I have a license code to use Norton for a year. Is it good? Is it better than Avast? (free version)
Lox_Cropek
If you got the code then use it, but I am a bit alergic to norton, it's a pain to uninstall and leaves hidden stuff routed in the deepest of core in windows.
I'm not a hater but believe me when I say that you don't need an anti-virus if your OS is Windows 7 (unless you surf on unknown sites) . Norton seems to be one of the best and I suggest when the licence expires you go with Avira . It's free and on Windows XP it did it's job very well .
Hell no, i bought Norton 360 and for a month had nothing but problems, phoned up the support about 5 times and every single time no matter the problem all i got was "Ok, uninstall and reinstall it". No wonder its currently on revision 3 right now... I never touch Norton, i've used Zonealarm Extreme Security for the last 4 years now and it's been an absolute breeze not to mention probably the best on the market of the premium suites.
Hell no, i bought Norton 360 and for a month had nothing but problems, phoned up the support about 5 times and every single time no matter the problem all i got was "Ok, uninstall and reinstall it". No wonder its currently on revision 3 right now... I never touch Norton, i've used Zonealarm Extreme Security for the last 4 years now and it's been an absolute breeze not to mention probably the best on the market of the premium suites.JohnF111
Yes, Norton is not the most user friendly AV, but it seems to get the job done quite good if you can live with it harrasing you get everytime you open a file or reading a document or open a zip file or opening a webbpage or... ...
I can't complain about the performance of Norton, I think it's one of the better AV programs in therms of security but it s*cks when it comes to work without trouble.
I personally use Avast and it work super well. I'd avoid Norton even if you have a free code. That goes for McAfee too...
McAf is actually considered as a pop up from other AV programs, it give you anoying pups all the time. Fsec was hot a few years ago, when I used it the last time it was horrible, it took quite a bit horsepower to run and it never found something, it couldn't even find track.cookies that ADaware or Spyboot found instant. I would stay away from Mcaff and F-secure, norton makes your life a bit harder but does it's job.
[QUOTE="swehunt"] Fsec was hot a few years ago, when I used it the last time it was horrible, it took quite a bit horsepower to run and it never found something, it couldn't even find track.cookies that ADaware or Spyboot found instant. I would stay away from Mcaff and F-secure, norton makes your life a bit harder but does it's job. F Secure s good, the thing is that tracking cookies are not malware. Also if you've got any sense you'ld just wipe all personal data on browser close.
No, Norton security software is terrible; it is like the plague - it is very hard to uninstall and it still leaves behind parts of the program. Norton security software also hogs a ton of processing power and is very cumbersome. I cannot warn you enough to NEVER INSTALL NORTON ANTIVIRUS ON A PC. Get Kapersky if you want to pay or Avira if you don't want to. There are also other good free anti-virus' that are much better than anything Symatec will come up with. I used to own a computer that I installed norton onto about 5 years ago, completely unaware of how terrible it was, needless to say I quickly realized how terrible Norton was and the machine ended up with over 50 viruses(I never put personal details into it anyway or any private documents so it was useless to hackers anyway).
I use ESET Smart Security and I'm happy with it it doesnt require much horsepower and it has a lot of good advanced features. I something free then probably Avira.
I use norton, it does it's job although not a big fan of it. It's free for me because i'm a comcast customer. Its a resource hog though, so if you got a low end spec PC I'd avoid it.
I'm not a hater but believe me when I say that you don't need an anti-virus if your OS is Windows 7 (unless you surf on unknown sites) . Norton seems to be one of the best and I suggest when the licence expires you go with Avira . It's free and on Windows XP it did it's job very well .
avatarcj
You've got to be kidding.... That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in ages. It doesn't matter what OS you use. You always need an anti-virus, just like you always need a firewall. And Norton is far from the best. Even if I was offered a free full version, I wouldn't take it. Your post was a joke, right?
I'm not a hater but believe me when I say that you don't need an anti-virus if your OS is Windows 7 (unless you surf on unknown sites) . Norton seems to be one of the best and I suggest when the licence expires you go with Avira . It's free and on Windows XP it did it's job very well .
avatarcj
Two things wrong here.
Yes you do need an anti-virus... even if you have a fully updated/patched Windows 7. For example the other day I wanted to go to futureshop.ca however I typed futurehop.ca by accident. It led me to a website that tried to infect me with a virus. Luckily Avast caught it :) Even if you only navigate on trusted websites you should have an up-to-date anti-virus.
Norton is average at best and does tend to harass the user. Even the uninstallation process is tedious because it doesn't completely remove itself. If you are going to use a paid anti-virus I recommend ESET NOD32.
Wow, I've never thought that Norton, such a famous anti-virus, could be so bad! Well, I'm going to stay far away from it, thanks for the comments people.
Whatever you use make sure you get malware byte somewhere on your computer. I got a really nasty virus that avast couldnt pickup.
Overall I guess Avast is the best free since is seamless while Norton is known to be notoriously resource heavy. Not sure about Microsoft essential, but whenever theres a virus it seems to love to disable anything related to windows that can help you delete the virus itself ex: windows task manager,etc.
Wow, I've never thought that Norton, such a famous anti-virus, could be so bad! Well, I'm going to stay far away from it, thanks for the comments people.
I'm going to stay with Avast.
Lox_Cropek
It really isn't. I wouldn't recomend paying for it, but the latest versions use few resources and are very effective. It just has a bad reputation. I have it installed and it's currently using less than 1% of my CPU and 6MB of RAM. I've never had any difficulties with trying to get programs to work because of it either.
Don't just take my word for it though: http://www.antivirusware.com/testing/performance/http://www.consumersearch.com/antivirus-software
Whatever you use make sure you get malware byte somewhere on your computer. I got a really nasty virus that avast couldnt pickup.
Overall I guess Avast is the best free since is seamless while Norton is known to be notoriously resource heavy. Not sure about Microsoft essential, but whenever theres a virus it seems to love to disable anything related to windows that can help you delete the virus itself ex: windows task manager,etc.
Bikouchu35
Avast didn't pick up a nasty virus yet you recommend it? If you get Kaspersky or Zonealarm they have malware/spyware detection built in and since Zonealarm uses the Kaspersky engine you get two birds with one stone, the best Firewall on the market and one of the top engines available.
I just use the free Microsoft Security Essentials. It actually stopped a Java Browser Virus from a web page. I was surprised as I thought I didn't need any anti-virus software and I thought blocking ActiveX controls are enough. It proved me wrong, so, it is still good to have extra protections. I don't use Norton at home. I would use Norton at office, it has those Enterprise features you wouldn't get in normal home versions, meaning setting up my own Norton server to push out updates instead.magicalclick
i agree Microsoft Security Essentials is much much better.
Wow, I've never thought that Norton, such a famous anti-virus, could be so bad! Well, I'm going to stay far away from it, thanks for the comments people.
I'm going to stay with Avast.
Lox_Cropek
So you're one of those people, huh? Someone tells you "X" movie is bad and to not see it, even though you want to....so you don't go and see it, do you? Or maybe the same thing happens with a restaurant....or video game? I'm not here saying Norton is the best, but I can tell you that it works just as well and better then any free anit-virus program I've used. It has a couple of annoying features; 1 of them being a stupid notice when something is hogging either RAM or CPU usage, you get this little pop-up notice above the clock - it's easy enough to ignore, but still annoying. It's not a resource hog - though it used to be. Right now it's running on my computer and it's using less than 1% of system resources. So I'm not sure why people keep insisting it's a resource hog. I can attest that Norton has come a long way in system resources it uses in the past. I've only had 1 issue with installing Norton in 2009 and at one time as well my key became deactivated during a software version update - both issues were actually handled in a very fast manner after contacting customer service. Overall, I'd rate Norton 8/10. Down side is the price per year and the couple of annoyances of the program, otherwise it does a good job of the rare virus attempts that have happened on my PC via emails, downloads or website visits. If you feel the program is for some reason holding you back in resources while gaming, just disable the auto protect. To each their own, you'll either hate Norton or like it, but to never try it based on someone else's opinion you'll never truly know.
I'm not a hater but believe me when I say that you don't need an anti-virus if your OS is Windows 7 (unless you surf on unknown sites) . Norton seems to be one of the best and I suggest when the licence expires you go with Avira . It's free and on Windows XP it did it's job very well .
avatarcj
yip I'm with this guy, I havnt used an anit-vir program (consistantly) for about 4 years and have had no problem whatever, I find them more trouble than there worth. And yes, every now and again I'll download avast for free and I'll have nothing. The best anti virus for me is the Format option, good thing I have partitions and backups.
Wow, I've never thought that Norton, such a famous anti-virus, could be so bad! Well, I'm going to stay far away from it, thanks for the comments people.
I'm going to stay with Avast.
neatfeatguy
So you're one of those people, huh? Someone tells you "X" movie is bad and to not see it, even though you want to....so you don't go and see it, do you? Or maybe the same thing happens with a restaurant....or video game? I'm not here saying Norton is the best, but I can tell you that it works just as well and better then any free anit-virus program I've used. It has a couple of annoying features; 1 of them being a stupid notice when something is hogging either RAM or CPU usage, you get this little pop-up notice above the clock - it's easy enough to ignore, but still annoying. It's not a resource hog - though it used to be. Right now it's running on my computer and it's using less than 1% of system resources. So I'm not sure why people keep insisting it's a resource hog. I can attest that Norton has come a long way in system resources it uses in the past. I've only had 1 issue with installing Norton in 2009 and at one time as well my key became deactivated during a software version update - both issues were actually handled in a very fast manner after contacting customer service. Overall, I'd rate Norton 8/10. Down side is the price per year and the couple of annoyances of the program, otherwise it does a good job of the rare virus attempts that have happened on my PC via emails, downloads or website visits. If you feel the program is for some reason holding you back in resources while gaming, just disable the auto protect. To each their own, you'll either hate Norton or like it, but to never try it based on someone else's opinion you'll never truly know. Do you know the biggest annoyance of Norton's Internet Security Suite, the fact anytime it detects a threat, it blocks all Internet traffic. Even after the threat has been removed. The only way to restore Internet functionality is to uninstall Norton but the only way to completely remove it is to either download their removal tool (off the Internet that you dont have access to) or to perform a manual registry cleanup. I hate Norton and it is a joke among Network/Desktop Administrators everywhere. And one last thing, the AVG download on CNET is housing a virus. I contacted them about it, but have yet to receive a response.
Do you know the biggest annoyance of Norton's Internet Security Suite, the fact anytime it detects a threat, it blocks all Internet traffic. Even after the threat has been removed. The only way to restore Internet functionality is to uninstall Norton but the only way to completely remove it is to either download their removal tool (off the Internet that you dont have access to) or to perform a manual registry cleanup. I hate Norton and it is a joke among Network/Desktop Administrators everywhere. And one last thing, the AVG download on CNET is housing a virus. I contacted them about it, but have yet to receive a response.freesafety13
Never happened to me. Norton had detected a threat and prevented it; didn't hinder my internet traffic one bit.
Wow, I've never thought that Norton, such a famous anti-virus, could be so bad! Well, I'm going to stay far away from it, thanks for the comments people.
I'm going to stay with Avast.
Lox_Cropek
Oh believe me, it is. I couldn't upgrade to service pack 2 for all the tea in China because of Norton 360. Tried to uninstall the usual way, and it left crap behind that ended up blocking my computer from connecting to my router at all! Finally, someone on these forums saved my proverbial life and suggested a website that had a program specifically for uninstalling Norton. Ran it, and it fully uninstalled Norton 360. Not only was I able to connect to the internet again and update to vista service pack 2, but a bunch of other updates showed up that didn't before. Beware of Norton!!! Nothing but headaches.
I had both and can say get NIS if u have the code for it. Its great and on par with other top antivirus softwares. Not a resource hog, fast, and detects threats. It also doesnt block all internet traffic like the other person said
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