[SpaceCowboy706]

I am upgrading from windows xp pro to windows vista ultimate 64 and I am trying to find out some information on keeping my pc safe and secure and free of all the garbage.

As of now i am on Windows Xp Pro and im using Sygate personal firewall, AVG, and Antispyware for all of my protection needs. I am switching to Windows vista Ultimate 64bit as soon as my order arrives from new egg and i am curious:

1) Does vista ultimate 64 already have a firewall with it? If so, is it as configurable as sygate is? If it is not, does sygate personal work with vista 64? Or, is there a better free firewall to use with vista 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

2) Does Vista ultimate 64 already have a antivirus software with it? If so is it as configurable as avg is? If it does not, then will avg work with vista ultimate 64? Or, is there a better free antivirus software to use with vista ultimate 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

3) Does Vista ultimate 64 already have a antispyware software with it? If so is it as configurable as antispyware is? If it does not, then will antispyware work with vista ultimate 64? Or, is there a better free antispyware software to use with vista ultimate 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

4) Is firefox with the addons; adblock and no script, still the preferred web browser when using vista ultimate 64, or is the default internet explorer better in terms of security and antimalware/spyware prevention?

I have been up to date and running sygate, avg, and antispyware along with firefox for many years now and they have always kept me virus / spyware / malware free, so i am just wanting to ensure my new experiences with vista reamains the same.

Thanks in advance, for anyone who can help out with these questions.

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1) Does vista ultimate 64 already have a firewall with it? If so, is it as configurable as sygate is? If it is not, does sygate personal work with vista 64? Or, is there a better free firewall to use with vista 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

Yes, it is a two way firewall and if you have a router firewall in my experience it should be sufficient

2) Does Vista ultimate 64 already have a antivirus software with it? If so is it as configurable as avg is? If it does not, then will avg work with vista ultimate 64? Or, is there a better free antivirus software to use with vista ultimate 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

No, AVG is 64bit compatible along with Avast (which I prefer) but I am not sure about Avira

3) Does Vista ultimate 64 already have a antispyware software with it? If so is it as configurable as antispyware is? If it does not, then will antispyware work with vista ultimate 64? Or, is there a better free antispyware software to use with vista ultimate 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

Yes, MS Defender but I would back that up with Spywareblaster and Superantispyware

4) Is firefox with the addons; adblock and no script, still the preferred web browser when using vista ultimate 64, or is the default internet explorer better in terms of security and antimalware/spyware prevention?

Personal opinion on this. Vista runs IE as a limited user which means it is separated from the administrator permissions, I use IE8 with Vista and I find that totally secure. But it is all a matter of personal preference

[Essexboy]

1) Does vista ultimate 64 already have a firewall with it? If so, is it as configurable as sygate is? If it is not, does sygate personal work with vista 64? Or, is there a better free firewall to use with vista 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

Yes, it is a two way firewall and if you have a router firewall in my experience it should be sufficient

2) Does Vista ultimate 64 already have a antivirus software with it? If so is it as configurable as avg is? If it does not, then will avg work with vista ultimate 64? Or, is there a better free antivirus software to use with vista ultimate 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

No, AVG is 64bit compatible along with Avast (which I prefer) but I am not sure about Avira

3) Does Vista ultimate 64 already have a antispyware software with it? If so is it as configurable as antispyware is? If it does not, then will antispyware work with vista ultimate 64? Or, is there a better free antispyware software to use with vista ultimate 64 (no trial versions or paid versions just plain old free)?

Yes, MS Defender but I would back that up with Spywareblaster and Superantispyware

4) Is firefox with the addons; adblock and no script, still the preferred web browser when using vista ultimate 64, or is the default internet explorer better in terms of security and antimalware/spyware prevention?

Personal opinion on this. Vista runs IE as a limited user which means it is separated from the administrator permissions, I use IE8 with Vista and I find that totally secure. But it is all a matter of personal preference

[SpaceCowboy706]

"Yes, it is a two way firewall and if you have a router firewall in my experience it should be sufficient"

I do have a router but i have the firewall on it disabled for media center sharing with my xbox360 and also other pc's within my house. Was causing issues in the past and I just found a software firewall much easier to use. Are you able to block specific ports, open specific ports, and allow/disallow speific programs to have net acces ? All of this I can do with Sygate and just wondering if I can still accomplish all oif this with vista's built in firewall, as well.

"AVG is 64bit compatible along with Avast (which I prefer) but I am not sure about Avira"
AVG has always worked like a champ and it intergrates with my email. Is avast able to do this is as well? Just out of curiosity in your expereince what sets Avast above the rest?

"MS Defender but I would back that up with Spywareblaster and Superantispyware"
How are they on using system resources while running on the background (quad core Q9300 with 8Gb ram).

[Essexboy]

AVG has always worked like a champ and it intergrates with my email. Is avast able to do this is as well? Just out of curiosity in your expereince what sets Avast above the rest?

Personal preference again as Avast has a boot scan and will scan your system before the core components and other programmes load. Integrates well with internet mail or outlook. Has a P2P scanner and IM scanner. Will scan whilst the screensaver is running and remembers where it left off last time. Checks for updates every 40 minutes and downloads them in the background, using the same servers as the Pro version so you do not get a lower quality service. Scans web pages as they are downloaded and at the first sign of something bad will abort the connection to that web site. No toolbar attached and light resources. Has a GMER based rootkit scan at start. They are currently trialling a link scanner in the latest beta. The support forum is active and the programmers interact with the users. False positives and viruses detected can be e-mailed straight to Avast from within the programme

I do have a router but i have the firewall on it disabled for media center sharing with my xbox360 and also other pc's within my house. Was causing issues in the past and I just found a software firewall much easier to use. Are you able to block specific ports, open specific ports, and allow/disallow speific programs to have net acces ? All of this I can do with Sygate and just wondering if I can still accomplish all oif this with vista's built in firewall, as well.

For that sort of protection I would recommend a software firewall. I did try Comodo a while back but found it intrusive. For this I can not give a decent answer as I am behind a router firewall

How are they on using system resources while running on the background (quad core Q9300 with 8Gb ram).

Spywareblaster is totally passive therefore, no overheads. SAS is not resident on the free version but is an exceptionally good cleaner to date, although a life license is only £12.00. Maybe winpatrol to cover the resident protection area

[Rorschach112]

SpywareGuard would be my preference for real-time protection

[SpaceCowboy706]

Thanks for answering my questions. Got vista installed and running fine a bit ago and using avast, defender, super antispyware, internet explorer and still searching for a better software firewall. Thanks again for your assistance.