yeah, I stopped using XP before SP3 came out…just wondered because on Vista, you can’t install SP2 directly on a no-SP install. SP1 must be installed first. That’s what I went through on a reinstall of Vista on another computer >:( …took ages :
Logos: When you buy a winXP 64 bit, you cannot get it without SP2, so ofc. I have this service pack.
The system setup I had before the phis (no antivirus etc.) was working perfectly fine. My computer never hung or was lazy to start up. When I wrote my password, it just opened up, took it a maximum time of 10 seconds, and it was ready to use.
Now, after antivirus and stuff, It has to load all of these at the startup. Witch makes it take even longer for it to startup. That I cannot take, and that is why I close down all antivirus. except avast. And as you say yourself, installing a SP can lead to an almost unusable windows, witch I would not like happen to me. Since I have 700GB of data I need to save on my system drive, and I just do not know how. All my backups are full.
I do not think that MS makes an update for fun. But as we all should know, we have not been too lucky regarding MS. As it is, I simply do not trust them and their silly updates. I have never, EVER, run a windows update where the windows would actually get better. What happened is that it got really slow. And no, I did not just try this once. I have done it allot of times. Even on vista it got slower. A benchmark easily cleared that up. So, from my experience it has never worked as it should be.
Oh, and by the way, there is ALWAYS like 6 updates it cannot install for some strange reason. Even tried that after just installing windows. Just the way MS made it all, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
About the firewall. My router does not have a firewall, it is so old. I can’t even access it to make something like port forwarding. And once again, this also, never made any sense to me. If I play a game, want to play it on the internet, I HAVE to click on “unblock”. What is up with that? Why not just make the connection. That is really like vista. Asking you like 10 times if you are really sure you want to do something tiny with windows. It really annoy me those things, and I just can’t live with it.
Now you mention your friends without protection. My computer has been running unprotected for almost 2 years. SAP found 11 spywares, and avast only found the phis and deleted that (including registry). Some of the spywares SAP found I knew I had and I wanted to keep, since I know what it is, and I need it.
This computer has been 100% like a TV, you turn it on and off like you want to use it, it is fast to start up, it is fast to do whatever I want to do, and just feels so smooth and relaxing to sit with.
Just for the record, whatever you say wont change my mind. We all do things the way we want to do it, and we can’t really do something about that. I just believe that protection is just something that slows you down in ANY way possible.
Also, I have another computer for my net bank to keep that protected. It has run avast from the very beginning, together with two other AV. So I really do not have anything people can steal from me on this one. This is just my fast and reliable computer witch I use for gaming and having fun.
what are your system spec, CPU, RAM, Graphics Card, HDD ?
MSI k9n platinum I believe it is. It is the best k9 card they made for AM2+, I know that for sure.
2x Club3d GeForce 7950GX2
AMD phenom X4 9950BE @ 3Ghz + 1,4V
1x 1TB samsung SATA2 32mb cache hdd
2x 500GB maxtor SATA2 32mb cache hdd
1x 200GB maxtor SATA2 32mb cache hdd
4GB corsair 800Mhz CL5 (overkill I know, but I got the last 2GB for free, so why not use it?)
SeaSonic 600 watt PSU
I run with stock cooler, but I have 4 fans running to suck and blow air in and out, so it has a good flow.
Just at the top of my head.
And I know the GFX is really old and outdated, but it runs anything I trow at it, so I do not need to update that yet.
OK, so your system is obviously fast enough to install and run everything I suggested. If you don’t and still pretend that would slow down things, then either your Windows install is broken already, or the problem is not computer related 
It is fast yes, but it will still take time to startup all those programs you mentioned. That time I really hate to wait. When I start my computer, I want it to start fast Normally takes 5 - 10 seconds for it to startup. I am not going to ruin that by installing tons of software witch I already think is unnecessary for my use.
I do not think my windows install is broken. As we all know, there comes a time for windows when you really have to format and reinstall, because it gets so slow, even on fast computers. This has not happened yet.
And as I wrote earlier, I do not have a hard dive big enough to put my last 700GB of backup on. If my windows installation goes down, I am practically screwed.
It has run avast from the very beginning, together with two other AV.Do you have more than one AV on your computer?
Using more than one anti-virus program is not advisable.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=af6ac0e3511b498b0442d1e98c9921cd&showtopic=260844&view=findpost&p=1441638
Multiple Antivirus Apps on One PC?
http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/null/39904
Clash Of The Antivirus Apps
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2003/s1407/38s07/38s07.asp
What I mean by AV, is that it is running ad-aware, spybot s&d, and avast.
I know you shouldn’t have more than one AV installed.
But thanks for the effort.
AdAware (apart from not being very effective) and Spybot S&D are anti-spyware and not AVs and that is where the confusion arose when you said you were using two other AVs.
MBAM and SAS are better anti-spyware/malware solutions.
Oh thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.