Anti Virus

Anyone using Norton, and would you recommend it?  

No. Avast or avg will work much better. Both are free.

Thank you! I like free and have been very reluctant to buy Norton ...I don't want anything messing up my gaming.

Norton and McAfee are viruses in and of themselves if you ask me. I use Avast! free edition and install it on all of my customers' computers.

Currently I am using AVG, Mcafee and Norton tend to get in the way with update subscriptions and what not. I agree with Fog I have used both Avast and AVG for a long time and they both do a wonderful job for free antivirus software.

» Edited on: 2013-04-23 09:23:40

Used to run AVG... rolled to Security Essentials with win7... Win8 does not support that, but you can use windows Defender that comes with Win8... You can obviously do the research on which is best, all do a good job at protection, as long as you do not do silly things (go to suspect sites, DL junk, open every attachment you get in email). In the end if you want "hassle free" Microsoft solution work jsut as good, and are lot less headache than the 3rd party. Ridiculous that Norton trial "comes with" win8... and McAfee trial can get in with Java updates... get rid of that!

never use Norton. I use webroot. awesome antivirus system. scans daily. frequently defraqments your pc for you. and can perform a system clean up.

It would be safe to say that Norton Antivirus and McAfee are the only 2 viruses consumers actually pay for. ;)

Avast all the way. I've seen Norton and McAfee destroy laptops before.

My partner told me Norton and MacAfee are the devil incarnate and difficult to remove properly. He has worked in internet security both in the military and civilian life, so I believe him! I have rocked MSE for a while with no issues.

» Edited on: 2013-04-23 14:51:11

A website I trust when finding antivirus software is http://www.av-comparatives.org They are independent and very thorough in their tests! Personally I'm using F-Secure right now.

» Edited on: 2013-04-23 14:59:24

I completely disagree with the comments about Norton. I use Norton 360, I've used it for about 4-5 years now and I can't recommend it strongly enough. I won't use anything else, they've all let me down in the past, except for Norton. Norton was one of the worst, but they got their crap together, and have been a top-rated AV product for the last several years. I do find it interesting that the AV-Comparatives folks haven't tested Symantec in about a year, but for the last tests they ran in 2012, they gave Symantec an Advanced+ award. I got hooked on Norton 360 a few years back, when my GF was infected by a very nasty "Fake AV" rootkit trojan, that was reported to be impossible to clean (I tried 5 different AV, most are listed above and all failed to clean it), but Norton completely cleaned it out and I avoided a drive wipe and reinstall. Its light-weight, non-intrusive, and highly protective. None of our computers has caught a virus since I started using Norton on all of them. My kid downloads viruses quite often and Norton catches them all. My 2nd choice would F-Secure, but that's mostly because I go for the rootkit protection (they use Blacklight, a fantastic anti-rootkit technology), as those are the ones that will cost you a format and reinstall. edit: Also Norton is the only AV product that I have ever felt was worth paying money for, so yes I do have a subscription to it. Its well worth the peace of mind for a few dollars a month. especially with a special-needs child that's constantly clicking buttons and downloading anything and everything.

» Edited on: 2013-04-24 00:07:54

I downloaded Avast last night while we were waiting for the second Maw spawn. Thanks for the info :). I feel like my computer is a bit more secure now.

Norton licenses for install on 3 PCs and its very light-weight. I run an older Core2 Duo system and I have no issues with any extra lag on my system's performance. The way Norton once was, and the way it is now, is like comparing Night and Day.

I am an IT director at a very large institution and we have run quite a few tests. Obviously our needs are different than a home user but here is what I would report. Norton and McAfee are horrible, both in terms of effectiveness and system performance even if they have improved recently (although I suspect that the perceived improvement has more to do with increased computer performance over time). Avast *used* to be good for a home solution but they have slipped considerably in the last year or so. Quite a few more breaches are making it past them including some that really shouldn't have. AVG is still a decent free AV product for home use. In terms of both effectiveness and responsiveness for home computers, Microsoft security essentials is actually doing very well. My best recommendation for home users is MSE due to the above factors and just simplicity/integration.

I had Nod32 awhile back and when I did have it, it was the best virus protection that I had ever seen. It was pretty amazing but I don't see too many people using it anymore. Does anyone else have any opinions or info on it?

I've used Norton for years as it comes free with my insane Comcast bill. Not major problems, except I sometimes have to remind the firewall that Rift is legit.

I like Windows Security Essentials. I've used avg,avast,norton. What I don't like about norton is the way it fails to completly uninstall. Unless you are familiar with using the registry editor you will never completely get rid of it on an uninstall.

I would have recommended Avast! until about 2 weeks ago. Until I found out it had let a trojan sit on my PC for at least 6 months (possibly longer). Even CombFix didn't pick it up. Avast and Malwarebytes have failed me, even though they have real-time scanning.

me too. always using microsoft security essentials !! :D

Narco: How did you finally find the trojan? I'm curious which software actually managed to ferret it out?

Ironically, it was AVG. The trojan had got into Avast, so even though it appeared to be working properly, it probably wasn't.

Also have to watch with having multiple AV programs installed that are passively scanning. They can trip each other up and prevent the other from doing its job. That's why when I run sanity checks with a downloaded, standalone AV, I'll turn Norton off to run the scan. I haven't done that in a while, I probably should just to make sure Norton hasn't let something slip by. I usually use F-Secure or Trendmicro for that.