compatability with other services?

Hi all. This may seem off the wall but I'm just now upgrading from Windows98 to XP Pro. I'll just say that I have little use for a computer other than checking mail and a little browsing.

Right now, I'm running the latest version of IE8 as well as Avast free edition. I have downloaded S&D but am concerned that it may interfere with some of the shields used by the antivirus. An example would be that Avast has a p2p shield and I have read that S&D has the same. I Don't use p2p but as I said, just an example. Before actually installing S&D, I would like to make sure that I do not have to go through and change settings in various programs like Auto update for the Windows system itselef as well as the antivirus so that they don't stumble over each other. I have used CCleaner a few times but only did so after removing aol 9.0 so the reg should be ok. Right now, everything works both well and fast but if by installing S&D, it will compete for default protecting rights, I would prefer to not and just say that I did.

Also, is the tea timer still a pain as I recall. It would practically lock me out of my own system in prior years to the point that I just didn't bother installing the add on.

Thanks for useful help or advice on the topic.

Note- I don't have a windows intallation disk either. I actually inherited the pc and the previous owner lost it. So if I mess it up then it's useless.

I am running Avast! 4.8 with Spybot S&D on an older PII 400MHz PC with Windows 2000. I've had absolutely no issues with this combination, though I wouldn't recommend anything less than 512MB RAM with XP Pro at this point.

With the current 1.6.2 version of Spybot S&D, the optional installation of Teatimer defaults to a quiet mode that displays virtually no notifications and performs only known protections in an automated mode. This avoids the common mistakes made by users of blocking things they don't understand, which is where most issues actually occur. Though you can still enable a 'paranoid mode' which will display alerts for any registry changes or unknown items such as processes, this is best used only if you consider yourself technically knowledgeable.

In any case, the best method of operation with Teatimer is to allow anything that you aren't sure about, since this is the same thing that would happen if it had never been installed. You can always go back later and try to remove something, but it's not always possible to put back something you previously blocked, since in many cases the operation that was blocked is difficult or impossible to repeat.

If you plan to have the PC for quite a while you might want to see if you can get a copy of the media if you have a legal Product Key with the PC, often these are stuck to the case somewhere. It's the Product Key that's valuable, since that's the license, so it's sometimes possible to purchase the media (Recovery CD) for $20 or so from either the original manufacturer or another source. If the OS originally came from Dell for example, they usually provided a Recovery CD that installed the OS and drivers for a particular model.

Bitman

The desktop is a HP Pavilion 6740c with 384 mb of RAM and 13.9 gb of drive capacity. You're probably right in regard to system requirements but I's good to know that it will at least be functional with a bit of RAM added if yours it doing OK.

Also, do I really need an OEM cd? Can't I just go buy a copy of XP PRO for myself and stick it in at boot time if I wipe the drive first and boot to disk afterward?

This Desktop was originally designed for Windows98 anyhow and if I boot to and install Windows XP Pro, then I wouldnt have any use for the stuff from the OEM since it would try to install windows98 , right?

Sorry to get off topic, I know this isn't an operating system forum.

If you are going to buy a copy of Windows XP at retail, I'd do it fairly quickly, since it's already end of life by Microsoft so only the stock on retailer shelves is technically available any more. Unfortunately the specs for that system would really only support XP at best anyway, and you'll probably also want to get the replacement stick of RAM to max out it at 512MB soon too, since these also become more rare and costly with time.

The combination of security programs you've chosen is one of the more lean available, though I have also heard that Avira is very memory efficient, but I haven't tried it myself. Both are known to operate well with Spybot S&D.

Bitman

I went ahead and installed S&D and it's actually doing very well on this old computer. It has been running along side of the anti-virus with absolutely no stumbling.

One thing that's a bit annoying is that it takes about 1 minute for ie8 to start. Once the browser finally decides to get unstuck or whatever it does that causes the delay,so to speak, it moves along rather well.

I merged S&D's host list with the existing one via the software. Could that be why the browser delays at start?

A large Hosts file (200KB +) in XP and Vista causes a slow response when opening new IE windows. The current Spybot immunisation creates a Hosts file of 312KB - if you have merged it with another list it will be even bigger.

This can be fixed by disabling the DNS Client service. If you have not yet disabled the DNS Client Service (which is not required and only provides a cache service) this could explain your slow opening of IE.

To disable the cache you need to switch off the DNS Client Service - either via the Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services route or more simply by using the Run option from the StartMenu (if enabled) - just enter Services.msc at the Run prompt. You then locate the DNS Client Service in the list - double click that item and then click the Stop button - then change the Startup Type to Manual - this is active immediately, no need to restart. Any problems then you just turn it back on - the easiest way is to change the Startup Type back to Automatic and restart the computer.