Spyware protection.

Well, I am not an expert, but they should be along later. :emotion-5:

I have the same programs you do with the exception of the Webroot Spy Sweeper. You might check out A Squared Anti Malware. I use the free version on my Vista computer, but last August Emsi offered essentially the whole paid version for a year as a special, for free, so that is on the XP computer I am now writing on. The paid version has background guard (realtime protection), but the free version does not have this, and a few other features.

I see no problems with either version or an excessive use of resources, so you might check it out.

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/

I'm no expert either, but here are my thoughts:

I have trialed many  anti-malware programs, including the paid versions of MBAM and a2 anti-malware (both excellent programs, which I still keep for backup scans) but ultimately I have always returned to Windows Defender as my sole resident anti-malware on my XP MCE system.

I believe WD is a much-overlooked program. Not only is it free, but it has guaranteed compatability with your Windows OS. In choosing it, I was persuaded by the arguments Of Bill Castner, an MVP over at aumha's forums:

"Defender benefits from the feedback of 100s of millions of computers: scanned monthly by the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) (700 million every Month), by OneCare installations, and by Forefront installations, as well as others running Windows Defender (~ 35 million computers) who participate in SpyNet. This means that alone of the anti-malware utilities, Windows Defender has the largest base of actual incident as well as heuristically determined anomalies on which to develop its definition and other updates. There is not a competitive product that can match the reporting base of Defender."
From: http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?p=199980#p199980

WD has never let me down. I really see no need to purchase any other alternative.

Thanks dalem29 and joe53 for your comments. You have answered my question. I will decide in the near future whether to keep Spy Sweeper. I probably won't keep it. I use great caution when I surf the Web.