x64 Team Alert: Good Alternative to Windows Defender

Hey guys, I'm getting a bit tired of Windows Defender and I was wondering if anyone knows of a good alternative to run in Vista x64. I dislike that it chooses which programs to block at startup, especially since I can't figure out how to stop it from stopping them at startup.

So, if we can fix that w/o an alternative program, sweet, but I'd also be interested in a good/low resource/effective alternative.

Go go go!

P.S. Thanks!

 

Well, I use HostsMan and that's it. Just a hosts file instead of having an AV, firewall, anti-spyware and all that. I used SpywareBlaster for this kind of protection though.

 

A hosts file won't work in place of an AV, firewall OR anti-spyware. They serve different purposes. You should at minimum use a firewall on Windows. The most that a hosts file will block are certain ads and sites that are known to have bad things going on. If someone makes a new site, you will NOT be protected. A hosts file won't protect you from email borne viruses or spyware, either. It will not prevent people from scanning your machine and exploiting a remote weakness in Windows (there are many of these in a default install, less so in Vista any more, but they're still there. Such as RPC running world-listening by default.)

As for the issues with Windows Defender, did you try Google? My first result sent me here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930367

Seems like that is pretty much the answer to your problem running Windows Defender.

 

For me it does.

 

PitaMan, thanks for the reply, but you must have misunderstood my request. I want the protection, but I also don't want a program shutting things down that I want to run at startup (without my having to click on banners and enabling a bunch of stuff...that more than defeats the purpose of having it run at startup). I'm actually a little miffed at Microsoft's "solution"....for those of you who don't want to follow the link their solutions are:

1. Run the blocked program Manually
2. Disable the blocked program
2. Remove the blocked program

...no where does it say you can "never bother me about this program again". So, back to square one. I'd like a program that runs in x64, gives good protection, doesn't hog my resources, and won't disable me from allowing programs to run at startup.

Thanks again!

 

Try this:

From the Start menu (or control panel), open the Windows Defender GUI. Click on "Tools", then click on "Allowed Items". See if you can do anything with that.

I haven't tested it myself, since I don't have anything installed that Defender wants to block.

EDIT: Also in Defender under "Tools", try "Software Explorer" where you can look at startup programs and Enable/Disable them.

 

Yeah, that program is stupid, when I click on the "disabled" programs in the startup section it grays out the enable/disable options...talk about handcuffs. And then the "Allowed Items" section is a joke...there are ZERO options to add software to the list, supposedly you can add programs when they are blocked altogether.

Anywho, thanks for the ideas!

 

Hey guys, I found this, it looks a bit lengthy, but I bet it will work. I'll let you know in a day or two:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showpost.php?p=6885788&postcount=2