Norton AV 2008 - Free

While still on topic, what would you rather I have Jason? I find Norton annoying as it consumes so much memory and takes too long too load amongst other issues....
 
I use NOD32 and it works great. Never have any memory issues with it, and it's one of the top-rated AV software out there. The updates are automatic and work in the background, no slowing of the computer or anything, just a pop-up in the notification area letting you know it's been updated. It doesn't take care of spyware, adware, or malware though, so you might have to get something else for that, but otherwise I've been protected superbly with it.
 
I was given Kaspersky and man I love this AV program. It holds the #1 spot in AV reviews that you pay for. If it's not given to me again I'll buy it.
 
a.k.a. Patrick said:
While still on topic, what would you rather I have Jason? I find Norton annoying as it consumes so much memory and takes too long too load amongst other issues....
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Personally, I don't use antivirus programs. I have yet to have any av program actually find or even stop a virus from attacking my computers. I can't stand them because they rob all of your system's resources, and, Norton especially, cause conflicts which result in system crashes. The way I figure, if I ever get some kind of system crashing virus, I will just format my drive and start from scratch, which I do every now and then anyway. I keep all of my important info, pictures, files, etc. on a completely separate drive from the OS anyway, so I don't lose anything by doing a format.



I am using Mcafee in two of my notebooks, but only because they came with it preinstalled for free from Dell. As soon as the free subscription runs out, they are going to be removed. Mcafee is a little better than Norton, imo, only because it seems to cause less problems, but still uses a lot of resources.



That being said, I will *never* own a computer without having both AdAware and SpywareBlaster installed on them. I've never had any problems, and they don't take up any resources to speak of.



Another program I have heard really good things about is ZoneAlarm. I don't like firewalls either, so I've never messed with this one, but its supposed to be awesome.
 
JD,



Give Grisoft's free AVG a try. The only time I ever notice it's there is if I happen to be online in the middle of a scan (rare, but sometimes if I can't sleep, I'm at the computer when the scan is scheduled), and then the only delay seems to be the disk I/O.



Also, I've had great luck with ZoneAlarm. AVG + ZoneAlarm + Windows Defender has served me well for the last several years (along with an occasional AdAware/SpyBot scan).



FWIW,

Tort
 
TortoiseAWD said:
JD,



Give Grisoft's free AVG a try.
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I'll 2nd this rec. This free program does the job and consumes minimal resources. It's been highly rated; I wouldn't try it otherwise, regardless of price.
 
Another vote for AVG.

I use AVG myself and combined with Ad-aware and the free online scans from Bitdefender and Panda, I can't remember the last time I had a virus. Mind you, my memory is short and I'm knocking on wood.

-John C.
 
wytstang said:
I was given Kaspersky and man I love this AV program. It holds the #1 spot in AV reviews that you pay for. If it's not given to me again I'll buy it.
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+1



I would actually pay money for Kaspersky rather than receive a free Norton.
 
I didn't know Kaspersky had an anti-spyware and whatnot built into it, just found out on their website today. I gotta try out the demo then. Do they give you free updates too, or do you guys have to pay for a yearly subscription?
 
+1 for AVG Free. The last program I paid for was Norton's Systemworks years back and it was just a system hog, not to mention I could not uninstall everything it had put on my system. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I've never purchased anything from them since, although I hear their new stuff has improved drastically. A friend from work recommended AVG Free some years back and I haven't looked back since.



AVG Free + SpyWareBlaster + AdAware + SpyBot = FREE, protected system that hardly uses any resource. Like Tort mentioned, the only time I've seen AVG hog resource is when I'm on the computer at an unusual time where it's doing a scan. Otherwise, if I didn't see the icon on the bottom right hand corner, I wouldn't even know it was there.



ZoneAlarm is a great firewall program too, but with multiple, average computer users, I don't want to deal with the hassle of setting proper permissions or having my wife ask what she has to do because a program pops up with a warning message.
 
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