norton security

aliEnRIK

You can use ccleaner ~
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
To delete the temp files . I wouldnt worry about that
As for 'optimisation' there will hardly be any percievable difference.

And if its cheaper to buy local then do that (just so we're clear though, I advise AGAINST Norton and McAfee!)

lilibeth

Here are some links to the free stuff the others have mentioned.

http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
http://www.download.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html
http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html



Norton is overpriced bloated rubbish, it can cause more problems than it will solve and it can seriously slow down your PC.

Unless you are buying it to put on a siblings computer as a punishment for cutting your Sindy's hair when you were six (I'm not bitter honest) do not buy Norton.

donnajunkie

thanks.
yeah, i know it is the trend to advise against the likes of norton here but i just cant bring myself to trust somethign so important when it is free like the others are. where do they make there money from? as you are not a paying customer they have no obligation to you.

superscaper

donnajunkie wrote: »

thanks.
yeah, i know it is the trend to advise against the likes of norton here but i just cant bring myself to trust somethign so important when it is free like the others are. where do they make there money from? as you are not a paying customer they have no obligation to you.

They make their money from corporate clients and rely on the free personal programs as a form of advertising, "I really like that, I think I'll order it for the company" etc. The point is that you're ironically trusting something so important to something that's actually LESS trustworthy, it has lower detection rates etc. If you feel safer handing money over then at least pay for something where you're actually getting something for your money, i.e. Kaspersky or Eset (I personally pay for Eset Smart Security). I've not seen an infection personally in using Eset or installing AVG, Avast and Antivir on pcs, whereas I have personally seen infections/viruses that have got past and not been detected by McAfee, Norton, Sophos...

donnajunkie

the only problem i have had related to norton was being a divvy while installing the new version 2.0 and for a period not having any firewall turned on. i am now too scared to buy online incase there is something lurking. apart from this issue brought on by myself i have had no problem and when you consider i have vista premium on a pc that only has 1gb of ram that is quite good. other people i know who have it have had no problems either.

lilibeth

donnajunkie wrote: »

thanks.
yeah, i know it is the trend to advise against the likes of norton here but i just cant bring myself to trust somethign so important when it is free like the others are. where do they make there money from? as you are not a paying customer they have no obligation to you.

Business are usually required to pay. I get where you are coming from but any techy forum on the internet will tell you exactly the same re Norton.
Seriously, google it.
Anyhow it is your PC and you must do what feels right for you.

In the world of software free or cheaper does not mean lower quality. Just look at how many government departments servers in this world are running linux.

aliEnRIK

We only advise against it as weve all found norton to be 'problematic'
As in example my friend bought a brand new laptop with norton on it.
His son went on some dodgy site and norton LOCKED some spyware. But it made internet explorer unusable! I put firefox on for him as I couldnt (at the time) rectify the problem and suggested he get the manufacturers to sort it as norton simply shouldnt do that! (Wether he did or not I as yet do not know)
That simply wouldnt happen with avg that I use.

donnajunkie

superscaper wrote: »

They make their money from corporate clients and rely on the free personal programs as a form of advertising, "I really like that, I think I'll order it for the company" etc. The point is that you're ironically trusting something so important to something that's actually LESS trustworthy, it has lower detection rates etc. If you feel safer handing money over then at least pay for something where you're actually getting something for your money, i.e. Kaspersky or Eset (I personally pay for Eset Smart Security). I've not seen an infection personally in using Eset or installing AVG, Avast and Antivir on pcs, whereas I have personally seen infections/viruses that have got past and not been detected by McAfee, Norton, Sophos...

do they give full all round protection? do i need to install several different things? do they regulary update? how do i go about getting rid of norton and getting the new software onto the pc without being at risk at any time?

superscaper

lilibeth wrote: »

Just look at how many government departments servers in this world are running linux.

Although as an aside Linux servers can be a real pain in terms of usability, they're too far locked down and can make companies far less efficient than those using Windows servers strangely enough. Just personal observation from within the group of companies I presently work in. But I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that free or cheaper doesn't necessarily mean lower quality. In fact Truecrypt is a great example where being open source (and free) is a huge advantage because it makes it more trustworthy as an encryption tool since no backdoors can be built into it. Whereas commercial encryption may well do (and some I know for a fact some do because some companies require backdoors to cover themselves).

Although I'm probably taking this off topic a bit, so apologies. But ultimately you can't generalise either way, there are great programs that are both free and commercial and the best depends on the type of program etc.

superscaper

donnajunkie wrote: »

do they give full all round protection? do i need to install several different things? do they regulary update? how do i go about getting rid of norton and getting the new software onto the pc without being at risk at any time?

Freebies do require you to use different programs as there are no free "suites". So Avast in combination with Comodo (or ZoneAlarm) for example. The commercial examples I gave do come in full security suites. I not so long ago paid for a 3 year license for Eset Smart Security (I think it worked out to just a bit more than £20 per year).