Is norton worth the $$$ for firewall & virus protection?

[maddogkf]

My free norton trial expired & they want like $40 to buy it. I have the anri-virus & firewall free version & it was ok.

I also have a firewall router plus the Windows firewall enabled - do I need the extra firewall?

Also for virus protection, should I use the norton one or one of the free ones?

thanks

any difference between zone alarm & the ohter free ones?

 

[Pariah]

I don't think you need the extra firewall. In fact, if you have a home network, it might keep the computers from talking to one another.

 

[Ryanwb]

If you have zone alarm, that is just as effective without all the bells and whistles that norton gives you. Definately get the virus protection, but before you renew check out Best Buy for a scaled down version, I think it is cheaper.

 

[maddogkf]

I don't think you need the extra firewall. In fact, if you have a home network, it might keep the computers from talking to one another.

yeah when I play my wirelss soundblaster modem ( http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=207&product=9192 I can link my stereo receiver w/my computer in the other room & play all my songs - no CDs ) I have to disable the firewall.

 

[Ryanwb]

yeah when I play my wirelss soundblaster modem ( http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=207&product=9192 I can link my stereo receiver w/my computer in the other room & play all my songs - no CDs ) I have to disable the firewall.

You can enable the TCP/IP port that your modem connects to in your lmhost file so you don't have to disable the firewall.

 

[O]

I use the Norton suite of products and swear by them.
I used to use Zone Alarm, even bought the program. They came out with an upgrade that was bad, I mean really bad.I had to roll back my computer and delete every trace of Zone Alarm. Programs wouldn't boot, it was just a mess. Their customer service was a joke.
I'll never use a Zone Alarm product again.

 

[maddogkf]

You can enable the TCP/IP port that your modem connects to in your lmhost file so you don't have to disable the firewall.

um...Hva helvetet gjør det gjennomsnittet på engelsk? Hva gjør jeg gjør?

 

[maddogkf]

um...Hva helvetet gjør det gjennomsnittet på engelsk? Hva gjør jeg gjør?

Bedeutet welche die Hölle das auf Englisch? Was mache ich?

 

[maddogkf]

Bedeutet welche die Hölle das auf Englisch? Was mache ich?

Quel l'enfer signifie-t-qui dans l'anglais ? Que fais-je ?

 

[maddogkf]

and the rest of the gamut...

什么到底那意味着在英语中？ 我做什么？

¿Qué el infierno significa eso en inglés? ¿Qué hago yo?

Que o inferno isso quer dizer em inglês? O que faço?

Betekent welke de hel dat in het engels? Wat doe ik?

 

[maddogkf]

in other words...

what the hell does that mean in English? what do I do?

 

[Kel Varnsen]

My free norton trial expired & they want like $40 to buy it. I have the anri-virus & firewall free version & it was ok.

I also have a firewall router plus the Windows firewall enabled - do I need the extra firewall?

Also for virus protection, should I use the norton one or one of the free ones?

thanks

any difference between zone alarm & the ohter free ones?

This is the time of the year when you can get a lot of free stuff by buying TurboTax. That's what I do every year...has worked out well for me. Something to think about.

 

[maddogkf]

This is the time of the year when you can get a lot of free stuff by buying TurboTax. That's what I do every year...has worked out well for me. Something to think about.

cool - thanks but I have my accountant do my taxes.

 

[UncleChris]

I've used McAfee for years and swear by it.... They usually have good buys on it at Cosco.

 

[Chaz]

If you need anti-virus and firewall protection and your price range is free, for non-commercial home users these are fine.

AVG Free version

Zone Alarm

Both are free and will offer very good protection.

Norton is good and they offer other things like anti-spam protection and script blocking.

 

[vince56]

AVG is pretty good... but I got hit with a virus big-time this last weekend. I started getting porn & casino pop-ups, so I ran AdAware... it found a bunch of problems, so I had it delete them. Then I bring IE back up... more pop-ups. I go back and run AdAware again, and it found the same things it had just deleted.

I wound up running Adaware, Spybot, CWS shredder, & AVG, and none of them fixed my problem. I had a new virus, one that wasn't on any of their most recent downloads or updates.

Now I will NOT go back to Norton. I used to run Norton, then a virus hit me a few months ago and it specifically attacked Norton. I got rid of that virus, but as a result, my computer no longer can go into safe mode. This is a common bug in Norton too, it's not always just from viruses.

So, back to this weekend, I read a bunch of reviews online and I ran out to get McAfee Virus Protection. Frys had McAfee Virus Protection for $59, or you could buy that and their firewall together for $69. I bought the larger package, and I've been pleased. It immediately found the virus and eliminated it.

I've also been monitoring the firewall and I can't believe how many times a day someone tries to access my computer. 150-200 a day!! I'm glad I have it now.

Anyway, I highly recommend McAfee, it saved me from having to format my hard drive.

 

[Chaz]

Good point Vince,

Important to remember with any AV protection. Update not only the virus definations but update the scan engine perodically (Program version).

i.e. if you still have Norton 2002 and want to keep Norton upgrade to 2005.
I usually check for new definations every day and upgrade the program every 2 years.

All anti-virus companies will have a problem with lag time getting coverage for new viruses from time to time. Norton is very popular and has several viruses that specifically target it to disable it.

I had an older version of Symantec on my kids PC the other day. I replaced it with AVG and found 3 viruses.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Fry's Electronics ad (through today) has a Norton's package priced at $70 bucks, but you get a $30 rebate and a $40 rebate so it is FREE.

 

[Chaz]

Fry's Electronics ad (through today) has a Norton's package priced at $70 bucks, but you get a $30 rebate and a $40 rebate so it is FREE.

I think one of those rebates is from upgrading from a previous version of Norton. FYI

 

[UncleChris]

FYI:

I got a suspicious looking attachment sent to my hotmail account (5 random numbers with a .rar extension). All Hotmail attachments are scanned by Trend Micro, and this one came back as clean. Just because it didn't feel right, I saved the file to my hard drive and scanned it with McAfee..... BA-DA-BING, BA-DA-BOOM!!! It contained the "MyDoom" virus.

As I said earlier.... McAfee is the way to go, in my book... Lose Trend.

 

[AZZenny]

I've been really happy with Norton, given that I run all the program and virus definition updates frequently. For a brief period I switched to McAfee and had various compatibility problems, so I went back to a newer and completely updated Norton and have been fine. However, looks like I will be switching to cable high speed soon, so everything will change again...

 

[Chaz]

FYI:

I got a suspicious looking attachment sent to my hotmail account (5 random numbers with a .rar extension). All Hotmail attachments are scanned by Trend Micro, and this one came back as clean. Just because it didn't feel right, I saved the file to my hard drive and scanned it with McAfee..... BA-DA-BING, BA-DA-BOOM!!! It contained the "MyDoom" virus.

As I said earlier.... McAfee is the way to go, in my book... Lose Trend.

.rar is a compressed file like .zip. Some programs are better at others at scanning inside them.

 

[CardFan67]

Having tried all of those that have been mentioned and being fairly unhappy I finally tried the AVG Free edition and I honestly believe it works better then all of the rest, not to mention that it uses very little of your systems resources (unlike the Norton hog)...

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

One thing that AVG does fairly well is it also will scan for Trojans... Norton does not and neither does the McAffee... It does not catch them all but in conjunction with AdAware and or Spybot you can be pretty sure you are viral free...

I used to swear by Norton, it does catch 90%+ of most true virus' (none of the Trojans) but it uses up a lot of resources, on some machines that I have worked on simply turning off or uninstalling it free up an additional 40%... Too much CR@P runs... To me it is the AOL of virus protections (that is a really bad thing - BTW - for those that love AOHell)

 

[UncleChris]

I've been really happy with Norton, given that I run all the program and virus definition updates frequently. For a brief period I switched to McAfee and had various compatibility problems, so I went back to a newer and completely updated Norton and have been fine. However, looks like I will be switching to cable high speed soon, so everything will change again...

You know, switch the "Norton" and "McAfee" positions in your post, and that would be exactly what happened to me and why I use McAfee. Now in fairness, my experience was from a number of years ago, sooooo.....

I think both Norton and McAfee have automatic updates now, and are probably pretty similar in their ability to detect even very hidden viri.... I do know that McAfee will also update the engine (free of charge) as well as the virus definition file.

 

[UncleChris]

To me it is the AOL of virus protections (that is a really bad thing - BTW - for those that love AOHell)