Can anyone suggest anything else to protect my computer? I'm sure something free is better than the crap I have now.
First off a firewall is more important than antivirus ware so make sure you have windows firewall enabled or zonealarm (i've used norton firewall and it's ok,tried zonealarm but the last update they sent for it kept disconnecting me it maybe fixed now,at the mo i'm using windows firewall and to date there have been no probs with it),then either get AVG or AVAST for antivirus,AVAST i found slowed my surfing down where AVG and norton did'nt. both AVG & AVAST have reviews at cnet if your still unsure EDIT: Forgot to mention do not use add/remove to dump norton,you'll have to go to their site for the removal tool (as add/remove WIIL NOT remove all traces) better still do a reformat you most probably need one anyway
yeah Norton is the worst program i ever used period. i also use the Trend Micro PC-cillin 2007 its def one of the best out there along with Kaspersky or NOD32 AVG or Avast are both very good for freeware
Mate the best thread you can use to go and find the best software free and shareware and everything else you can see what is the best for you. I prefer Avast its really strong and does not eat your resources. http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/292257 I hope that helps you out.
Ive been using Bitdefender for about a yr now. Its my first all-in-one. I kind of like it. Way back, I never would have used just 1 program to protect me. But this program gives me the ability to relax a lil more. Weird huh, but it works for me.
heres another good reason NOT to use Norton Symantec BSOD attack on China p2pnet.net news:- Millions of Chinese computer users have been hit by the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Symantec's Norton Antivirus package disabled "millions" of PCs in China, says China state news agency Xinhua, declaring the crashes a, "heavy blow to people's daily work and ongoing business" News of the Symantec-generated BSOD shutdowns came on Friday, says the story going on, "The common symptom is that the computer may suddenly encounter a blue screen and then be prompted with an error message. The same problem remains even after a reboot of the system. Symantec confirmed that the incident, "resulted from inappropriate handling of upgrading AntiVirus software," says Xinhua, going on that according to a company spokesman, "the company was now working hard on a possible solution". The story continues: The latest virus Norton database was upgraded on May 17. According to some PC experts, this software, after the upgrade, would regard two essential system files (netapi32.dll?lsasrv.dll) as viruses by mistake and clear them away from computers installed with Windows XP. That causes the computer to be locked up even after a reboot. Experts also confirmed that those using the simplified Chinese version of Windows XP and Norton AntiVirus will also be affected. Currently, China has an estimated number of several millions of users who have installed their computers with Windows XP and Norton AntiVirus, a popular computer security software package.
Nortons not the only company that's caused problems with windows comps both AVG & AVAST had compromised the system not so long ago as have others,that's the thing with installing 3rd party software you take a risk when doing so,it's not like all software is bug free it just aint the case
I have Norton Internet Security NIS2006 and have had no problems with the program. It is a resource hog, I agree but it has protected my pc and I have had no issues with Viri or outside attacks. Updates dates are timely and painless. The only real gripe is that it doesn't playwell with spybot search and destroy. Spybot always wants to fix the fact that windows firewall and others need be turned on.
Although NIS 2006 was a resources hog it was the best Symantec made. After that it just was absolute crapp 2007 was a load of crapp. If i could keep 2006 running i would.
I have never used an online update feature from Symantec or McAfee. I used to download definition files and apply them manually. I had to stop using those programs because my computers were too old to handle their resource demands. If you are using one of the Norton/Symantec versions and then renew your online subscription, do you get to keep using the same program (ie 2006 instead of 2007), or does the online renewal also involve upgrading your program version?
It updates everything from your subscription and also the program which is the bad thing. 2007 is what i call a virus on its own.
No format is needed as the new and improved Norton Removal Tool will clear anything to do with Norton and Symantec. >> http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039
I just started a thread today to simply post the chinese solution to the prob discussed here. It worked like a charm but in any case what I pasted below is what I wrote. I don't know why my post won't come up when I search it so I just had to paste from my copy in windows. Following a problem similar to that which the Chinese experienced in May due to Norton AntiVirus I have managed to use the same solution. Namely a .dll had gone missing from the registry of an aquaintance of mine, and although I am very far from experienced he was aware that I exceed when it comes to applying my patience to most computer problems. Even after he had seen proffessionals regarding the issue it seemed hopeless. I think it would have been if it weren't for the chinese and the AltaVista Babel fish translation site. I applied this to further investigate how the chinese solved the false positive issue regarding 2 vital .dll files ( netapi32.dll and lsasrv.dll ) I was only interested in lsasrv.dll though I include some netapi stuff below. 6 Windows XP Pro startup disks Start with the first disk and it will prompt for the rest in order. I was made to understand that the actual win xp disk was nesessary to finish this process but I can't be certain. Once the menu (Blue) comes up you can press R for the recovery console. Type # 1 and press enter. It will ask for the administrator password. If you have defined a password at some stage then you will need to enter it, if not, then leave blank and just press enter. Now you may enter the following command and remember that X stands for your cd or dvd drive which contains the xp disk. So if the disk is in drive d: then x:\I386\ etc... becomes d:\I386\ etc... Expand x:\I386\lsasrv.dl_ c:\windows\system32\ (Press Enter) Expand x:\I386\lsasrv.dl_ c:\windows\system32\dllcache\ (Press Enter) [May Ask to Overwrite So Press Enter for That too] Now you may type Exit and then Press Enter and the comp will restart and with any luck you will have access to windows. To solve netapi32.dll problem simply also input those 2 prompt lines but replace lsasvr.dl_ with netapi32.dl_ (and yes 1 l not 2 l as one may expect dll) Also that is a space between _ c:\ so bare that in mind. This cost my inexperienced mind alot of trouble so I hope there are people out there who find a use for this.