Alternatives to Norton

[TUSooner]

I know this has been discussed around here in the past and, yes, I AM too lazy to do a search. But what is the best alternative to Norton Anitvirus, which seems to slow everything down and not really do all that much.
I need something that's close to "set and forget" and "idiot proof" and that handles viruses, spyware, worms, trojan hosses, etc.
Your helpful advice is sincerely appreciated. Smart*** answers...not so much. :)
TIA!

[olevetonahill]

Well that Last sentence of yours Leaves Me OUT
Yermom hooked me up with AVG , Its free and seems to be doing great. Puter actually does seem a Lil faster now .

[swardboy]

I left Norton for AVG 8.0 free edition for anti-virus, with PC Tools Spyware Doctor and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware for malware protection....my nerdy son-in-law who knows-everything-about-computers and works professionally in IT told me this was the way to go. So far no complaints....especially since it's all free. Oh yeah, throw in PC Pitstop Optimizer for periodic fine-tuning. It's free too.

[olevetonahill]

I sent ya the Link that Yermom sent me .

[def_lazer_fc]

I left Norton for AVG 8.0 free edition for anti-virus, with PC Tools Spyware Doctor and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware for malware protection....my nerdy son-in-law who knows-everything-about-computers and works professionally in IT told me this was the way to go. So far no complaints....especially since it's all free. Oh yeah, throw in PC Pitstop Optimizer for periodic fine-tuning. It's free too.

as someone who did dabble in tech support before wanting to shoot myself in the face b/c of it, this is indeed the way to go. pretty much your big name software like norton and mcafee do indeed protect your computer from viruses and what not, but they also "protect" it from all sorts of regular activities. its just a little too intrusive, especially for connecting to servers, d/l, and what not. AVG + adaware = good to go. and your wallet doesn't get ****ed in the process.

[Curly Bill]

This thread coming in handy as my free subscription to Norton just expired, and the last time I paid for it I was mucho disapointed. Gots to get me some of that AVG.

[yermom]

the new AVG bundles virus and spyware protection, i've been pleased

[GottaHavePride]

I paid for TrendMicro a couple of years ago. No problems so far.

[soonerinabilene]

I paid for TrendMicro a couple of years ago. No problems so far.

That came with my new computer last year. The virus protection itself was great. The popping up every 5 minutes saying it needed to download an update really, really got annoying. And the Spysweeper that Gateway loaded onto it had a glitch with vista, and would completely turn off my computer on certain websites. Not pron websites either. Myspace, Espn, even here sometimes. So i took those off and replace with AVG and Spybot S & D and havent had a problem since.

[Fugue]

http://kramden.com/ralph.jpg

[King Crimson]

i'm not as crazy about AVG 8 or ad aware 2008 as previous versions; but i've been using them for 3-4 years at least. so, i'm not going to change anything up since i haven't had any problems. i've been running spybot the last month or so after reading some middling reviews of ad aware 08.

i've got avast! anti-virus on my laptop and it's comparable to AVG 7.5

this can be a useful site: lotsa freeware all in the same place.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/

[Taxman71]

I paid for TrendMicro a couple of years ago. No problems so far.

Ditto.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

But what is the best alternative to Norton Anitvirus

This stuff.

http://www.critterridders.com/viper_lg.jpg

You could kill Bill Gates with this stuff.

[frankensooner]

Has anyone mentioned AVG yet? I am too lazy to read. It is good stuff. ;)

[soonerboomer93]

King Crimson,

Avast has like a 37% virus detection rate, it is not comparable to AVG

my friends wife was having problems, as soon as i replaced avast with AVG it found all the viruses and trojans and cleaned them right up. Well, most of them, a couple I had to clean a different way.

Myself, I pay for Trend Micro. You just tell it to hide the update status if the popups annoy you. I always do that anyways.

[r5TPsooner]

I have AVG too and besides having to uninstall it and reinstall it every now and then... it does a good job.

[King Crimson]

King Crimson,

Avast has like a 37% virus detection rate, it is not comparable to AVG

my friends wife was having problems, as soon as i replaced avast with AVG it found all the viruses and trojans and cleaned them right up. Well, most of them, a couple I had to clean a different way.


i appreciate the advice, but i really haven't had those problems with avast--i've been using AVG for years. before i put avast on my laptop i found several independent reviews that rated it as good or better than AVG--including the link i provided above. FWIW.

the interface is pretty goofy, but i've no complaints with avast. in fact, a couple weeks/month ago i uninstalled AVG 8 on the desktop since i didn't like the new extra toolbar and ran avast for about 3 weeks before re-installing AVG (sans toolbar) and there was nothing on the first AVG scan.

[TUSooner]

Thanks to all.