Best free & thorough spyware, adware & registry cleaners for Dell PC
 

I have a Dell PC from 2004 running windows XP home service pack 2, with avast anti virus free version running on it.

I currently use spybot search and destroy for spyware, is this good? or are there better ones?

what about a good free registry cleaner? one that cleans out problems without potentially harming important system files?

I just recently turned off automatic updates in security settings, as suggested I do so from another thread, so if I am going to maintain manually, I would like to know if I need the other things I just mentioned.

This computer had recovered from a total hard drive crash, has since had a new hard drive installed & system reinstallation, (as a result of trying to update to windows service pack 3), & while it is up & running again, it feels fragile, & I dont want to mess it up again, even though there is another computer in the house, this one has the modem & internet connection on it & is networked to the other via Ethernet cable.

Avast misses a lot of things. Most of them do. There's really no such thing as a "virus" anymore, anyway. These days it's all variations of malware, worms, trojans, rootkits and adware -- much of which goes missed by traditional "anti-virus" software. There really hasn't been a widespread "virus" in years now.

Do not use Norton or McAfee. It's a resource vampire.

Do not use AVG or Avira. These are annoying and are known to delete uninfected software without your permission. (Examples: Goldwave, BatchRename.)

You're about 5 years outdated. This was the best one some years ago, but not anymore -- not really. Look instead to using SuperAntiSpyware (SAS) and/or Malwarebytes.

You could honestly replace anti-virus software with the paid Pro version of SAS. Don't buy it from the site for $30 -- instead, install the free version, and then click on the usually $10-20 "today only" offer to buy the Pro version at a discount.

There's really no legitimate need to "clean" a registry, aside from having an old computer that's experienced a lot of install/uninstall through the years. In that case, look at using CCleaner (freeware).

There's really no reason to update Windows, aside from minor "security" updates -- and there's no rush, especially if you use a browser like Firefox or Chrome and NOT IE. Also replace Windows Media Player with something like VLC or GOM. IE and WMP are the two most common entry points for malicious crapware.

I don't see a need to "mess with it" either. Ain't broke, don't fix it.

I would never use a "master computer" for sharing the Internet. That's so 1990s. You're better off simply having a router that shares the signal pre-computer. That's have things have been done for home networks for at least a decade now. That XP even includes such a setup is more for legacy needs than anything else. I don't even know if Vista/Win7 has such an option anymore -- at least not an obvious/automated one.

I downloaded the free version of super anti spyware & installed it, it is in the system tray, but I dont want it running all the time in the background, I read that having more than one anti virus protection running creates problems.

Also, when I use it to run a scan, what settings do I check in the preferences, so that I delete only spyware & not system files or other important windows system function files.

I also have something called home classic media player, is this good? will it bring in spyware?

Given the choice, I'd dump Avast and not SAS.

First time you use it, do a complete scan.
From there on out, normal/standard/basic scan is fine. (I forget the exact name of it.)

That should not happen.

Never heard of it.

Maybe you're referring to Media Player Classic? See http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/
That's a good one!

I just recently installed windows xp pro 32 bit on my mac with virtulization software, for a free antivirus protection, would Microsoft security essentials work?

I tried to enable real time protection of super anti spyware, but I have to upgrade to the paid version for that.

Computers don't automatically need anti-virus protection. This is especially true if it's going to be an "offline" type of system. (That's not to say it will never be connected to a network or the Internet, but rather that it's been created for a specific task -- like video encoding -- and will not be subjected to the running of unknown software.)

So I'm suggesting you may not even need "protection" for a VM. Most people use a VM for basic tasks not available to their current OS -- such as using Windows-only software in a Mac environment.

Being a virtual machine, you can also create backup copies of the virtual hard drive files. If something screws up the system, just delete the current hard drive file, and copy the backup to the original location. Instant restore, like nothing happened. Of course, that means you need to make a copy of the virtual hard drive when it's still "clean" or even somewhat "virgin" in nature (when it's just the OS and a few important apps installed).

Running a lot of software in a VM is just going to slow you down.

If you really feel compelled to use it, then yes, that MS program will probably provide at least some minimal level of protection. Unlike Norton, McAfee, and a few other lesser-known programs, I don't readily know that it's going to be a resource hog.

Sometimes "protection" software is just as much of a computer boondoggle as the malware its supposed to protect you from. Digital irony, yes?

And just in case it's not clear... VM = "virtual machine" (the non-existant computer hardware being emulated due to virtualization). When Parallels installs Windows on a Mac, it's installed into a VM (virtual hardware).