Right Mix of On-Line Protection Tools?

[tim37]

My thanks to the people that helped me with two PC problems posts 6150 and 6168. I am wondering if I now have antispyware and antivirus software that are not needed. On my Dell XP Home edition, the Netgear W312g router is connected and I rely on its firewall, Windows firewall is off, MS Defender is running with all real time protection enabled, Norton On-Line Security is installed but everything is turned off, I have a registered version of Malwarebytes Antimalware running, l replaced the Hosts file from MVPS.org, and WinPatrol is installed and running.

On my daughter's Acer Vista laptop, it connects via wireless to the router, Windows firewall is off, MS Defender is running, Norton On-Line Security is installed but everything is turned off, I have a registered version of Malwarebytes Antimalware running, l wanted to replace the Hosts file from MVPS.org but the installation was to confusing for Vista, and WinPatrol is not installed .

It seems like there is duplication here. Should I uninstall Norton? Should I turn on any of its features? I turned off its firewall because my PC continually disconnected from the Internet (ATT DSL connection) and I thought Norton's firewall was conflicting with Netgear. So far I have had far fewer connections drop.

Does MS Defender conflict with MB Antimalware and if so, what should I change?

Is there another site with a Vista Hosts file replacement that is easy to install?

Any suggestions on improving my software mix?

[exile360]

You should at least enable the Windows firewall (if not Norton's) because a software firewall is good to have. If you want a free and easy alternative you can use Vista Firewall Control by Sphinx Software. As far as other softwares, you definately should have an antivirus running in realtime along with your other softwares, so either enable Norton, or remove it completely using Symnrt.exe from Norton's website and install an alternate anivirus. Avira is a good free choice and Kaspersky and NOD32 are excellent if your willing to pay for them. As far as running MBAM and Windows Defender together, as far as I know there are no conflicts between the two. If you are having trouble with the hosts file, you could install Spybot Search & Destroy and/or Spywareblaster as they both use a feature that modifies your hosts file and restricted sites lists for Internet Explorer and FireFox to block bad web sites.