IM Shield and P2P Shield

[ups4]

As a new user of Avast, I have a quick question.
Since I never use any type of IM or P2P program, would it be acceptable to stop these two shields?

I like to keep my system and software as lean as possible. I'm not sure if the resources used by these two items would make any difference at all, but if I don't need them why should they be enabled.

Thanks for any input.

Paul

[ups4]

  Nobody has an opinion on this question?

[Lisandro]

You can stop the shields and you also can selectively uninstall them.
Although, if you keep they running, you won't do any harm to your system and they won't take resources.

[ups4]

Ahhh, good to know.
Thank you, Tech for your response.

Paul

[Lisandro]

You're welcome.

[DBone]

I don't IM, or share files and I use online mail (Yahoo). I also have AIS, so I can take advantage of the sandbox, and I browse the internet with Chrome sandboxed 100% of the time. So I did a custom install and I only installed: File Shield, Network Shield, Script Shield and Behavior Shield.

[Lisandro]

DBone, why not Web Shield?

[DBone]

lol   I just feel that it's not needed since I don't hit the internet without Chrome sandboxed. I noticed a slight improvement in page loading without it, so I uninstalled it. The network shield still blocks URLs and scans a crap load of stuff as I browse. Virtualization has set me free!

[Lisandro]

lol   I just feel that it's not needed since I don't hit the internet without Chrome sandboxed.

You mean your browser don't hit the Internet... Not only browsers connect and use http traffic...

[DBone]

Yea I know, but I have confidence in the file shield and network shield to keep me safe. Many AVs don't even offer a web shield (MSE comes to mind). Before I uninstalled the web shield, I was worried about other programs "phoning home" and not being protected, so I turned on my computer in the morning, let it idle all day without me touching it, and 14hrs later I opened the shield stats. The web shield was 0/0 (didn't scan so much as a single thing), but the network shield scanned over 200 things throughout the day, so I feel pretty confident that the network shield will keep me safe when the various programs connect to the internet.

[Lisandro]

let it idle all day without me touching it

Hmmm... Isn't it the problem? What happens when you touch the computer and start to run your programs?

[DBone]

Well I don't know.  Today, I will mess around for several hours without opening Chrome or IE9, but using the rest of my programs and I'll see what happens. Just so you know, I don't have any music or movies. I basically use it for the internet and to produce documents for work. But you've got me curious as to what will happen and I'll post back around 5pm pst.

[DBone]

I re-installed the web shield and rebooted. I let the machine idle for an hour, then I used all of my programs except for IE9 or Chrome (only 2 browsers installed). I messed with it throughout the day and it also idled in between usage. After 6hrs of use, the network shield had over 1,100 items scanned, and the web shield was still 0/0!

So for me, on my machine, with the programs that I use, the web shield doesn't kick in until I open a web browser. But since I have protected my browser with the sandbox, I don't see a need for the web shield. You may find different results on your machine, with your programs.



edit: I am only not using the web shield because I have AIS with the manual sandbox. If I were using the free version without the manual sandbox, I would absolutely use the web shield!

[DBone]

Hey Tech, I re-installed the Web & Script Shields.............Just didn't feel as safe, even with Chrome sandboxed

[Lisandro]

DBone, Web Shield continues to be a very good tool (in the edge of the infection vectors) to feel and be safe.
Other antivirus can't do it better. It's a show!