Okay, I've had it. I got an automated thing telling me to download Norton Internet Security 2008 and upgrade. Which I did (yes, I'm dumb).
My computer is hosed. Norton kills me. It kills websites, and it kills MS Word.
Norton must be destroyed.
At least on my computer. So... I'm running WinXP SP2 with half a gig of RAM. Any recommendations here for an antivirus and a firewall? I assume that using Windows Firewall isn't the best idea in the world, right?
What's good? Something that'll do the trick and not annihilate my computer. Thanks.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Windows Firewall sucks. IMO it is worth less than no firewall at all.
Check out majorgeeks.com. It is filled with freeware and shareware, and is all clean....no trojans, no bots.
I use AVG for anti-virus, but I guess the freeware version is not going to be updated starting July 1st.
I have a DSL router, so using a firewall is redundant for me.
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
Using avast! has been the best decision I've ever made.
It's free, fairly lightweight, and automatically downloads updates. Plus it blocks more than Norton ever did for me. Ran Spybot for the first time in a month, and only 8 things popped up. Norton would commonly allow 50+ through.
edited to add: while being free, you have to register your email once every 14 months. But I have yet to receive any spam because of it. So don't worry about that.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
"I use AVG for anti-virus, but I guess the freeware version is not going to be updated starting July 1st."
AVG will cease updating the old version (I think it was 7.2) of their freeware. Updates will continue on the new version (8.0), which has been available since the beginning of June or thereabouts.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I'll look at Avast. What about getting rid of Norton? I've heard that it's painfully difficult to rip all of the roots of Norton out of your system. Are there tools that will do a search-and-destroy?
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
I uninstalled everything manually. Then deleted all the folders in Program Files. Then I used CCleaner to scan my registry and get rid of useless crap.
It's probably not all gone, but I see no sign of it.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I don't have anything substantive to contribute to the discussion, but I wanted to say that this thread title is absolutely fantastic.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I was feeling classical.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I like AVG, so I will probably update...but I was under the impression that version8 was something you had to pay for.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I'm using avast! now, having migrated from AVG.
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I use basic Norton Anti-virus, I haven't seen any problems. Is there something I should look out for?
On a related note, my new PC has a Norton/Dell back-up system that backs-up my hard drive...on itself, and takes up a very large portion while doing it. I haven't yet found a way to disable this. Any suggestions?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I have McAfee, so, I don't have any real valuable advice to offer.
But I did want to say that I loved the thread title.
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
MEC, it's not that there is any real problem with Norton, per se. It is more that it tends to be a resource hog in the way of AOL software and Vista.
Also, my big problem was that I didn't like paying for software when there are free versions out there.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Also, it seems that I should have removed the old Norton completely before installing the new one. Only they didn't bother saying so. As a result, there's a file that's going crazy trying to find stuff.
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
ah yes. the wonders of Norton.
You could try booting it in safe mode and uninstalling. I'm not sure how much good this would do you, though.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Okay, I'm going to try Avast. What about a firewall? What's good?
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by adfectio: Using avast! has been the best decision I've ever made.
It's free, fairly lightweight, and automatically downloads updates.
"Your virus database has been updated." [/friendly man]
This is the source of much amusement at my house, much as we enjoy the product.
"Hey, sugar?" "What?" "I was getting worried." "About what?" "The computer. You know." "But has the virus database been updated?" "Yes! Yes it has! Whew. My fears are thus assuaged."
[ June 23, 2008, 10:27 AM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
:eyes suspiciously:
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: assauged
Putting herbs on your fears? ("sauge" means "sage" - the plant - in French) Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Spicy! Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Just make sure you turn off the voices on Avast!
We tend to leave our computers on and there's nothing like being awaked at 3am by a man's voice and thinking there's someone in the house.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Are there technical reasons to prefer Avast! to AVG? I've installed AVG 8. Is there some tangible benefit to installing Avast!?
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
Dag, my experience with AVG was less that friendly. It was an older version, and just was not very user friendly. A lot of it was manual work, when I would rather set it up and forget it even exists. It should work on it's own IMO. It's possible that AVG has since been updated and does a lot of this on their own, but it didn't when I used it.
Lisa, are you behind a router? I don't use any firewall, and I have no issues. However, I am also always behind a router, which blocks a lot of the attacks.
As for the sounds, yes it's easy to turn them off. I tend to leave them on, just because I like knowing that it is still working. Even in the middle of a game, it is interesting to hear him pop up and tell me that I'm protected.
There's also Comodo which has both a free Antivirus and Firewall. Those also seemed as bulky as Norton to me. Extra Firewalls tend to slow your computer down. And with half a gig of RAM, you probably don't want any extra programs open that you don't need.
In general, however, if you feel like you need a Firewall, I feel confidant enough with avast! that Window's Firewall is enough to perform decently well.
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