NORTON another name for fun

[PaulT]

Just bought a new laptop and there was a deal on Office 2007 and Norton 360 - both with 3 licences. As on my PC the Zonealarm licence was about to run out - and I am not totally convinced by Zonealarm I thought 'let's replace it with Norton'.

Deinstalled Zonealarm and then started to install Norton.

Part way through it fell over and constantly fell over when trying to boot up - would show the choices for 'Safe Mode' etc but would then just restart.

Tried everything. Loaded XP onto an old HD, and connected the original HD as a slave to make sure there were no photos etc on it that I had not archived. Then did a full format, installed it as the master and installed XP and then Norton which now installed with no problems. The only problem I have is trying to install RealPlayer as it hangs.

Perhaps I should have just paid the annual subscription for Zonealarm.

Paul

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Throw Norton in the bin. It's the best place for it. Causes more problems than it cures in my experience.

Get Avast, it's free, I've used it for a couple of years now with no virus problems.

[Tim]

Before getting a separate router I used the free Zonealarm for a couple of years - much better price!! Had no problems with it at all.

Agree with remarks about Norton - very greedy application.

Tim

[Gemini_man]

I agree totally with the remarks about Norton and I would include McAfee as well -

I use Windows Firewall plus Prevx virus and malware protection (http://www.prevx.com/homeproducts.asp) which is inexpensive, unintrusive and uses little resource. I don't usually pay for PC programmes but I was sufficently impressed with Prevx to do so!!

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Try Bit Defender. Much better than anything I've come across in Europe (German I think) . Never had a problem, touch wood. But not the cheapest.

[suein56]

[quote user="woolybanana "]Try Bit Defender. Much better than anything I've come across in Europe (German I think) . Never had a problem, touch wood. But not the cheapest.[/quote]

Now that is interesting; my French neighbour had Bit Defender but his subscription to updates was about to run out when he asked me what I used and how much it cost. I explained I used Avast free4home so he decided to give it a try. He downloaded the programme and immediately did the recommended scan and Avast found a nasty virus which BD had failed to find. Said neighbour was very impressed and I now bask in reflected glory.

Sue

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Funny you should say that, I have noticed that every anti-virus or whatever programme manages to find a virus that others havent. I now wonder if it isn't a marketing ploy to get you to change.

[Cat]

I can second the recommendation for Avast, I've been using it for four years now.  I've only 3 things to say about it really; since I've been using it I've never had a virus, it automatically downloads new virus detection rules every  few days, and it's free.  Can say better than that now, can I [:D]

 

 

[suein56]

[quote user="woolybanana"]...every anti-virus or whatever programme manages to find a virus that others havent. I now wonder if it isn't a marketing ploy to get you to change.[/quote]

LOL; sneaky of them, very sneaky ... I wonder how they would do that?

Sue

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="P2"]The only problem I have is trying to install RealPlayer as it hangs.[/quote]

Try Real Alternative (www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm ) it's not as intrusive as RealPlayer.

Norton, just say no.

 

[Mikew]

To get rid of Norton completely, you have to download a removal program from the Norton website. Otherwise you are left with rubbish which gets in the way if you just use 'remove programs' in control panel.

[AnOther]

[quote user="P2"]The only problem I have is trying to install RealPlayer as it hangs.[/quote]

Try VLC Media Player, free and plays just about anything straight out of the box, including Real files.

http://www.videolan.org/

[Nige]

you will need to usr the symnrt tool  to remove totatlly otherwise it leasve reg keys . just go to http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039 chose which one you have and zap it Avast or AVG for AV .AVG is easier to use but Avast has a better resident scan

[jamesg]

Yes another vote for Avast free, there is no need to pay for security.   I am using Comodo Antivirus beta, but would not suggest that until it is out of beta, although it is on public release and stable.

However the Comodo firewall, CPF 2 is now as good as any and I would certainly recommend that.   CPF 3  will be even better and I am beta testing it at the moment, but it still needs a lot of development and can cause problems.

Comodo now also have BOClean, which is now free and runs quietly.   Anyone concerned about trojans and theft of bank passwords etc. could do a lot worse than use that as well.

[Onion van man]

I have to agree, Norton and McAfee are not worthy of your hard earned cash. They cost too much, Are not very good IMHO and use up a large amount of system resources.

The programs that I use are NOD32 anti virus and Kerio firewall (as well as a hardware firewall).

A great site for honest reviews and info is  http://techsupportalert.com/issues/al_current.htm