Norton 2005 and AVG Free Antivirus

Just checking, since I need all the protection I can get with broadband from what I hear. How much hard drive space does SP2 take up? How much memory? How much trouble will it cause? I downloaded the anti spy beta and that messed up my computer so badly I had to uninstall it in safe mode.

one of my notebook and Norton internet security 2005 in another one. They both work very well by themselves. I found that Norton AV takes more space than AVG and in my slower notebook I could feel the difference.

How did antispyware beta mess your computer? If you tried it in the last 4 days, the server was down and you cannot upload the program correctly (first installation). 3 days ago, I downloaded it at one of my workstation and had a problem. Had to reboot the computer and retry before getting it installed and configured correctly.

It slowed it down to a crawl. I had to pull up the task manager to find out what was taking up so much and it was using over 90 percent! then I had trouble uninstalling it and had to do it in the safe mode.

BOTH AVG and MSAS slowing the computer down, plus the fact that you don't have SP2 installed means that you are probably loaded with spyware/adware/etc. or something to that effect. What do you use now for syware and adware protection?

you need to follow what Rod has said by installing the lastest update including the service pack. Do not rely in antivirus alone in securing and protecting your computer.

AVG and NAV 2005 can co-exist. I tried that but you must NOT use the real-time protection of both. Installing more than 1 antivirus does not mean you get all the protection you can get.

1. Update your antivirus and keep the real-time protection enable. Allow email scanner to scan the incoming and outgoing messages.

2. Update your system by installing lastest patches and service packs and supported version.

3. Use a firewall software.

4. Use antispyware program

5. For trojan protection and removal, use an anti-trojan software because not all antivirus program can or will remove a trojan

6. Do not open attachments on email unless you are expecting it and you are sure that it was scanned already by your antivirus program

7. Use a browser that is properly secured. There's no 100% secure browser on earth so you should try to use a browser that has less # of vulnerabilities or make sure that your browser is configured to prompt you for any installation or anything that it will load (activex, javascript etc)

8. Block the bad sites in tracking your online habits by using a privacy tool or use HOSTS file and IE-SPYAD

There are many more best practices to do but am not sure how you use the internet and your computer so you might want to check out Microsoft Security At Home on how to protect your PC, yourself and your family http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/default.mspx

What you should know in installing Service Pack 2 for Windows XP? See answers in http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx

The requirements in installing Service Pack 2 is in http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sysreqs.mspx

Enable System Restore so you can revert back to Service Pack 1 if anything goes wrong.

You might also want to create a restore point manually (that is up to you if you want).