AMD Dual Core Issues with Security Suites

[Merkaba]

Hi all,

Well, I bought an AMD Dual Core system piece by piece, and got everything working, well almost everything...

Here are my specs:

Motherboard: ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe, BIOS Rev. 0304
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 +4200 2.2Ghz
RAM: 2x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800Mhz Unbuffered Dual Channel
HDD: Western Digital 250 GB SATA 3.0Ghz 7200rpm 16MB Cache
Video: 2x SLI ASUS NVidia EN7600GS 256MB PCIe x16 Cards
Optical: Samsung DVD-RAM RW w/ LightScribe
PSU: OCZ 700W

I'm using it now and it's running like a champ, but it seems every Security program doesn't want to start properly. I had Sygate Personal Firewall, AVG Pro, and a-squared Anti-Malware before. AVG still seems to be stable, but Sygate takes about 4 minutes to initialize. I also read posts from people having major issues with a-squared using dual core.

I installed the AMD Dual Core Optimizer from amd.com and still have the same issue.

So I tried Zone Alarm. Same deal...

Well, the motherboard came with a 90 day trial of Norton IS 2006, and that seems to work ok, but I can't stand Norton. It keeps wanting to adjust settings that I don't want changed. I was even tempted to stop using Sygate when Norton bought them, but learned that Norton had little intent on releasing any more versions of Sygate. (bye bye Sygate )

My bias against Norton and McAfee stems from their "attempts" to make "simple" security programs that "everyone" can use by automating things that should be configurable. (sorry about the excessive quoting )

So, without further ado, and considering to my strong disliking of Norton and McAfee, does anyone know of any dual core compatible security suites out there besides the two aformentioned?

Thanks,

-Merk

There will either be World Peace or The World in Pieces. Everything we do plays a part for one of the outcomes.

 

[kestrel1]

You could try Kerio Personal firewall. Not sure if it is dual core compatable, but may be worth a try.
By the way, if you dislike symantec's products (ie. Norton Security suite) Don't use Sygate, it has been aquired by Symantec & I don't think it is available for a free download, unless it is an older version.

 

[Merkaba]

Thanks kestrel1,

Yeah, I have the last version of Sygate released before symantec bought them. I did find a good firewall though that is dual core compatible. For anyone interested, the one I found is Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro.

You can download a 30 day Trial here:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/download.php

Installed it and so far so good. Starts up immediately and seems to be very configurable. Unfortuantely, I came to realize I need better cooling for my PC cause my video card was overheating, I checked an hour before I did an emergency shutdown, and it was at 85 C . God only knows what it had gotten to by the time I had to shut it down. I guess I'll be ordering better fans today, lol.

Agnitum also has a completely free version you can download from

http://www.filehippo.com/download_outpost_firewall/

although I'm currently using the 30 day Trial Pro version. By the way, if you don't know about FileHippo, check it out. It's a great freeware/shareware site with awesome bandwidth and you can download any software release version they ever hosted.

The pricing isn't that bad, either, for the Pro version of Outpost. It's roughly $40.00 for the Pro version, which includes free support and security/anti-spyware updates for a year, and they have a discounted two year deal.

For anyone having issues with a dual core processor and system security / firewall issues, try Outpost.

Thanks,

-Merk

There will either be World Peace or The World in Pieces. Everything we do plays a part for one of the outcomes.