Norton or McAfee - Which is better antivirus program?

[ScoopKona]

I disagree that A/V software is "better than nothing."

I prefer "nothing" to A/V software. Here's why.

My 1st hard drive contains the OS, and installed programs, AND NOTHING ELSE.

My 2nd hard drive contains scratch files, and some minor data that is easily replaced or not worth replacing (my email, for instance).

My 3rd hard drive (the big one) contains all the data. It is mirrored to a portable drive whenever enough changes warrant mirroring it. The really important stuff -- music, family pictures, etc -- is backed up optically, twice, and stored in two locations. This includes up-to-date driver files for all hardware.

In the case of a catastrophic OS failure, I can be back up and running in about an hour. I can be back to "this never happened" (installing the 20 or so programs I use often) in about three hours.

So my question is:

Why on earth would I want to have A/V software hogging my system resources 100% of the time, when my worst-case scenario is "being without a computer for an hour?"

A good backup regimen trumps A/V software every time.

 

[John Cummings]

I disagree that A/V software is "better than nothing."

I prefer "nothing" to A/V software. Here's why.

My 1st hard drive contains the OS, and installed programs, AND NOTHING ELSE.

My 2nd hard drive contains scratch files, and some minor data that is easily replaced or not worth replacing (my email, for instance).

My 3rd hard drive (the big one) contains all the data. It is mirrored to a portable drive whenever enough changes warrant mirroring it. The really important stuff -- music, family pictures, etc -- is backed up optically, twice, and stored in two locations. This includes up-to-date driver files for all hardware.

In the case of a catastrophic OS failure, I can be back up and running in about an hour. I can be back to "this never happened" (installing the 20 or so programs I use often) in about three hours.

So my question is:

Why on earth would I want to have A/V software hogging my system resources 100% of the time, when my worst-case scenario is "being without a computer for an hour?"

A good backup regimen trumps A/V software every time.

Your computer must have very limited resources and lousy A/V software if it would hog your resources 100%. You do whatever you want but it is not a very good option.

 

[Kal]

I disagree that A/V software is "better than nothing."

I prefer "nothing" to A/V software. Here's why.

My 1st hard drive contains the OS, and installed programs, AND NOTHING ELSE.

My 2nd hard drive contains scratch files, and some minor data that is easily replaced or not worth replacing (my email, for instance).

My 3rd hard drive (the big one) contains all the data. It is mirrored to a portable drive whenever enough changes warrant mirroring it. The really important stuff -- music, family pictures, etc -- is backed up optically, twice, and stored in two locations. This includes up-to-date driver files for all hardware.

In the case of a catastrophic OS failure, I can be back up and running in about an hour. I can be back to "this never happened" (installing the 20 or so programs I use often) in about three hours.

So my question is:

Why on earth would I want to have A/V software hogging my system resources 100% of the time, when my worst-case scenario is "being without a computer for an hour?"

A good backup regimen trumps A/V software every time.

The RHYTHM METHOD of A/V control. Oops, something must have happened!

 

[laurac260]

man, someone pop some popcorn!

...this is getting good...

(my Mac can't pop popcorn...yet..but I am sure SOMEDAY "they'll have an app for that!"

 

[bigrick]

Rather than pay for either, I do use and recommend the free version of AVG:
http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
And for anti-spyware:
http://superantispyware.com/downloadfile.html?productid=SUPERANTISPYWAREFREE

These are free, though both have pay versions. They work at least as well as Norton or McAfee and are much easier on your computer resources.

My opinion only and worth exactly the price.

Jim Ricks

Ditto for these.

I also use the free version for anti-malware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

 

[pittle]

My vote would be for avast!
They have worked well for me.

Another vote for Avast - and it is free (my favorite four letter word!!!)