I am down to only using Symantec End Point Protection 11.0.533 and Sypbot S&D and some good common sense surfing plus Microsoft's Malicious software removal tool once a month and knock on wood been pretty good with 4 systems running this setup for years now. Sometimes the more software you run the more issues you run into with conflicts.
I'd like to know what's wrong with TuneUp? I use it all the time.
Also, My time with Kaspersky is almost up, is ESET Smart Security 4.2 better, less resources?
Very few people have luck with it. When it comes to software, if it messes with the registry, problems are sure to follow. I'm not really gonna bother listing all the problems I've read that it caused.
It is time for me to climb on my soapbox.
Windows 7 is a totally different operating system than XP. Win 7 is not an evolution from XP. It is a totally new OS and even changed from Vista. Thus the wisdom we learned about XP - tweaking, cleaning, modifying for speed, etc - do not apply at all to Win 7. Forget that knowledge.
Windows is a closed source system. Developers of tuneup utilities and registry cleaners do not have the core code of Win 7 and are not working on definitive information, but rather they are going on past knowledge and experience, most of which is not applicable to Win 7. Automatic cleaners will usually have to do some guesswork.
There is almost no tweaking that can be done to Win 7 to speed it up. The system is designed to diagnose itself and take care of itself which it does remarkably well. Win 7 maintains itself and that includes the registry.
Tuneup utilities are pure snake oil. At best they do nothing except use resources. At worst, they can mess your system up, slowing it down, and even crash it. There is no tuneup utility out there anywhere that can speed Win 7 up and improve its performance, at least not at this time.
This isn't to say that the system does not need to be maintained. Uninstall programs that you don't use, delete unneeded and unnecessary files. Defrag your hard drive. But don't screw with the registry unless you are an in depth expert in the Win 7 registry.
We have seen the adverse effects of tuneup utilities and registry cleaners and registry defraggers in the Crashes and Debugging Section. Most of the time the cure is a clean install. Using a program such as Ccleaner is fine to get rid of old and unnecessary files. A tuneup utility is not only unneeded, it can actually harm your system. Don't use them.
I'm off of my soapbox now.
As far as AV's go, I recommend that you use MSE or Avast.
Thanks carl for your nice info about registry cleaner for windows 7.:)
I will third the fact that those so called registry cleaners can get you in big trouble if you don't look at each entry you are about to fix or delete , and Windows 7 does a good job at taking care of itself just like others have said , so if you want to screw up your system sure go ahead and use the so called registry cleaners etc. good Luck. I used Reg Supreme for years and had good luck using it, made good back ups and had few issues but today it is a bloated piece of try and do everything piece of software called Jv16 Powertools 2010 afraid to use it to many features and not worth the trouble.
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