I run Windows XP in a Franken-Computer with an Intel Duel Core and 1 GB RAM.
I have Symantec/Norton Anti Virus and my Subscription is up in 29 days.
If I remember correctly, it will like like, $50.00 to renew the subscription.
ALL I hear is that Norton and ANYTHING Symantec is a worthless piece of crap.
So I'm wondering… For about the price of renewing my Norton, can you recomend an Anti Virus Software that is better?
This is the computer that I use for my small business so I'm VERY paranoid and would like the best I can afford but as of right now… Under $80.00 is as good as I can do.
I greatly appreciate any help!!!
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8 responses so far ↓
1 jdc // Apr 12, 2008
you heard right. the best for the price is avg. you can't beat free
2 Colinc // Apr 12, 2008
Try AVG free from http://free.grisoft.com. If you like it there are links to upgrade it to the paid version 8.0 which includes active spyware and firewall.
3 Biker Rob // Apr 12, 2008
Before you install another anti-virus go to the control panel and choose add/remove programs and uninstall Norton in order to avoid conflicts. Don't panic if the uninstall doesn't work, Norton really works it way into your PC, do a google search for Norton uninstall tool, download and use it it works great I've used it a couple times.
Best free anti-virus is AVG at http://www.grisoft.com you have to kind of dig for the free version but it's there.
Also spy-ware is turning into a bigger problem than viruses, I would recommend going to http://www.lavasoft.com and downloading the free version of Ad-Aware it's the best free spy-ware program and with these two you should be OK.
If you want a good anti-virus package that's not free try Trend Micro at http://www.trendmicro.com they also have a nice suite with firewall and spy-ware as well as anti-virus.
4 Z G // Apr 12, 2008
Both avast! and AntiVir have free versions of their antivirus products. I personally recommend avast!.
AVG is not recommended as it has a history of low detection rates and high false positives.
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html
5 Jay R // Apr 12, 2008
The best suite out there is of course Kaspersky internet security. A little bit pricey at 79.95 but this would keep your pc secure guaranteed. Another suite which is good is Zone Alarm security. It has one of the more established and better firewalls out there and added with an antivirus (uses the old kaspersky engine version 6) it will also have a good overall protection. It is priced at 49.95. Another good suite is the Panda internet suite with its improved antivirus and firewall (it has other features but mostly annoys users though). It is also priced at 49.95. Last but not least is the cheapest yet effective suite, The bitdefender from softwin. It is priced at 39.95 and it has an overall security of above average (Its antivirus fairs quite good at tests, it has an improve antispyware and firewall and It also has a parental control) although it is a bit heavy compared to the previous ones (but not as heavy and bloated as norton).
6 viper_ej // Apr 12, 2008
if you are going to go with AVG, don't even bother with the free version. if you really are paranoid about security, then pay for version 8. Symantec gets a bad rap but they actually are very good. the only problem with them is
* Some products (like Norton 360) are huge and take up a lot of resources. this will slow down your computer's performance. (i would never recommend anything beyond internet security.)
* Installation can sometimes go wrong. if it does you have to download an uninstaller program, run and reinstall the software again. that is it. but most people don't like to read instructions or call tech support.
Anti-virus/spyware programs are designed for prevention. they are useless once your computer is infected. no matter how good the program is it will do very little
if AVG does not have anti-virus protection, get their anti-virus program. you will usually have the least amount of problems when you stick to the same vendor.
7 computersonry // Apr 12, 2008
You heard correctly. Anyone who really knows whats going on these days and how viruses work will tell you Norton/Symantec is a piece of crap, it's true. I highly recomend AVG or McAfee. (AVG if you're going for free, and if you're willing to pay then McAfee)
There are primarily 2 reasons why Norton/Symantec sucks now. Viruses that are picked up by and destroyed by antivirus software don't work (obviously), and people who write viruses know this. Typically when a virus is written its first and sometimes major goal is to destroy the antivirus program on the infected computer. Because Norton was so popular and was "king" of antivirus for so many years, we came to a point where almost everyone was using it. So how did the people writing viruses work around it with that knowledge? They started writing viruses and scripts that could easily be attached to or worked into other viruses that first destroyed Norton. Its the same reason why Macs are considered to be more safe in terms of viruses. If 90% of the computers in the world are PC's why would you write a virus for a Mac which wont affect many computers? same with destroying Anti-Virus software. If 90% of people use Norton why would you design or throw in a script to the begning of your virus that destroys AVG software? You wouldn't. Point being: you never want the "#1, Best/Most popular" Anti-Virus software because thats what the viruses target! So going with one which is effective but smaller such as AVG is a smart move. The 2nd reason why Norton now sucks is also related to the first. In order to combat the many new viruses designed to easily and quickly disable and render your Norton useless, they had to add a whole bunch of protection… for Norton. Not for your computer or against viruses, they had to add protection… for your protection (norton). They created several programs which all must run 100% of the time that simply watch over eachother. In a sense if a virus tries to close Norton or one of the other active programs watching over it, one of the other programs keeping tabs on it (to make sure it stays open and active) will stop it and if it is closed then it will reopen it immediately. Because of this all the recent versions of Norton are MASSIVE.. INSAINELY MASSIVE resource hogs. Norton pretty much uses you RAM period. However much RAM you have Norton will find a way to hog it all, as well as your CPU.
Unfortunately because the free AVG is just that (free), and now Comcast offers McAfee for free to all of its users, we might start to see more and more viruses coming out that target those 2 programs
8 Bingobango // Apr 12, 2008
I have used AVG Anti Virus, Zone Alarm Firewall, Spy-bot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware both spyware killers for years. They are all free for personal use and I have had no trouble with Viruses Trojans etc. AVG does not slow the system down as much as some other products and Zone Alarm allows a lot of personal configuration unlike the Windows Firewall. They can all be downloaded from http://www.download.com/ I also use Windows Defender from the Microsoft site. It is safe to use two anti-spy products but never use more than one A/V as it can cause conflicts. You should run A/V and anti spy weekly. Hope this helps
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