Norton Security HELP

[Catty1]

I'm with blue. Norton is a resource hog and I don't like it. I don't say anything to clients who like it; for those who have questions or concerns, I go with AVG or Avast free versions.

I use a paid program from Trend Micro. About $50 a year, and MUCH less invasive! (There is a paid AVG as well).

Just mentioning that in case you think paying for one makes it better.

Avast Free (there are links to paid ones in the left margin):http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Trend Micro: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/home/


AVG paid: http://www.avg.com/us-en/home-and-of...?ctype=ps3925e

AVG free: http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage

Comparison chart of features in free vs paid AVG: http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download-a...s-free-edition

[Moesha]

How do you get rid of Norton though? I've heard that it is a terrible program to try to uninstall. Sorry Kuhio, I have no ideas on how to help. I have Norton and can view the rescue stories. Although, my mom can go to the rescue site on her computer and shop there, but she can't click on the donation button. She's had this problem for quite some time. A couple of months ago her hard drive crashed. Even after a new harddrive and reinstall of Vista, she still can't click on the link. It just refreshes the page and doesn't count her vote.

[Freedom]

Kuhio, if you want to keep Norton, try phoning their toll free help line. I've had great service from them the few times I got stuck on something like this.

You can do it online support as well.

Good luck!

[redbird]

Kuhio, if you want to keep Norton, try phoning their toll free help line. I've had great service from them the few times I got stuck on something like this.

You can do it online support as well.

Good luck!

I have called them also when needed, they have always been helpful, I would not give up Norton so easily. It came with my Dell computer and I've been happy with it

[kuhio98]

Thanks everyone. My brother and brother-in-law are coming over this afternoon. They're both techie so I hope they can help me out. If they can't I'll call Norton.

I use Explorer and plan to keep it. I've been happy (so far) with Norton and plan continue using it.

Thanks again!

[Lady's Human]

How do you get rid of Norton?

Reinstall windows.

I'm semi-kidding. Norton is a PITA to remove, and must be removed COMPLETELY. (Must have been the same guys who wrote the AOL source code)

I'm with Blue on Avast. I was running AVG, and it looks like they are going to a more resource intensive program, and are also getting away from providing free user- level AV software, and their popups got bloody annoying in the last version.

Removed AVG, downloaded Avast, no issues.

[Catlady711]

Personally I haven't found an anti-virus/firewall software I truely like.

Norton was ok until they started going to the one disk 'security suite' thing, then it got all muddled and crashed alot. But when it was a two disk package I found the interface easier to use than anything I've tried since.

I went to Trend Micro, but it crashed and caused my mouse to freeze, requiring a reboot to fix, plus the constant pop ups on the screen wanting to download updates all the time drove me crazy. The pop up blocker was lousy. Plus it didn't let me customize things nearly as much as Norton did.

I'm now with AVG, and while it doesn't bother me wanting updates, it does give me a pop up box for all kinds of other things though. And it's much more complicated to customize. It wants to do everything automatically and getting into the menus to adjust it is just plain confusing. However it has caught tracking cookies and other things that neither Trend Micro, or Norton were ever able to catch. It's also less of a resource hog than those as well.

I guess with any of them it's a catch 22, if you want your cpu safe you have to use the products, but to use them, you have to find the least of the evils to do it. sigh

[Catty1]

To remove Norton:

1. Click on Start, choose Control Panel.

2. Choose "Add/Remove Programs" (XP) or "Programs & Features" (Vista) or "Programs" (Win7). Double click to open.

3. Wait for the list to load, then scroll down to Norton and select it. Click "uninstall" at the top. Norton takes a long time to get rid of itself (lol).

4. Make sure you have another anti-virus to install AFTER Norton is gone. It conflicts with many other AV programs.

While you are in the Programs list, you can remove others you no longer use, IF YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. If you DON'T know, then leave it alone!

[Moesha]

I know about the uninstall feature there Catty. I just meant that I've heard that even once it is gone, there are still bits and pieces of it that are left behind.

ETA: Here is just one link from here at PT where people were talking about how difficult it is to install. You even mentioned problems you had doing it, Catty. That's what I was referring to.

[Catty1]

K

Do you use Internet Explorer?

Try downloading Firefox and see if that works any better for you.

[Catlady711]

I know about the uninstall feature there Catty. I just meant that I've heard that even once it is gone, there are still bits and pieces of it that are left behind.

I can testify to that. I'm still finding pieces of Norton, more specifically the live update feature, in the cpu, 2 YEARS after I 'uninstalled' it.

[pomtzu]

I'm with blue. Norton is a resource hog and I don't like it. I don't say anything to clients who like it; for those who have questions or concerns, I go with AVG or Avast free versions.

I use a paid program from Trend Micro. About $50 a year, and MUCH less invasive! (There is a paid AVG as well).

Just mentioning that in case you think paying for one makes it better.

Avast Free (there are links to paid ones in the left margin):http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Trend Micro: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/home/


AVG paid: http://www.avg.com/us-en/home-and-of...?ctype=ps3925e

AVG free: http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage

Comparison chart of features in free vs paid AVG: http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download-a...s-free-edition

OK - today was my last day before my Norton 360 expired. Well actually it expired 2 years ago. I purchased it - installed it - didn't like it - so they refunded my money. But - they never disabled it. I waited and waited - never happened. To quote RICHARD - morons!! Anyway - I didn't uninstall and it ran free of charge for 2 years.

So I decided to really get rid of them, uninstalled my one remaining day, and installed the free version of Avast. Question - is the free version really thorough enough? What does the paid version have over the free version, for an "average" user like me?

I use the computer mostly just for basics - PT of course , email, shopping, on line banking and bill pay, digital pics. I never go to sites that I deem as questionable, never open spam email links, never download anything if I have doubts, etc.

So do you think I have enough protection?

[blue]

The free version is what Ive been using for 7 or 8 years without an issue. Make sure you register it to get full usage of it.

I would also install either Spybot Search and Destroy or Malwarebytes to make sure your covered. Both are free and are good tools to have.

[pomtzu]

The free version is what Ive been using for 7 or 8 years without an issue. Make sure you register it to get full usage of it.

I would also install either Spybot Search and Destroy or Malwarebytes to make sure your covered. Both are free and are good tools to have.

Thanks blue. Yes - I did register it too.

I once used Lavasoft as a backup, but I thought it was rather useless. The tech guy where I used to work recommended Spybot too. Which is better - Spybot or Malware?

[Catty1]

First, kuhio - how did things work out for you?

pomtzu - I run Spybot and Malwarebytes on a client's computer for a big cleanup (like rogue spyware, viruses etc).

First, Avast or AVG etc - those are antivirus programs that you can schedule to update and run daily for maintenance.

Spybot and Malwarebytes I use for more intensive scans if something seems to be wonky with my computer (passwords disappearing, etc, or if my regular scan finds a Trojan etc).

I would use Spybot Search and Destroy. It scans very well, and gets all the bugs out. Make sure you update and immunize it every time you run it. It will show you those options whenever you open it.

I haven't used Ad-Aware (by Lavasoft) in years, so don't know what the latest versions are like.

Hope this helps.