[trapjaw76]

So I'm pretty new to computers, and my wife and I just purchased our first, a Dell, a little under a year ago. We bought Norton Internet Security 2005 and it seemed to be doing the trick, along with the Ad-Aware SE I downloaded. However, I came to these forums to get help with a little malware problem that was popping up. Maybe you've heard of that nasty little Winfixer/Winantispyware Vundo crap going around? That hit us hard. Anyways, now that that is fixed (thanks again Kat!) my question is should I use one of the free programs that I've been recommended, like AVG Free? Or stick with Norton and just be more vicious about downloading live updates? Can I use both?

[Advertisements]

Whichever anti virus solution you use, updates are an integral part of ensuring you PC is protected

[Retired Tech]

Whichever anti virus solution you use, updates are an integral part of ensuring you PC is protected

[trapjaw76]

I was under the assumption that my Norton was running live updates frequently on it's own, and I would run it at least once a week manually myself. I dunno.

[Retired Tech]

I also thought automatic updates were possible with Norton

You should only have one installed anti virus and one installed firewall programme. If you choose a firewall and anti virus to replace NIS 2005, download them, uninstall Norton Internet security then install the downloaded ones

If you move to the free ones then manual updating is likely

You can look at some of the free ones here

http://www.filehippo...ware/antivirus/

You can also look for a replacement firewall here

http://www.filehippo...ware/firewalls/

Other anti spyware programmes are here

http://www.filehippo...re/antispyware/

4,5 and 6 are worth considering

[Johanna]

At the risk of ducking rotten vegetable hurled by regulars, I am a satisfied Norton customer. Symantec is about as "idiot proof" as you can get. Whatever you decide, free software or not, as long as you feel comfortable with it and leave it on all the time you are online, you will be ahead of the game.

Johanna

[wannabe1]

trapjaw76

I agree with Czarina...(now hiding under desk in anticipation of hurled veggies) I have IS 2005 on one of my machines and it's working just fine. Make sure your automatic update option is turned on so it stays updated. I also have machines running free AV programs (Avast and AVG) and free firewalls (Zone Alarm and Sygate) and they seem to be doing equally well at protecting the machines.

If you choose to uninstall the Norton product, be careful and read the instructions on the Symantec website carefully before doing so...there have been some serious issues with IS 2005 not uninstallng cleanly if not done exactly as recommended.

wannabe1

[FreddieKrugerGuy]

Hi, I'm Freddie.

It is entirely up to you. Alot of people don't like Norton or Mcafee and find the free programs like AVG, Avast and AntiVir better.

I'm one of them. Avast Home does the trick for me. I used AVG a few years ago but it started to give me problems and I switched to Avast.

Norton is probably good, but it's a huge resource hog and uses alot of computer memory.

Freddie