Anti-Virus you get what you pay for

[N3CR0S1S89]

I said nothing about being "leet" to use Norton. Although I am inclined to think that you were dropped on your head by the way you ended your burning missive. Just because I said I know more about Norton than most people does not make me "leet". I just know from experience and a whole lot of research to know how to resolve problems with Norton and other pay anti Virus's.

Also which version of Norton are you talking about? you seem to be leaving out details just to emphasize your irrational hatred for said product.

As far as a "lower detection rate" again which version are you referring to.

I also noticed that you said that Norton was a resource hog however you don't mind it When panda slows down your system?

Lastly you do have one hell of an inferiority complex to be that disturbed or outraged at a post when someone shows a proficiency towards products you hate.

Drop , are you referring to Norton system works 2006 or 2007 with Norton Go Back? If you are I understand your frustration many users had a hell of a time uninstalling that. Although I don't think Go back is used anymore if that's the case.

I do admit thought Norton does not like some of my network security programs (password crackers) to begin with. Although I have not run into any problems (yet) with programs I created.

For the most part if anyone has an issue with Norton or McAfee installed on their system I can usually help because I deal with them on a daily basis.

Silentknight329, I have Norton System Works 2009 installed and it is far better than previous versions. I have noticed a smaller install foot print and less services running in the background. Also the New versions of McAfee and PC Cillin are quite good too

I was referring to Norton system works 2007. It came preinstalled on my laptop and was nothing but a pain for me.

Yes your right Norton is getting better but I still think that it just doesn't meet the standards that a pay for anti-virus should. No I don't have an inferiority complex and usually wouldn't go on a rampage to slander the name of a product but Norton is just that horrible. I don't mind it When panda slows down my system because it actually does what is intended to do and well I might add.

Also, why not just spend the same amount on something that doesn't have tons of issues and not have to waste your time becoming an expert on fixing problems that the anti-virus shouldn't have to begin with? Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like a practical use of said time and money but that could just be me and my massive "inferiority complex". Bad Technicians are the reason that the end user has so many issues to begin with. If the Tech is having problems with a product then what do you think is going to happen for the end user? So now the client has a PC that has issues after just recently having repaired because the Tech installed Norton anti-virus and its causing functionality issues. The client now has to waste more time and money taking the PC back to the Tech or call Norton's Service and Support and spend time they don't have learning to fix the problem just to save some money. Now if you've read and understood any of this you would understand that I don't have a problem with you stating your opinion because opinion's are like assholes and everyone has one but when you start recommending a product that you openly admit has problems that most people have issues fixing and then use it to advertise just so you can make money then I have a bit of a problem. Its just wrong to take advantage of someone just because they lack knowledge or experience and installing products that cause problems just so you can make a profit is just that.

[stingwray]

I use Avast Free on my Windows machine, mainly to shut up the security console from telling me that I'm not protected all the time and that I'm going to get AIDs. I can't remember the last time that I had a virus.

I'm vaguely more worried about malware and such from browsing the internet, but most of the browsers do a decent job of prevent that or warning you before now, and you'd never guess, there are free applications which will search and remove malware and spyware as well!

So wait a minute, if I can get all the tools that I need for free, but they are just not bundled as one, why should I be paying someone the privilege for bundling it all together?

In my opinion paying for AV protection packs is for the idiots that can't use a computer and people who are tool lazy to administer their computer properly.

[ADM1NX]

If you want AV, get NOD32. It's 40 bucks for a one year subscription, and it does antivirus, anti spyware, and anti malware, whitout bloat, nagging, and false positives. It just runs in the background and doesnt pop up unless you get something. All of my clients that use it never have to call me up about getting any viruses, so if you're too lazy to be cautious on the internet, it's something to try out.

[h3%5kr3w]

Avast is awesome for some protection. Easy to setup, bloat free, highly updated, and it's free.

[N3CR0S1S89]

Your not exactly paying for the anti-virus when you buy it. Your actually paying for the technical support so thats why they charge you every 6months to a year.

[Razor512]

99% of all computers that I fix in my line of work all have nortons (some have the 2009 version), the other 1% have mcafee (in many cases installing avast was able to remove the infections and for bad ones, it was able to st least cripple them enough to backup the users data and take screenshots of everything so after the reinstall, i can put all of the files and programs back and keep the positioning also, since many users get used to having icons and other stuff in certain positions )

PS, there is no software solution to stupidity.

since my main focus is getting as much performance out of my pc as possible, I have most services and all startup items except rivatuner disabled

(this also adds security as many of the vulnerable services are disabled and windows runs much faster. I also have many registry tweaks and more stuff disabled using autoruns, and with this, windows xp can boot to desktop and have all loading 100% done in about 17 seconds)

I have both AVG and avast (since i still have avg 7.5 which is no longer updated, I will eventually remove it. But since i run the scanners as on demand scanners, i can have multiple

auto protection is useless anyway. there many infected files in which the virus scan can detect if you do a manual scan but the auto protection will never see until the infection has already compromised the system

so i manually scan downloaded files

I have never had a infection that i did not purposely install

I have not reinstalled windows in about 7 years now but because the startup is kept clean, it still runs like a fresh install

PS even the best virus scan in the world will not handle a minute in the hands of an idiot with a copy of limewire

[CraigHB]

Never did like any products from Symantec much. Norton AV would probably be at the top of the list. It's like the cure is worse than the disease. I use ClamAV anti-virus software. There's a Linux version and a Windows version, ClamWin. It's simply a scanning tool and doesn't load any TSR's except a scheduler you can easily disable. I'm pretty happy with it, although I don't run regular scans. I run it if I think I might have picked something up, but that doesn't happen very often. I run scheduled scans on my wife's PC, but she's pretty good about that stuff and I don't recall ever seeing her computer get infected.

I reload Windows every year or so as a matter of routine. I probably don't need to be doing that, but MS has me trained after running Windows since the early days. Remember dll hell, file corruption, and mysterious crashing? Windows is worlds better now, but still, I don't quite trust it. I run a full unattended setup with slipstreamed drivers so that takes a lot of the pain out of it. BTW, that previous post with only 13 running processes is pretty impressive. The most I've been able to whittle it down to is 16. In any case, I'm a believer in "less is more" with Windows processes. Getting rid of those startup programs and unneeded services really perks Windows up and makes it more reliable.

I've been hit with malicious programs mainly from trusting web sites or downloads I shouldn't. Yea, I run IE because it's already there when you install Windows and I don't want to deal with a different browser, again, MS has me trained. You have to spend some time monkeying with IE to get it secure at all. In it's stock configuration, you can pick up nasty things real easy. I really should move to a different browser and I'm sure people here would strongly suggest that.