Removing NORTON AV and going to...? (1 Viewer)

[todbnla]

My current Norton AV subs runs out shortly. I think most would agree and say their may be better alternatives out there so my question is two fold:


First; How do I remove the entire Norton package?

Second; What is the best AV protection out there currently?

Running a Dell with Win Home XP...

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I and PC Magazine have found that Norton Internet Security Suite is the best overall security package to have. I have been using the 2005 version for almost 2 months and love it.

McAfee is terrible and I don't like the user interfaces of others.

Answers to questions:

1. Use Add/Remove Programs function on Control Panel
2. PC Magazine rates Norton as still the best-it usually wins. I have found no integration issues with SP2 so far.

 

[SethH]

If I were you I would just use the free AVG antivirus. It is a very good AV program. I currently use Norton because I get it for free through my university. However, I have AVG running on my parent's computer and both of my sisters' computers and I think it's a great program.

 

[Marc Colella]

I also recommend AVG.

It may be free, but it works as well (or better) than retail AV software.

 

[Bob Graz]

You'll find a number of threads on this subject. I ditched Norton 9 months or so ago for AVG and have been very satisfied. Recently AVG upgraded their free AV program to make it even better. My father is now running AVG on his laptop and desktop as well. AVG provides very frequent virus updates and is not as intrusive as Norton. Certainly each of the various AV programs have their pluses and minuses, supporters and detractors. I'll keep my free AVG, combined with free Ad-aware and Spybot. I find that, along with keeping MS updates current, and Mozilla to be all I need.

Also, add/remove will not remove all the Norton files. Do a web search to find utilities to clean up Norton files.

 

[Mike Fassler]

AVG NOD32 and f-secure are some of the best out there, AVG free is better than most you will pay for.

 

[Angelo.M]

I prefer and use Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus.

 

[Eric Alderson]

I sometimes think that Norton is a virus itself! I'm using AVG for free and it works great.

 

[todbnla]

Just wondering I d/l AVG and its only free as a trial, does everyone buy it?

 

[SethH]

Did you download it from this page?

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php

It is free. It does not require a purchase as long as you are using it for personal use.

 

[todbnla]

Oops, I d/l'ed the pro edition, but check this, I have been a subscriber to Norton, faithfully using the program, paying the fees, getting updates, etc. for a few years now.

My pc had two forms of virus and one trojan according to AVG pro...

 

[Greg*go]

So much for Norton being the most secure... I've used AVG free for about a year and half, then switched to AVG Pro about 8 months ago because the free version wasn't working right with my e-mail clent. But now the free version works with a lot more email clients, so it will be good for most poeple. now and have been very satisfied with it.

I'm sure a virus can get by all the AVs though, it's just really annoying when you download a new AV program and it finds a virus already on your system.

 

[John Wilson]

I'd like to add a follow-on question to this old thread:b

My Norton AV sub just ran out and I too would like to try AVG Free. However, I do like some of the other Norton utilities included in SystemWorks 2003 Pro which I'm now using.

Questions:

1. Can I use SW2003 w/o the AV part and AVG Free together? Do they get along?

2. If the answer to #1 is yes, what I'd like to do is uninstall SW2003, reinstall using Custom setting and deselect AV, then install AVG Free. Will this work? Anything else I should be aware of i.e. completely clear out all Norton components (how do I do this?)

Thanks in advance for your help/opinions

 

[Greg*go]

A friend of mine has the Norton Suite installed without the AV, and uses AVG free. He has had no problems that I know of. He just deleted Norton, then reinstalled it the way you all ready suggested. I know he uses some of the Norton utilities, I just don't know witch in particular. Probably windoctor, regdoctor(?) and speeddisk.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Very surprised to read so many Norton haters
out there.

I use Norton Systemworks 2005 and love it.
Have had so many viruses and trojans effectively
blocked.

The only concern I have with Nortons is
the possible amount of system memory it
uses. Never really checked, but I can
imagine that it must weigh upon my available
resources.

Two quick questions....

1. Does AVG use less system resources than
Norton?

2. Do many of you believe that AVG is just
as -or- more effective than Norton?

Look forward to the responses.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Ron,

1. Yes, much less than Norton. That is why I switched years ago. AVG released a new version and is forcing everyone to upgrade, I am downloading it now and will check the memory load of the new version.

The difference on my system (with AVG 6.0) was
Norton: ~12mb memory
AVG: ~256k memory.

2. Every bit as effective if not more. Very easy to update virus files, and it scans email perfectly and quickly.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Just the other day, I did a google search on an actress and it pulled up a few results. I clicked on the first result and that webpage was acting strangely so I closed down the browser. I got a virus from that webpage and even though nav found it, it could not delete it. Since then, I have loaded avg and currently use both av programs on my primary home system.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I thought that you weren't supposed to install two anti-virus programs on one computer.

 

[Kevin G.]

Why? I am thinking of re-upping once my trial from Dell runs out.
I have been suitibly impressed with the real-time protection and security/protection.
Something I should know??

 

[John Watson]

Wish this thread had cropped up a few days ago.:frowning:

My sub was also expiring, but having had problems with Norton 2002 for quite some time, I fell for the "Upgrade to 2005 edition for a few dollars more" routine.

Bad choice. NAV works even slower, and my computer, which used to be at about 88% resources free after reboot, now comes in at something like 73% resources free level. And going online or opening e-mail, the level quickly drops to 65%.

I have heard for years that Norton is a resource hog. Is this what people are talking about?

It takes about 2-3 minutes of chattering to scan a couple of incoming e-mails when I open Outlook Express.

Norton Upgrade has also added a number of other irritating problems to my use of this old computer.

When it comes time to finally get a better computer this fall, Norton is not going to be high on my list for installation.