Antivirus software forcing spybot out?

[rockart]

Been a Spybot user forever it seems. Now I find that Antivrus softare generally has its own spy ware detector which cannot be turned off!
I hate that dictatorial crap.

1 what is the best (paid for) anti-virus these days?
2 is it best to have separate firewall or built into the av prog?
3 any excellent av progs that don't dictate??
thanks all

[spybotsandra]

Hello,

This (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/articles/foursecuritycolumns.html) link on our homepage should help.

Best regards
Sandra
Team Spybot

[drragostea]

Arg :sad:. This little ongoing war with Spybot and Norton. I do not find it amusing nor funny that giants like Norton, McAfee and Kaspersky accuse dedicated anti-spyware programs like Spybot to be so called "incompatible". Frankly, either they do not like us or they are just going all out for the sake for a few $$$. I just say it is pathetic, I do not like the way they change their customer's mindset little by little.

I do not recall the user was given the option to turn off the spyware scanning component, but I am sure there are options to turn off the real time shields.

This topic has been discussed before and apparently, the members of the forum have gave various (and quite reputable, strong) anti-virus programs. There is no "best Anti-virus".
This thread discusses anti-viruses (topic is called "recommended anti-virus"):
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=9289
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As for firewall wise, you can have one that is integrated into the Internet Security version of an anti-virus or you can stay put with a standalone. Personally, I feel that the standalone ones are more solid. Not only that, it is flexible with the advanced settings and little bells and whistles. It is very flexible indeed because if the user knows what they are doing and they are doing it correctly, they can make a really powerful firewall.

3. What do you mean by "dictate"? Ads? Forced uninstalls of other programs?

[rockart]

I mean that they dictate that you must use the spycatcher in the prog cause you can't turn it off.

I don't know about Norton but but you can't turn it off in AVG and up until the recent upgrade of Zonealarm you could turn it off. Now you can't. i wrote to them about it and they ignored me so I dumped it.

Firewalls will go the same way i reckon and the instal will say, "please uninstall (firewall) before installing dictator program

[rockart]

The big players make the opposition incompatible so they can get you to get rid of them. i used to use CA (paid) and free Zone alarm firewall. Then one day i did what ZA asked and clicked the update link (fool me!) ended up with an antivirus prog that said I have to uninstall CA. i uninstalled CA and installed ZA. then tried to install CA and it said i had to rid of Zone alarm. so i had to choose. begrudgingly went with ZA. You used to be able to have 2 or 3 av progs and each one would find viruses that other didn't. i reckon there must be a way to multi install even now or maybe run them off a disc

[drragostea]

I am not so sure if I can answer #3. As far as I'm concerned, the spyware component of anti-virus programs relates to the scanning device and the real time protection.

Personally, I think that you would have to go through lots of trouble to disable it... if this option even exists.

My opinion is that, you should leave the spyware component as it is and not try so hard to find a way (if there is one) to disable it. For me, I would only react and consider the spyware component seriously if something does indeed happen. Such as a malicious file was caught by the spyware component, then I would pay attention. For now, you should leave it alone because it is not causing any trouble for you.

When you update your AV, the anti-spyware components will be updated too.

[rockart]

next thing we will see:
"Instal has detected another spyware application on your computer: Spybot. You will need to uninstall this before installation can proceed"

[drragostea]

If you are talking about Norton, McAfee, or Kaspersky, I think that what you can do to bypass this is to uninstall Spybot and reinstall it after your AV has been installed.