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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2012 5:59:44 GMT -5
I have a free subscription to Norton Anti Virus which is going to expire in a few days. I'm not sure if I want to renew or not & pay the $45 for a yearly subscription. So I'm looking for recomendations on virus software. Time Warner offers McCafee for free, but when I downloaded it a few weeks ago I had nothing but issues with it so I removed it. So that's out.
So if anyone can recommend a product I'd appreciate it. There's so many out there that's it's hard to pick & choose & I'm no techie.
Thanx a bunch!
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Post by clarencebunsen on Nov 20, 2012 8:03:40 GMT -5
I liked Norton products back in the days when it was run by the guy whose name was on the product. In recent years not so much. I like McAfee even less, I don't believe it's worth free.
Kapersky has a very good reputation among the products you pay for.
For my personal use I've had good luck with Avast & AVG and also Microsoft Security Essentials, all free. I also run a periodic scan using a program called Malwarebytes.
All of those are for Windows devices. I know very little about anti-malware for Android. I suppose I will have to learn. As of about a week ago, my wife & granddaughter started down loading games to her Nook reader. Although it wasn't sold as such, it's actually a tablet computer.
Good luck. If you find something that works well for you let us know.
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Post by jamesbreadfrombond on Nov 20, 2012 9:17:46 GMT -5
Microsoft Security Essentials works really well for me !!!
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Post by Clipper on Nov 20, 2012 9:43:46 GMT -5
Ralph recommended Avast, the free version, a couple of years ago and I have never had a problem with a virus since. I paid for virus protection for a few years. I had McAffee, Norton, and Security Suite from Walmart and had nothing but problems with paid programs. The free Avast has never allowed any problem to get in.
He also loaded CCleaner, free version, which dumps my cookies and deletes the browsing history whenever you scan, and Malware Bytes, free version, which finds and deletes any malware issues you might have. I run CC Cleaner every day or so, and Malware Bytes once a week.
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Post by Ralph on Nov 21, 2012 2:36:48 GMT -5
Kracker, I am running avast! on all our PC's, as well as CCleaner and also do a weekly scan with Malwarebytes.
I used to run AVG, but like Norton it began to get very invasive to my systems.
One suggestion for you if you opt out of Norton.
Be sure to visit their site and download the Norton Removal Tool to make sure you get it all out. Uninstalling Norton will not remove it entirely from you system and the "relics" left behind tend to cause havoc sooner or later.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2012 6:07:11 GMT -5
Avast it is. I think my Norton trial expires on Friday, so I'll probably download Avast today so my system isn't vulnerable.
Ralph, thanx for the tip on Norton. I didn't know that.
And you guys saved me $50. by giving me the tip on Avast. 'Preciate it.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Nov 21, 2012 6:49:40 GMT -5
Ralph, I hadn't used AVG in a few years. Sorry to hear they are no longer good. kracker. To get Ccleaner go to www.cnet.com/topic-software/ccleaner.htmlFind the line that says Ccleaner & click on the little arrow that says "Download now." For the rest of the stuff I have used a site called ninite.com It's sort of a one-stop shopping place for a lot of useful stuff. I used it when I set up this computer last Christmas. If I remember correctly I had to install their Installer first but it was fairly straightforward. With any of these programs you are usually offered a choice between a free program and a paid "premium" service. If you get to a point where you are asked to pay, it usually means you made a wrong choice on a screen. Back up and go again. |
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Post by kit on Nov 21, 2012 7:54:05 GMT -5
Interesting and informative comments. Does anyone have an opinion on "ZoneAlarm"?
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Post by clarencebunsen on Nov 21, 2012 8:40:01 GMT -5
I used it in the past for several years but moved away from it after experiencing some problems. There was some sort of scandal when after a change of ownership it was using a fake alert to push people into using their paid service. The details are sort of hazy to me now, perhaps someone else has more recent info. It's hard to win back a reputation after doing something like that.
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Post by dave on Nov 21, 2012 8:46:57 GMT -5
Kit, I used zone alarm and found it annoying, but possibly I didn't have it set up correctly. My son insists it damaged his system, and he's a pretty savvy user.
My own experience with anti-virus software began with AVG or Avast, I can't remember which I began with, but then switched to the other of the free versions when I caught a virus. I then began a process over the years of downloading new software products and choosing the one that took care of the virus. E.g, when Avast wouldn't fix it, I decided to buy McAfee. When McAfee didn't prevent or fix a virus, I went to Prevx, a product that was really pretty good. I used Prevx for a few years until it failed me and I now use Kaspersky, which for over a year has performed flawlessly and and kept me virus free.
When I bit the bullet and began to pay $50 per year for anti virus software, I reasoned my sanity was worth it.
When I used to work on school networks years ago, and I was asked to look at a PC for someone who had loaded their own software, I'd refuse unless they first let me remove that god-awful Norton with the tool Ralph mentioned. I've seen Norton, even after it was uninstalled, steal half the cpu cycles doing god knows what.
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Post by kit on Nov 21, 2012 9:27:13 GMT -5
What happens to the computer if you use two different anti-virus programs (like Zone-Alarm and Kaspersky) at the same time?
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Post by chris on Nov 21, 2012 9:46:48 GMT -5
frrom what I understand they cancel each other out. You can't use two antivirus or you will not be protected.
BTW I have always used AVG once I went with a freebie and have never had a problem yet. I was skeptical at first thinking something free may not protect me otherwise why have payfor ones. I use to use Norton's but then they turned into a nightmare.
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Post by chris on Nov 21, 2012 9:50:24 GMT -5
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Post by dave on Nov 21, 2012 12:21:49 GMT -5
During the switchover, I have used two anti-virus products at once. Either you get a message from one that tells you she can't live with the other one, or they appear to coexist. Anyway, that's my experience. Kaspersky will live with Prevx, and both are rather sensitive programs. Kaspersky also lives with ccleaner, malbytes and even smithfraud and spybot. I think I had a problem with Kaspersky and PCDoctor.
Chris' scenario may have merit. And in any event, one should probably not be running two at once because of the overhead.
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Post by Ralph on Nov 21, 2012 14:38:34 GMT -5
Usually two AV programs don’t play well together, but a lot depends on your OS.
XP seems to live with anything and everything going at once.
Vista (my wife’s pc) puts up with avast, Ad-Aware & Threatfire running all at once.
W7 appears to like avast and tolerates Ad-Aware, but won’t put up with Threatfire…..at all!
CCleaner & Malwarebytes are not real time programs that run constantly so they play well with pretty much everyone on board.
Clarence, AVG was great at one time. Then one day they updated their program version and it was worse than Norton, immediately slowed my system to a crawl.
Dave, Zone Alarm is picky about running pretty much anything other than itself, even Word documents. Nice to have if you like staring at a blank screen and never go online. Can’t tell you how many systems I have seen it trash, worse to get rid of than Norton. And McAfee isn’t much better IMO.
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