They’re crap anyway, but I think all those free download sites ought to remove IObit applications especially Advance System Care which is really a fake system optimizer and scareware, but unfortunately I think they still like to carry it and all the other stuff they really ought to get rid of because they like having the total programs and download numbers statistics and no doubt cynically know that people who download them are likely to eventually download more even after they figure out they are bad… unless they never wise up and are still misguidedly duped into thinking they were actually good!
@ Daris: Hmmm, a multiple program set up after my own heart, but get ride of Advance System Care pronto, try Glary Utilities instead at least which mostly works properly free.
@ OP Certainly a free multiple AV/FW/A-M/A-S security set up can be based on Avast!5 (or now 6) and is a very good idea, personally I prefer that to buying a single full Suite security package or even ever opting for a single free one.
Firstly, I have what I call the “3 A’s” of free AVs Avast, Avira & AVG and choose one as resident (Avast since Avast!5, before that usually AVG of the other 2) and have the others for back-up on demand AV scanning for which I also have BitDefender v10 Free, which can only be used for manual scans (I prefer to turn off auto-update and stop its couple of start up processes) I sometimes trial paid AV/AS programs too, but not often.
Secondly, I use either W7 FW or else Online Armour, which is the only good free FW for W7, but I’ve used it on XP because its FW needs to be replaced although it is heavier than I would like but not as bad as Comodo’s FW IMHO. I think Outpost FW might be OK for XP too, I don’t like PC Tool’s or Ashampoo FWs and I think Zonealarm FW isn’t free and I think these are all heavily ad supported. I don’t know Private Firewall.
Thirdly, like with AVs I like the idea of a running resident Anti-Malware/Anti-Spyware program backed up by several on-demand manual scanners. I tried PC Tool’s Threatfire on both XP and W7, but IMHO it is too scareware fakey for my liking, so I ditched it. I tried Spyware Terminater, which ran fine on XP, but slowed things down on W7 so I turned it into a scanner only, which I have done with Spybot S&D for years (don’t use SS&D shield or Tea Timer) but I have been using Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free on W7 and SpywareBlaster as well, but like Daris I avoid using IE like the plague and prefer Opera, but I also use Firefox, Chrome, Apple’s Safari for Windows and Comodo Dragon, which is based on Chrome. (I don’t like any of the IE based other web browsers, nor Flock, Seamonkey or Gecko based Lunascape 5.) To back up Ad-Aware (and by extension Avast!) I also have Hitman Pro 3.5 Free for scan checking only, never use it to clean, Emsissoft Anti-Malware (formally A2 or a-squared - but it’s updates are hugely long, but since it’s very good I use it regularly still but less frequently and I wouldn’t recommend it for a small or slow connection), Webroot Spy Sweeper and definitely Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware and finally CCleaner to especially get ride of cookies, temporary internet and windows explorer files. I don’t like Super Anti Spyware because unless you pay for it I find it quickly becomes malicious, OTOH I’ve read that MBAM is best not paid for since its resident protection isn’t yet effective and not up to it’s manual scanning credentials. (I’ve had Avira report and get rid of SAS free downloads - Avast! ought to do that.)
IME all that seems to work with Avast! including SS&D and ST, but set them both to only be on-demand scanners because SS&D’s shield and definitely Tea Timer conflict with Avast and other proper AVs, I’m not sure about Clam AV that comes with ST, but you are best to opt out of it and the Toolbar that comes with ST’s shield either of which or both probably conflict with Avast! or any others too. You could have PC Tool’s Threatfire, although I don’t recommend it or Lavasoft Ad-Aware, which AFAIK doesn’t conflict with Avast or the other A’s or the B AVs for that matter nor slow down either XP or W7 like Comodo Free AV or MSE.
So by all means keep SS&D and ST for manual scanning with Avast! they still work, but their residency is falling behind, although personally I’d like to see something better than Lavasoft Ad-Aware and especially Threatfire, but I did like Spyware Terminator as well backed-up as I had it supported on XP, used it and AVG for a decade I think, but it didn’t play on W7 comfortably, but it is behind Ad-Adware now anyway although not as much as SS&D.
