Higgs Boson wrote:

NOW Some q, which I also posted on alt.computer.workshop:

1. Can I install Avast -- the virus program people are recommending
-- w/o Uninstalling Hog Norton? Or will they fight and mess me up
even worse?
Avast says it only requires 100 MB of HD space. So can I install
it alongside the Hog? Or could I install it on the External HD?

Uninstall Norton. It has so many hooks into the operating system that
coexistence with another AV program is problematic. To uninstall Norton, you
MUST use their Sooper-Sekret removal tool downloaded from their website.


2. Somewhat like #1: Do I have to Uninstall Norton in order to try
Avast?


The absolute answer is No, you do not. The practical answer is Yes.


3. Should I use the Avast FREE PROGRAM or spring a few bux for the
paid one? I don't mind paying if I get a lot more for my money.
Here's what they offer for the paid program:

Download avast! Internet SecurityInternet
SecurityBest
protection
Antivirus with anti-spyware
The minimum protection for every PC.
Enjoy worry-free web surfing
Innovative Sandbox technology protects you from dangerous websites.
Safely shop or bank online
Firewall prevents theft of your personal and financial data.
Stop bothersome SPAM
Antispam keeps unwanted emails out of your inbox.
Protect up to 3 PCs in your home
Best value offer – get your PCs fully protected only for $20 each!

Some of this stuff duplicates what is offered by Windows, such as
Firewall. Can ANY Antispam really work? I only have one PC. Dunno
anything about the Sandbox technology, which claims to "protect [me]
from dangerous websites. Who decides what is "dangerous"? Sounds very
general.

What do youse guys think about Free vs Paid Avast versions?

Free is always better. Further, spam is a completely separate problem to be
addressed after the anti-virus condition. Spam won't kill your machine - a
virus will.


4. Norton does AUTOMATIC BACKUPS AND FILE RECOVERY. Those are
valuable programs which I would be sorry to lose, as I have always
been VERY stupid about backup and have lost valuable files as a
result. Does anyone have recommendation for *idiot-proof backup/file
recovery* that is not too fat?

There are literally dozens. Comodo, Image for Windows, SyncToy, Macrium
Reflect, and a simple batch file triggered by Windows scheduler come to
mind.


5. Even if I go through all the clean up and discard steps that one
of my honorable friends listed in such thoughtful detail, will that
free up enough from my
6 year-old, underpowered C Drive HD? If not, what do I do? Buy
another HD? Or use External HD as main drive?

You cannot (usually) use an external drive as the main drive. The system
won't boot from a USB device (unless the motherboard is very new or you take
other, convoluted, steps). Even if you could run the operating system from
an external drive, you wouldn't want to. The transfer rate on a USB device
is magnitudes slower than an internal hard drive (12Mbps vs 780Mbps -YMMV).

You can EASILY replace your hard drive. Forty gigabyte drives can now be
found in the bottom of CrackerJack boxes! You can buy a sooped-up 1 Terabyte
(1000 gigabytes) for less than eighty bucks. Moving your stuff - including
the entire operating system - is a single button push with the cloning
software that will come with the new drive. If your hand fits a screwdriver,
it's a simple task.


6. What's the connection between HD RAM and Virtual Memory? I tried
to read the WikiPedia article on Virtual Memory, but too technical for
moi.
It's VIRTUAL MEMORY that the "flame-like" pie charts in the lower
r.h. corner of the screen have been threatening me with. What do I
have to do to get more Virtual Memory? Is it a function of
available HD RAM?


"Virtual memory" is a file on your hard drive. When you run out of RAM for
application programs, the operating system dumps part of real memory to this
file to free up RAM for the application requesting RAM. When control is
returned to that part of memory that was dumped to disk, that segment is
reloaded and execution resumes.

Assume you have two programs, A & B running and now attempt to run program
C. The operating system (OS) determines there is not enough room in RAM to
run C, so it dumps program A out to Virtual Memory (a scratch file on your
disk) and loads program C.

Now something happens that program A was waiting for (say a key-press). The
OS dumps program B to disk, reloads program A. And so on.

You can see that insufficient RAM can generate a lot of disk activity.
Further, if there is insufficient Virtual Memory space (your drive is full),
everything croaks.

Usually the OS will grab additional disk space to enlarge its Virtual Memory
pool. You can adjust the size of Virtual Memory (the "paging" file) as
follows:

Open My Computer
Pick "Properties"
Pick the "Advanced" tab
Pick Performance "Settings" button
Select the "Advanced" tab
In the "Virtual Memory" box, punch the "Change" button
Adjust the numbers, or better still, select the "System managed size" option