Norton v AVG etc

[Phoenix]

My trial period Norton is about to expire on laptop.

Do I follow the lazy option and just pay over the pennies, or are there better antivirus programs?

My old laptop came to grief through a trojan and I don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Also, if I change, do I have to uninstal Norton, or is it dead in the water once it has expired.

[WendyPusey]

I personally wouldn't touch Norton. I have AVG (Fre) and it does just as good if not better than Norton.

Yes you would have to uninstall Norton before installing another Virus Program.

[borobabs]

I have kept the Norton since got this new computer last year and had no problems with it , use that and spy bot which is free ;;

[Kath nr the Crooked Spire]

I have had Norton for about 3 years and not had any problems with the programme or viruses - my daughter had AVG and still got trojans and viruses.
With Norton you will get support through online chat.

[Phoenix]

It was a trojan that slipped through AVG that got me first time round.

We have Panda at work, which seems pretty good. The only snag is that all the messages now come through in Spanish! I can cope with blocked popups, but I don't understand the rest.

I suspect that how well each work must depend on a combination of internet provider, operating system etc (and one's own common sense!)

Part of me is scared of disabling anti-virus in case anything slips through.

[Grahame]

Hi all,

I would recommend running AVG free,Webroot Window washer to clear out your cache and other history(run it on computer shut down) & Webroot Spy sweeper that runs in the back ground. I also have a program called REGcure that cleans up you registry and start up programs.

If you want free go with spybot 1.4 and keep it up to date with AVG free and Ad-aware 2008 free. Make sure your Windows firewall is on always!!

Hope that helps

kind regards

Grahame

[davidm_uk]

The new version of AVG (v8) Free seems to be causing lots of problems, including slowing PCs down quite dramatically.

A lot of people on their user forum are switching to alternatives. Avast seems a popular one (I've just switched to it).

FREE avast! antivirus 4.x Home Edition, anti-spyware & anti-rootkit for Windows

David

[Heather Positive Thinker]

Brenda, if you go to a site called Trialpay - you can buy a small item from one of their merchants and you get free software for a year, which would normally cost up to £40. Ive bought ink through the site from inkclub(they do brands and compatibles - I get HP compatibles, 3 or 4 times the size, same price), which I use anyway, twice now.

The first time I chose a free years sub to zonealarm security suite (not just the zonewall, but the whole top rated anti virus/antispam etc. suite).
They have other antivirus including the full AVG 8 suite and Mcafee plus - all free offers.

http://www.trialpay.com/

Ive just got a free year of winzip for buying some more ink through them.

[Guest]

but dont have your windows firewall on if you have another firewall they clash

[Harrys mum]

I had Nortons for years... Didn't realize how bad it was till I bought Nod32.

Nod32 picked up a virus on my daughter's computer last week and couldn't get rid of it as it was too new. It did quarantine it and has now rung her and told her how to get rid of it. A friend has the virus now and Norton didn't even see it.

It's a painful one as well as it gets in the registry and just reboots the computer over and over.

[Guy]

I would suggest caution when using Nod32.

It seems that users rave about it and write glowing reviews based on the speed of the program.
However the Computer magazines PC Pro & PC World rate it low and some computer consultants have found problems with it not dealing with live embedded virus.

As someone who depends on computers to provide a living I use Norton but I would urge everyone to use common sense.

Do not rely on any antivirus program.
Cheers
Guy

[Heather Positive Thinker]

Ive never heard of Nod32.

[James]

I have AVG 8 and the computer starts very slowly it took about 15 mins this morning to start

[Guest]

funny you should say that James mine takes ages to get going too .

[Guy]

NOD32 is produced by the Slovac software company Eset.
It is a heuristics based software that looks for suspicious activity rather than using a library of virus signatures to find virus & malware.
As a result it is fast and with a low drain of resources.

It is not really software for the novice.
Cheers
Guy

[MarionH]

Guy,
Have you ever come across Kaparsky? Our son uses it and reckons it's great but he is more of a computer whiz than us - would it be good to look at? Have been living on AVG since we gave up Vet and Norton.
Marion