Norton System Works 2004 only £9.99 great deal [CLOSED]

lellie

BUT THE PROGRAM IS BAD FOR YOUR COMPUTER!!!

norton systemworks is so bloated it slows your computer down. It does not protect you from virusses successfully and is generally poor. The fact you have to pay for it just adds insult to injury - There are much much much better free equivilants that are secure, well made and do not slow your computer down.

http://www.zonealarm.com and http://avast.com - firewall and antivirus respectively. Both are very easy to use and completely free.

Rex_Mundi

Time after time I see people saying how Norton is bad for your computer. I've been using Norton for years without any issues at all. I've never had a virus, and it DOES NOT SLOW MY COMPUTER UP.

They would not be one of the biggest most respected software companies in the world if they sold bad products.

Not only does System Works have the antivirus. It also has Norton Utilities on, which is a very good problem solver/disc cleaner for Windows.

This is a cracking deal.

Tojo_Ralph

Rex_Mundi wrote:

Time after time I see people saying how Norton is bad for your computer. I've been using Norton for years without any issues at all. I've never had a virus, and it DOES NOT SLOW MY COMPUTER UP.

They would not be one of the biggest most respected software companies in the world if they sold bad products.

Not only does System Works have the antivirus. It also has Norton Utilities on, which is a very good problem solver/disc cleaner for Windows.

This is a cracking deal.

Which brings me to a question.

If purchased, can I use the disk cleaning, problem solving capabilities without installing the anti-virus software?

(I have nothing against Norton, I just like/am familiar with Avast and Zonealarm)

Gavboy

Rex_Mundi wrote:

Time after time I see people saying how Norton is bad for your computer. I've been using Norton for years without any issues at all. I've never had a virus, and it DOES NOT SLOW MY COMPUTER UP.

I got Vundo B a month or so ago and Norton couldn't do anything! So I don't think it's perfect!! I switched to McAfee and now my system is running a lot faster! If you've been running Norton for years perhaps you have no idea how fast it can run without it! The fact that Norton is a huge resource hog is common knowledge.

Rex_Mundi

If purchased, can I use the disk cleaning, problem solving capabilities without installing the anti-virus software?

Yes. I've done this on the boys machine, and he uses Avast as an antivirus. When you come to install. The only part you will need to install is Norton Utilities. In fact if I can remember rightly, this comes on its own seperate disc as part of the pack.

With this program, as long as you don't have the system monitor running (not needed) it will only run when you open it. This negates any possible issues over it slowing your system down. (if it doesn't run, it doesn't use any CPU)

lellie

Rex_Mundi wrote:

Time after time I see people saying how Norton is bad for your computer. I've been using Norton for years without any issues at all. I've never had a virus, and it DOES NOT SLOW MY COMPUTER UP.

They would not be one of the biggest most respected software companies in the world if they sold bad products.

Not only does System Works have the antivirus. It also has Norton Utilities on, which is a very good problem solver/disc cleaner for Windows.

This is a cracking deal.

you're a very very lucky person then..

Norton destroyed my first computer (this was back in 1997) causing us to need a new harddisc and losing all our data. Would never trust them since..

To be fair you shouldn't need antivirus at all to not get a virus if you're sensible. A firewall and common sense is sufficient, but it's useful as an extra backup.

There are plenty of free disk utilities etc too. I just don't see the point in paying for an inferior product.

Mr_Parps

lellie wrote:

BUT THE PROGRAM IS BAD FOR YOUR COMPUTER!!!

norton systemworks is so bloated it slows your computer down. It does not protect you from virusses successfully and is generally poor. The fact you have to pay for it just adds insult to injury - There are much much much better free equivilants that are secure, well made and do not slow your computer down.

http://www.zonealarm.com and http://avast.com - firewall and antivirus respectively. Both are very easy to use and completely free.

I agree with every word. Sadly, because it's the most well known internet security product and it costs a lot of money, many people believe it's the best, if not one of the very best available, when truth be told there are better alternatives available for free.
I used Norton myself for several years, and had the usual problem with it slowing down my PC dramatically by hogging its system resources. Also, I replaced it with AVG which found over a dozen viruses that Norton had failed to detect - this seems to be a very common theme for those who've switched from Norton. Like many others I fell into the trap and so would recommend anyone choosing the free alternatives over Norton.

gazransom

Mr_Parps wrote:

I agree with every word. Sadly, because it's the most well known internet security product and it costs a lot of money, many people believe it's the best, if not one of the very best available, when truth be told there are better alternatives available for free.
I used Norton myself for several years, and had the usual problem with it slowing down my PC dramatically by hogging its system resources. Also, I replaced it with AVG which found over a dozen viruses that Norton had failed to detect - this seems to be a very common theme for those who've switched from Norton. Like many others I fell into the trap and so would recommend anyone choosing the free alternatives over Norton.

Yes - same with me.

When my subscription to Norton Antivirus ran out I uninstalled it and tried AVG free. The difference in PC performance was really noticeable - Oh, and AVG found 2 viruses which Norton hadn't detected. As Norton has expired on my kids machines I've done the same with similar results.

Do a search for independant antivirus comparisons with Google and you'll see how bad Norton is at detecting viruses compared to other products. AVG isn't quite the best but its pretty good - and free.

smokieUK

lellie wrote:

you're a very very lucky person then..

Norton destroyed my first computer (this was back in 1997) causing us to need a new harddisc and losing all our data. Would never trust them since..

To be fair you shouldn't need antivirus at all to not get a virus if you're sensible. A firewall and common sense is sufficient, but it's useful as an extra backup.

There are plenty of free disk utilities etc too. I just don't see the point in paying for an inferior product.

Whata load of rubbish is being said here (generally, not just this post)

1) Norton is one of the world's top two AV products, used by huge corps throughout the world. Norton spend millions of pounds on AV research and producing a robust product. That isn't to say that the free products are useless

2) Common sense can never ever replace an AV program. Even a professional with all the common sense in the world can suffer a virus. Unless of course you choose to lock down all the functionality in your computer, which isn't common sense to me

3) Just because you had one bad experience with a product in 1997 has no relevance whatsoever on how the product will work for you now, or for anyone else. And, if it wiped your computer, big deal - as "common sense" would demand that you had a backup. Wouldn't it?

Sorry if this sounds a bit grumpy, I just get fed up with people knocking perfectly good products just because they happen to have discovered one tiny thing it can't cope with. Me, I'll go with the Big Corps and the professional product.

biglugs

I have SystemWorks running on my machine and I have no problems with it. Doesn't slow down my working and I feel happier knowing that it is constantly monitoring my system, rather than trusting to running a scan every now and again.

I also have a hardware firewall through my router, and I run Microsoft Antispyware - if there is a performance hit then I have got used to it and am willing to sacrifice it for safety.

There is an adage in life that you generally get what you pay for - and if something is "free" then it's probably worth what you paid for it. So I'm sticking with Norton.