Security Overkill?

Hi, I am constantly discovering new bits of freeware that offer protection for my computer, and if I am satisfied by reviews I read then I will generally install them.
I am wondering if I actually need some of these programs however as on my fresh install of XP I have had issues where the computer seems to become unresponsive, and VERY slow. Mouse and alt-tab always seems fine but everything else generally grinds to a halt....

The list:
Avast
Comodo - just swapped as I was unable to install zonealarm for some reason! Anyway I think I have comodo questions brewing for later!
Ad-aware
Spybot
Spyware Terminator
SpywareGuard
SpywareBlaster
Superantispyware
WinPatrol (scotty)
Peerguardian2 (only when required - PG2 update doesn't like Spyware Terminator!!!)
CCleaner (maybe not relevant)

Now I know some of these do similar things, but they all seem to detect differing things at different times so I have been fairly happy, it's just the odd issue of the computer going into slooowdown and not usually being able to get out without hard reset that made me wonder if I might have compatability issues?
Any help would be appreciated but I would rather not be told that my list it too short

 

I don't typically get into 'which should I use threads' because it's always such a subjective topic. What works for one won't work for another and everyone has their favorites, but I'll chime in.

• Avast<<<--Good product here, many use it, very rarely hear complaints about it.
• Comodo - just swapped as I was unable to install zonealarm for some reason! Anyway I think I have comodo questions brewing for later!<<<--Nice app, I use it on my test machine and it preforms well, similar to ZA, perhaps a bit more advanced.
• Ad-aware<<<--This one is on the wane. Latest version has seemed to be very buggy, loads of users sticking to older version as long as they can.
• Spybot<<<--Another one which may be bordering too old school, tho the latest version seems to have people fairly pleased and they sure did a huge product update. Nice free product with an optional registry monitor in TeaTimer.
• Spyware Terminator<<<--Definitely not one of my favs by any stretch. Aside from their shady affiliate tactics, the one time I used it on my test machine it didn't impress me with anything it had to offer.
• SpywareGuard<<<--Nice light weight app, no doubt. but if you also have WinPatrol, you don't need it. WP has more features too. Matter of fact if any of your apps watches IE settings you won't need SG.
• SpywareBlaster<<<--Great tool for blocking ActiveX controls, which are one of the big ways users get infected. these days many run with ActiveX turned off anyways, but still nice product. I however do not use any if its IE restricted zone protection, opting instead for IE-SPYADs.
• Superantispyware<<<--This one is another which didn't impress me the one time I used it. Maybe I'll give it another shot soon, seems to please many.
• WinPatrol (scotty) <<<--Love this little app, Scotty was one of the first utility tools I got, tho at the time, you didn't need much security on board. but as things have gotten worse in regards to malware, Scotty has really advanced and become a great, no cost, non resource hogging tool.
• Peerguardian2 (only when required - PG2 update doesn't like Spyware Terminator!!!)<<<--Can't say much about it, not many use it that I have read.
• CCleaner<<<--Not so much offering any protection really, for registry and temp file management. I've used it many times on several machines.

Here is what I recommend to users typically to run, in no particular order.

• Anti-Spyware:
  • Spybot Search & Destroy v1.5
  • Ad-Aware 2007
  • AVG Anti-Malware
  A-V\FW:
  • Avira AntiVir
  • AVG
  Firewalls:
  • COMODO Personal Firewall
  • Zone Alarm Firewall
  Advanced\Extra Security:
  • MVPS Hosts File
  • IE-SPY ADS
  • SiteAdvisor
  Temp\Registry Related:
  • Index.dat Suite
  • Atribunes ATF Cleaner
  • RegSeeker
  • CCleaner (watch for YaHoo! toolbar install)

I could probably add a few more which I know work well, if prodded to do so. Those are my staples for everyone for the most part.

 

Thanks Temerc, I really appreciate your reply and comments.. I realise I have a heck of a lot to learn with regards general (basic!) security, and if I actually did this I would perhaps better understand the software I use and not have to ask these questions!

I am going to digest what you have suggested and work on things a bit.
Regarding Spyware Terminator I was getting a lot of system problems i.e. my computer would hang indefinitely but with partial response i.e. mouse and alt-tab worked this was VERY frustrating as I would never know if the computer had crashed or not. I stopped real-time protection and haven't had problems since! From what you have suggested I might just delete it now!
Regarding Comodo, I am finding it a bit confusing at the moment, and frustrating because it doesn't always remember similar tasks when I have previously asked it to! It was also a bugger to get activesync working at first but easy when I found the answer! Anyway, I think I will post in a separate topic when I get the time...

Oh and I have added one more app and that is AVG Anti-rootkit. I had tried the AVG Antispyware (forgot about this tbh) on previous installation and things went wrong, I might try again now...

Thanks again!

Olly.

 

Hi, Tom.

SpywareGuard offers two options ( "Real-time Scanning Engine" and "Download Protection ") that I'm not sure whether WinPatrol offers or not.

According to SpywareGuard's Help Info,

While both SpywareGuard and WinPatrol offer IE Browser hijack protection, it appears (to me) WinPatrol does not offer the other protections that SpywareGuard offers.

I attached screenshots of the applicable sections of SpywareGuard and WinPatrol below.

BTW, I have IE browser hijack protection disabled in both SpywareGuard and WinPatrol because I use Spy Sweeper for that purpose.