Norton Anti virus - which one?

[Born2Travel]

My free Norton anti-virus software is about to expire - when I looked it up I found three versions - Anti virus, Security and 360. Which do I need? Pros and Cons? I don't know anything about this - my work pc is taken care of by IT and someone installed an antivirus on my old laptop for me. This time I need to figure it out myself.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

What you need to do is get some product other than Norton. Norton is junk and you should not allow it to be on your computer.

 

[Passepartout]

I'm with Steve on this one. I put it on about the time my McAfee was expiring and DW's Norton came with 2 licenses. It slowed my computer to a crawl, took forever to boot, and other conflicts occurred at the same time. I uninstalled it, renewed my McAfee subscription. Problems resolved.

Jim Ricks

 

[Icarus]

eset nod32 is one of the best ones right now. I'm using it.

-David

 

[Blondie]

Norton so screwed up my computer- now I have a free version of avast but I am sure I still have components of Norton working their magic in my system.

 

[Conan]

Another vote for nod32 from Eset
Not free, but worth every penny

 

[Harvey and Lin]

I've used Norton's and Macafee both are junk in my opinion. I liked PC-cillian but when it expired I tried AVG and I think it is good and the price is right. I have been using the free version

 

[Icarus]

I've used Norton's and Macafee both are junk in my opinion. I liked PC-cillian but when it expired I tried AVG and I think it is good and the price is right. I have been using the free version

I was a big fan of AVG A/V before the current version (8). The current version has added so much clutter, I can't recommend it anymore unless you are willing to take special steps during the install process, and only install the free (or paid) A/V product, not the free suite.

I'd have to look up the special command line arguments for the install again. I can't remember them offhand.

Without the special arguments at install time, you end up with link scanners and toolbars attached to your web browsers. And there's more crud if you don't do a custom install and disable all the other options.

I'm running it one of my PCs, and with these precautions, it's still a decent product. Without them, it's starting to become more Norton-like. (Slow, bloated and includes extra things that you don't need.)

If you are willing to pay for it, eset nod32 is probably the best option. If you aren't willing to pay for it, doing a custom install of AVG 8 A/V free with the special instructions is not a bad way to go. The last alternative would be a different free product or installing AVG 8 A/V in the normal manner. (There might be a better free product now, I don't really know.)

-David

 

[Icarus]

Instructions for installing free AVG 8 A/V without the link scanner:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9959582&postcount=61

Make sure you download the free A/V only, not the suite. Also, do a custom install and uncheck most of the other options (toolbars and any other scanning, except for email scanning.) Note: Please use common sense here. I don't remember all the options during the custom install.

Also, that thread has some other free A/V suggestions in it. I haven't personally tried any of the other ones.

I can't stress enough how much better eset nod32 is than any of the other options here.

http://www.eset.com/products/nod32.php

-David

 

[MULTIZ321]

David,

Thanks for the update and link on eset Nod32.

Richard

 

[Born2Travel]

Thanks everyone -

I had no idea there were issues with Norton - it's the one I've heard about the most but maybe I don't want it afterall. I will try to follow David's instructions (note, I said TRY.... ) - thanks again...

 

[Kozman]

Norton Stinks

Agreed, Norton is JUNK! It's bloated, takes over your computer and is almost impossible to remove.

 

[Icarus]

Agreed, Norton is JUNK! It's bloated, takes over your computer and is almost impossible to remove.

I think they have a special removal tool on their web site.

Should be easy enough to find.

-David

 

[Jim McLaren]

I'm with Blondie. I've used Avast for years and love it. Well, as much as you can love a bunch of bits and bytes. I've never been infected since I started using it. It checks everything incoming (email, documents, web pages, etc.) and is FREE for home use. You just have to register every 15 months or so.

 

[PigsDad]

David (or anyone else) -- have you used Eset's "Smart security" (which includes a personal firewall) or just their anti-virus application? I was wondering what people thought of their firewall app as well.

I just purchased a new system and it came w/ 60 days of Norton Internet Security, so I am looking for a full replacement of that.

Kurt

 

[grest]

Norton's was a bust for me too...a worm got through and ate my computer, which even a computer guru was unable to fix. Never again Norton.
Connie

 

[Icarus]

David (or anyone else) -- have you used Eset's "Smart security" (which includes a personal firewall) or just their anti-virus application? I was wondering what people thought of their firewall app as well.

I just purchased a new system and it came w/ 60 days of Norton Internet Security, so I am looking for a full replacement of that.

Kurt

I'm just using eset's nod32 A/V.

For a firewall, Comodo has a good free product that I'm using. For most people, the firewall built into XP or Vista might be good enough.

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html

None of the suites are as good as going with separates.

-David

 

[Jim C]

I'm just using eset's nod32 A/V.

For a firewall, Comodo has a good free product that I'm using. For most people, the firewall built into XP or Vista might be good enough.

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html

None of the suites are as good as going with separates.

-David

David, I've had it with Norton after several years!! Does eset's nod32 A/V also come with anti spam or do you use a separate one? Thanks

 

[Icarus]

David, I've had it with Norton after several years!! Does eset's nod32 A/V also come with anti spam or do you use a separate one? Thanks

What do you mean by anti-spam? Do you mean anti-spyware/malware, like Spybot S&D or adaware? If that's what you mean, I use separates.

The people that do suites, including AVG, Norton, etc have started bundling them into their products, and the products have suffered because none of the suite products are as good as the separate products, and the suite products are, in general bloated and slow and suffer because of that.

The beauty of nod32 is that it's fast, unobtrusive, takes a small amount of memory and resources, and you really don't even notice that its running except for the system tray icon.

-David

 

[Jim C]

Thanks David. Norton Anti Spam allows spam emails to be sent to a separate folder without opening. Also allows for a blocked sender list. It works fairly well as the number of phony emails have been greatly reduced. It's different than Spybot and Adaware. Anyway, even though it functions adequately, it's going bye, bye when I dump Norton A/V.

 

[Icarus]

All of my non-work email accounts are now run by gmail (either directly or because my old ISP moved our email to google apps), and they have the best spam filter of anybody. Also thunderbird has spam learning/filtering built in.

Anyway, you really don't want your A/V doing anything but A/V unless you want a bloated, slow A/V product. I'm sure you can find other ways to filter spam.

-David

 

[Jim C]

Anyway, you really don't want your A/V doing anything but A/V unless you want a bloated, slow A/V product. I'm sure you can find other ways to filter spam.

-David

That's exactly what I intend to do. Thanks for the help

 

[tompalm]

I bought Trend Micro Internet Security Pro about a year ago based on recommendations from magazines and sales representatives at Best Buy. I have to renew it in a couple months. Is it worth switching to nod32? My primary concern is spyware or protection while doing on-line banking.

 

[Icarus]

I bought Trend Micro Internet Security Pro about a year ago based on recommendations from magazines and sales representatives at Best Buy. I have to renew it in a couple months. Is it worth switching to nod32? My primary concern is spyware or protection while doing on-line banking.

It's your call Tom. nod32 will only replace the A/V component of Trend Micro's security suite product. There's nothing wrong with using a suite if that's what you want.

Here's an actual independent review site for A/V software. Most of the hits you will get by searching for a/v reviews are for magazines that benefit from advertising revenue and other sites that benefit from referral fees for the products they review.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Note: You have to pay attention to the versions of the software they review. AVG reviews on this website are still for 7.5, the older (better) version. They will eventually catch up, as their reviews are updated every 6 months.

-David

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

t

I bought Trend Micro Internet Security Pro about a year ago based on recommendations from magazines and sales representatives at Best Buy. I have to renew it in a couple months. Is it worth switching to nod32? My primary concern is spyware or protection while doing on-line banking.

I recently dumped TrendMicro when it was time to renew. Like Norton, it's a once fine product that has succumbed to bloat.

It greatly slowed down my computer. I also despised how it would popup a window telling me that it was updating; I would often be in the middle of another task needing to focus intently, and all of a sudden TrendMicro would take over my screen. If I was in the middle of typing something, entering data, or writing code, too bad. Here's TrendMicro, thinking that whatever it is doing is more important than anything I might be doing.