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This is quite a resource list, where to start…

I’m running XP/home on a Sony Vaio S260 with a Netgear firewall/router connecting our 3 PCs to a DSL modem. My main browser and email clients are Firefox and Thunderbird, though I use IE7 once in a while for sites that don’t work well with Firefox.

I want to dump Norton Internet Security Suite ( :stuck_out_tongue: ) and replace it with avast/home and other software. My main question is, what else do I need besides avast/home to make a complete security package?

Do I need more spyware/adware protection? I don’t know yet how much Web Shield does in this regard. (I use Ad-Aware manually now & then.)

What about spam filtering and privacy protection? (I’ve not been impressed with Thunderbird’s adaptive spam filtering, which catches less than half the incoming junk. I just use its filters to implement a safe list instead.)

Would a software firewall be good to supplement the hard firewall in my router?

Any advice and suggestions for good software would be appreciated.

Tx

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Hi stweiss and welcome to the forums.
I think you can get many opinions on programs to use. On one system I use avast! home,spyware terminator in realtime.I use windows firewall behind a router but use pro security hips program to control applications. Hope this helps, tim.

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WebShield does not offer different protection than the other parts of avast, I mean, it uses the same virus signatures, can scan the same infections.

I suggest you run on-demand trojan remover tools:
a-squared
Free AVG Antispyware
SUPERantispyware

Besides this, you can use immunization of SpywareBlaster or Windows Advanced Care (http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/index.html).

I suggest Spamihilator (http://www.spamihilator.com/).

Comodo (http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/).