Norton

[commoner]

Hi. My annual subs to the Norton AV and Firewall are now due and they want over �68 pounds to update them..........

What would the alternatives be to ignoring this demand for cash and going for something cheaper or even free?

Thanks for any help..............commoner

[kevb0444]

Hi you can buy Nortons internet security 2006 + go back 4.0 for �25 from PC World. A lot cheaper than re-newing your sub.

[rojash]

If you search this site for Norton, you will find many posts from experienced computer professionals and users alike who will tell you to bin Norton, and replace it with ZoneAlarm firewall and AVG Free Antivirus. Both of which are not only vastly superior products, but also FREE!

[vehelpfulguy]

I use Zonealarm firewall and AVG anti virus on my 3 PCs at home and never had a problem.

Make sure you download the free versions, as they also do chargable versions.

I also use ADAWARE for finding spyware and WINPATROL for monitoring your PC, both are also free.

[fo3nix]

I agree with the above but personally I'd recommend Kerio Personal Firewall (doesn't cost anything) instead of Zonealarm. They both do a very similar job, but I find that Kerio runs faster, especially when starting up.

[flubber]

I use the free ZA and AVG (did have Kerio but it left ports open) both ZA and AVG are excellent to use but have fun trying to remove all the Norton residue as it hangs on for grim death.

[theprof]

AVG and Zone Alarm have always been a good combination. Add Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware for manual checking of your system and SpywareBlaster for real-time protection.

Al of these are free.

All remaining residues of Norton are fairly easy to remove after conventional uninstallation by typing "msconfig" into the run box in XP, selecting the "Services" tab, ticking "Hide all microsoft services" and deselecting every entry listed with the names Symantec or Norton in their title.

[jake-the-peg]

You might be interested in this:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-vs-paid-av.htm

It's a comparison of how free-av stacks up to paid for.

The summary is that it's good but detection rates are not generally as good as the paid for products. That's probably what you'd expect in the big A/V houses run large teams of virus researchers and are up to hourly releases of signatures - even streaming signatures in some cases.

I guess it rather depends on the sort of risk exposure you typically run.

With regard to that you might be interested in this download.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ie.html

or

http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ff.html

for firefox

It shows up risky sites in Google or MSN searchs or displays in your browser if you visit a site that uses spyware and the like

[commoner]

..WOW ...I'm overwhelmed with all that excellent advice..........I'm sure to find an alternative to the expensive Norton update from that...........thanks prof for adding the "Seek and Destroy" advice for removing the residue of Norton. I'm sure lots of other guys will appreciate that.............

Regards and thanks....commoner. ;-)

[maglet]

I agree with rojash, I have Zone-Alarm which was professionally installed and on the recomendation of a Computer service man it is brilliant, every one I speak to seems to have a problem with Norton..........Go Zone Alarm!!