OT: Done with Norton - anti virus advice?

Back to post

Comments

cbrillow wrote on 3/17/2006, 3:50 AM
Yet another vote for AVG Free, but keep in mind that an antivirus is only part of the PC protection scheme.
JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/17/2006, 5:05 AM
I’ve been using ZoneAlarm Suite for years and IMHO it’s still the best suite out there. They did have some problems for customers upgrading from 5 to 6 but if you did a clean install there wasn’t a problem.

That said, I used AVG Free before that and loved it. If you just want anti-virus, AVG Free is hard to beat.

~jr
Dach wrote on 3/17/2006, 5:32 AM
I have been using the security products from Computer Associates. Two programs that I use on a regular basis are eTrust Anti-Virus and Pest Patrol (spyware remover). The two programs run very well together, do not bog down the system and update and scan automatically based on a set schedule.

In my opinion, the programs themselves are pretty much all the same. It about the company that offers the service... do they provide new signatures promptely, are there customer service good.

Plus the company is friendly to system builders, allowing for better margrin on their products.

Just my two cents,
Chad
JJKizak wrote on 3/17/2006, 6:59 AM
My guru buddy says if you have High Speed get a hardware firewall and router. He prefers to use "AOL's" anti-virus filters and spam filters as he gets nothing in spam at all. With Trend Micro I get about 200 spams per day but no bad stuff.

JJK
jlafferty wrote on 3/17/2006, 7:29 AM
Get a HW firewall, though I use Tiny Personal FW and it's great.

Also, with a good FW, and good scanning practices -- scan all incoming attachments and downloads -- AVG might be sufficient, but I use F-Secure, personally.
rsp wrote on 3/17/2006, 10:41 AM
Avast! antivirus or AVG should do the job
Coursedesign wrote on 3/17/2006, 1:50 PM
If you can't get your security set up properly, don't worry, you're in good company.

Both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense got solid F 's in cybersecurity from the House Government Reform Committee.

At least the Department of Homeland Security did no worse than last year, or the year before that. They have failed every year since they started.

At least that's better than the Department of Energy (responsible for much of our nuclear weapons research and production). They have failed five years in a row.

On the good side, the Social Security Administration got an A+, and the Agency for International Development, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Personnel Management have all gone from failed grades to A+.

So our Social Security and foreign aid are safe, but our nukes, our military defense organization, and our terrorism defenders aren't.

The Department of Homeland Security gets an F on, well, security

---------
Sidenote: NAT doesn't give 100% protection, it's just a start. It is not foolproof by any stretch of imagination, but don't shoot the messenger.
cbrillow wrote on 3/18/2006, 3:47 AM
"My guru buddy says if you have High Speed get a hardware firewall and router. He prefers to use "AOL's" anti-virus filters and spam filters as he gets nothing in spam at all."

No offense intended, jjk, but you have a computer guru who uses AOL? Not surprising that he gets no spam. I've been trying for nearly two months to contact an AOL user who's expecting to hear from me. I've tried sending from two different email accounts on different domains, and they do not make it through to him.

The recent thread, "Is email service getting worse?" asked a very cogent question. It surely is, and a big reason for it is the draconian, deaf-dumb-and-blind blacklist filters a lot of ISPs use these days. Everytime I invest any amount of effort in an email, I wonder if it's going to reach the intended recipient. Just can't trust email anymore.
DelCallo wrote on 3/18/2006, 4:50 AM
I scrapped Norton on all my machines. It was forever messing with my sysrestore, then, turning itself off (or getting turned off by something else).

I've been with McAfee for several years, now. I'm happy with it. It runs in the background, never messes with my aps or hogs my machines - and it does find viruses.

Del
JJKizak wrote on 3/18/2006, 4:57 AM
Cbrillow:
He never told me if there were missing "E" mails. I always tell him I will never use AOL since the last time they were caught stealing subscriber info and selling it to others.

JJK
Steve Mann wrote on 3/19/2006, 12:52 AM
"Don't worry about being "unprotected" for awhile. I have a subscription to an anti-virus program that came with my latest computer, but have completely disabled it. I use it once in awhile just to assure myself that nothing has happened. Nine computers here, and not one has anti-virus running. Never had a virus."

Unless you also update the virus signature file, you could be getting bit by some new viruses and not know it.
Steve Mann wrote on 3/19/2006, 12:58 AM
"No offense intended, jjk, but you have a computer guru who uses AOL?"

I caught the same thing. LOL.
MJhig wrote on 3/19/2006, 7:24 AM
>>>>computer guru who uses AOL<<<<

That's the epitome of oxymoron!

MJ
JJKizak wrote on 3/19/2006, 8:15 AM
I think he got a real cheap package deal. He says they do a real good job blocking though, ooops, were back to that again.

JJK