "opener"  for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

click the "opener"  for S-1-5-20

click the "opener"  for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

click the "opener" for S-1-5-21-2047574935-13621892

click the "opener"  for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

click the "opener"  for S-1-5-21-2047574935-13621892

click the "opener"  for Software

scroll down the list of program "keys" until you find the program you're looking for

right click "key" and select delete

scroll back up and close that 1st "key" by clicking on the "opener"

reboot the computer and you're all set  !!

Vista Footnotes:

Programs & Features:

instead of Add/Remove,Vista has Programs & Features

start,control panel,Default Programs,Programs & Features

click the program to remove

click uninstall tab at top of program list

System Restore:

start--All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore:

How do I turn System Restore on or off?

System Protection, the feature that creates restore points, is on by default. We recommend that you keep System Protection turned on for all hard disks that contain important files so that you can use System Restore if you need to.

To turn System Restore on or off

Click to open System.

In the left pane, click System Protection. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

To turn on System Protection for a hard disk, select the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.

– or –

To turn off System Protection for a hard disk, clear the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.

Create Restore Point:

start,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore:

click open system protection

check (c) drive

click create

here are several programs I use for clean up and virus/trojan/worm removal

Avast anti virus

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-...

Spyware Blaster anti spyware

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownlo...

Spybot anti spyware

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/downl...

Firefox  web browser

http://www.getfirefox.com

Firefox Security Extensions:

Dr Web link checker

This plugin allows you to check any file you are about to download, any page you are about to visit with online version of Dr.Web anti-virus!

New menu item "Scan with Dr.Web" will appear on hyperlink context menu.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox...

Finjan multi blocker

Finjan SecureBrowsing alerts you when any malicious content in a webpage

that proactively alerts when you encounter a potential malicious content hiding behind links of search results, ads and other selected web pages.

is a free service that proactively alerts you to potential malicious content hiding behind links of search results, ads and other selected web pages. Finjan SecureBrowsing accesses each of the URLs in its curren