Should i get norton antivirus, internet security or norton 360?

[Elmer BeFuddled]

Used to spend all my time sorting out Windows 7 Blue Screens Of Death issues on a few forums.

Whenever anybody had a problem the usual advice would be to uninstall your current AV program (for now) and use Microsoft Security Essentials. This was because:
(a) Made by Microsoft,
(b) Lightweight and fairly unobtrusive,
(c) Not a resource hog and
(d) Never been known to cause Windows 7 to crash.

After you pc was sorted you could then re-load your fave flavour of AV.
Surprising the number of people who re-tried AVG and were back seeking help again within hours. They couldn't work out the connection between loading AVG and B.S.O.D'ing

The good guys (as of 3 months ago when I sort of fell off the help forums (too much work on!!)) were, in no order:
Kapersky.
MSE (above).
ESET. (my personal favourite).
Avast.
Trend Micro.

The (not so) bad guys were:
McAfee
PC Tools
Zone Alarm (Firewall)

The out and out uglies of the piece were, and still are as far as I'm aware:
AVG.
Symantec Norton. (Been crap ever since Mr. Norton sold it to Symantec).
Avira
Spyware Terminator

Also everybody was advised to download the free version of Malwarebyes' Anti-Malware. Update it weekly or more and run a weekly scan.

Malwarebytes' Free + Windows Firewall + Microsoft Security Essentials = Nirvana for the Windows 7 user!

Just my 2p's worth, from someone in the know. :smart:

Now, who's got a tin hat I can borrow?? :army:

 

[ayjay]

its a moot point,
i use "avg" and "cc cleaner" and "spybot search and destroy"(all free)
i also use mozzilla firefox as my search engine, it has better security than internet explorer?
the worse thing i did was sighn up to talk talk broadband, the connection is total rubbish
i,m constanty having to switch off the modem then switch it back on to reconnect

 

[MDJ]

we tried norton 360. it virtually stopped the computer. get avg. free. less hassle and just as good. .

i totally agree 100%, I had to restart my software after using norton, never go there IMO.

 

[grantr37]

CA Antivirus is very good......

- - - Updated - - -

CA Antivirus is very good......

 

[trev]

A few years ago we had a program called Panda, twas flippin great but it seems to have disappeared. I've got a free version of McAfee on my laptop and I have to say I think it's a total piece of crap. We got it on a free when we had AOL as our provider and it didn't seem to work at all, we started having a few problems so I disabled it and ran an online scan which showed up a load of nastys.
Probably all down to our oldest son who was 17 at the time and spent most of his spare time looking at the naked lady sites

 

[Elmer BeFuddled]

Here ya go Trev, it's another one that falls in the good guy list, but occasionally.... Panda Antivirus Pro 2013 [h=1][/h]

 

[Marvo]

I also used to have a soft spot for the Panda free AV but I haven't tried it for several years now. I would give sandboxie another shameless plug, it's not anti-virus in the truest sense of the word but it's a very handy program.

 

[Vrai]

Personally as long as you go for one of the big 'named' ones, it's a personal preference.

 

[Elmer BeFuddled]

Personally as long as you go for one of the big 'named' ones, it's a personal preference.

See, I'd have to disagree there. One of the big names is AVG. But when Windows 7 Hit the the screen, it had a new (for wont of a better word) algorithm in it's in-built security system. AVG sold there stuff as Windows 7 compliant, but it wasn't. It was exactly the same as for XP SP3. Totally unsuitable for seven.

A can of worms I could open here as many folks will say "well, I got 7 and AVG, no probs". All depends on what else you're running!

As a P.S. If you use the banking security program, of which I cannot remember the name, and your pc crashes, remove that first. Even that (wasn't) up to speed with Windows 7's in built self defence, as of 3 months ago.

 

[mcb-expert]

Are they the same? Do i get all 3 or getting just one of them is enough?

As far Windows is concerned, use Microsoft Security Essentials. It is fast, free & has all the necessary protection. It can be downloaded for free for Windows 7, vista or xp. It is included in Windows 8 as Microsoft Defender.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

I occasionally come across PCs where the updates have ceased working.
They download the updates, attempt to install them then nothing gets installed.
Panda used to have a free online security scanner, which would scan your computer, and then remove dodgey programs.
Unfortunately the last time I checked, it was no longer free.
However Microsoft now do 'Microsoft safety scanner', which is a free online scanner.
It does involve downloading a small tool with updated definitions which some viruses will block.
If it's not possible to download the tool, or you get a message stating the tool is out of date, then re-boot into 'safe mode with networking' and retry.
Obviously, depending upon the size of the 'C' drive, and how much is on it, the scan can take some considerable time.

Something else that can be done to safeguard a PC, is to clone the hard drive.
This is not the same as backing up the hard drive, this is making an exact 'bootable' copy.
Also useful if you wish to replace your original hard drive with perhaps a larger one or are upgrading to a new computer.
There's a number of free cloning software available, along with some that you have to pay for.
The one I recomend is free from Seagate (the hard drive manufacturer), and has been developed for them by Acronis.
Again the time the cloning process takes will depend upon how larg you hard drive is, and on how much information is stored on the hard drive.
Most of the free cloning software have limitations, some can only copy from and to hard drives that are the same size, most will copy from smaller to larger.
None as far as I'm aware will copy from larger to smaller, however some (the seagate software for instance) will allow you to copy just the partition containing the Operating System.
Cloning can be done at any time during the life of a hard drive, and can be done using internal, external and even networked drives (useful for if your new computer uses 'SATA' and your old 'IDE'.
With a new computer, I make a clone of the hard drive, then every month or so, I re-clone, so that any information that has been added to the original drive gets added to the cloned drive. If anything drastic happens the clone is available as a back up.
I have in the past used back up software and copied to DVD disks, only to find when attempting to use the disks, that the data is corrupted (Lost my accounts for 2005-6 that way).
Cloning is not perfect.
For instance there would be problems if you had a number of networked computers and attempted to install drives cloned from one computer onto another on the same network.
The network wouldn't be able to distinguish between the two computers, there are work-arounds, but it starts getting complicated.
However with a single computer, to my mind it is about the most secure method for backing up.

There's a rather insidious piece of malware doing the rounds, that throws up a screen purporting to be from the Police (Met Police and Grampion seem to be the favourites).
This malware uses Java or Adobe Reader to infect your computer.
The easiest method I've found to get rid of it, is to re-boot into 'safe mode with networking', ubinstall both Java and Adobe reader, then run the 'Microsoft safety scanner'.
After cleaning, re-install Java and Adobe reader.

 

[ayjay]

heres some info on that bogus police virus and how to remove it
--yes i had it as well!
My computer got hacked by a police virus fine. How do i get rid of it, it blocks my screen & asks me £100 fine? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Unfortunately the methods shown are either very complicated, or do not actually remove all of the elements of the malware.
One of the methods suggests that you edit your registry, then download an iso file and burn it to disk.
The other method involves using the command screen and searching through the start up folder then deleting files.
I remember doing something similar years ago with Windows 3, and losing my control panel.
Not something I would suggest for inexperienced computer users.

 

[Jamie-E]

Wouldnt touch Norton with a barg pole!! I use Avast! There's a free version which is the one i have or you can pay sike £25 for a pro version which is a pretty good price.

 

[ayjay]

its also suggested on other forums to use firefox instead of ie
they reckon ie is prone to viruses(i,m no expert btw)