Norton Hell...

[squirekat]

Hi all...

During Christmas vacation I decided to upgrade Norton Internet Security 2006 to the 2007 version and also renew my subscription to System Works. What I got was a full day of Hell trying to get everything working and about 6 hours on the phone with Symantec support... and still had unresolved problems. In the end told them I wanted a refund. After many years with Symantec I've finally had it with Norton and am going to let my subscriptions expire in about a month.

Question... I need recommendations as to what the best programs are to replace all the Norton stuff I'm used to. I am going to switch back to AVG Anti-virus and I already have CCleaner, Windows Defender and jv16 Power Tools, so that covers viruses, registry problems and spyware/malware. That leaves Anti-spam and any other vulnerabilities I haven't thought of (like intrusion attempts). I'm also running Norton Ghost which I will keep because Norton Ghost isn't a Symantec product anyway. It's the former Powerquest Drive Image software that was so superior to the original Norton Ghost that Symantec just bought out the competition.

Suggestions for full protection???

Thanks,
Mark :thumbsup:

[AnnMarie]

Hi Mark, I moved your topic to the Applications Forum to encourage members to post their suggestions too.

Re Spam, I use Mailwasher and wouldnt be without it. See here (http://www.mailwasher.net/) for more information. Also click on the link in my signature for suggestions on hardening your security.

[squirekat]

Thanks AnnMarie... will do :thumbsup:

[AnnMarie]

You are welcome. I'm sure other members will have some good suggestions too. :)

[squirekat]

AnnMarie...

Are you using the free version of Mailwasher or Mailwasher Pro? The Pro version looks better to me but I was wondering if the extra functionality is worth the subscription cost. Either way it's cheaper than Norton Anti-spam... and I can't wait to see how much faster my computer runs without all the Norton stuff. I've uninstalled it for brief periods before and the computer seems to grow wings.

BTW... checked your security list and it rocks!

Mark :thumbsup:

[AnnMarie]

I'm using Mailwasher Pro Mark and have done for several years now. Try the freeware version first though to see if you like it.

I'm glad you found the link helpful. :)

[squirekat]

AnnMarie...

AVG has a new product out called AVG Internet Security which looks like something I'd be interested in... at this Link (http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1)
Anti-virus, Anti-spyware, Anti-spam and Firewall in one package... and the price is right. Looks like Microsoft is also offering some AVG products with Vista...

"Microsoft Makes AVG Security Products Available Directly From Windows Security Center in Windows Vista
GRISOFT today announced that Microsoft is making AVG Anti-Virus 7.5 and AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition available via Windows Security Center as a Windows Vista security solution."

Symantec's days of living off their reputation are about over. I was about as loyal a customer as they had but they managed to turn me away over the last couple of years with all the problems, memory hogging, invasiveness of their software, etc. Too bad, because I've spoken with John Thompson (Symantec CEO) several times while we were installing a new pool/spa at his residence. He is absolutely one of the nicest guys I've ever met but that can only take you so far. I've just had too many problems with their software. Bye bye Symantec. :wave:

Mark

[AnnMarie]

AVG has a new product out called AVG Internet Security which looks like something I'd be interested in

Yes I was aware of that Mark but I havent had any feedback yet on performance. If you decide to give it a whirl, perhaps you would be kind enough to give us your feedback? :)

[squirekat]

I probably will give it a try. I always loved the free version of AVG Anti-virus and if their other products are half as good I'll be very happy. Will let you know when I do... my Norton subscriptions expire in mid-February and Vista comes out January 30th so will probably wait for Vista before switching unless I just can't stand Norton anymore. It's like an old girlfriend... once you make the break that's it... so I may switch early :naughty:

[AnnMarie]

Well I can tell you that I am quite impressed with the latest freeware version of AVG (7.5). During the installation, it identified an incompatible Roxio driver and opened a link to the Roxio site that offered a direct download of an update to fix the problem. It is really easy on resources too.

[squirekat]

Yes I was aware of that Mark but I havent had any feedback yet on performance. If you decide to give it a whirl, perhaps you would be kind enough to give us your feedback? :)

AnnMarie...

I got out a big club and cleaned house today... no more Norton except for Ghost. I also downloaded and installed AVG Internet Security 7.5, which so far seems excellent except for the anti-spam feature. Spam emails are marked "[SPAM]" and then sent to the Inbox, so they have to be deleted individually, yikes! I don't even want to see them. Since I get 100+ spams per day this is a real pain. Norton anti-spam had a folder where spam was sent so I could just open it, scan it quickly to make sure no valid emails were in there, then "empty the spam folder" and they were all gone. So far I don't see any option like that in AVG, so if I don't find one soon I'm going to disable AVG anti-spam and go to Mailwasher Pro. I'll give AVG anti-spam a couple of days to see if their spam learning filter improves with age but even if it does I still don't want spams in my Inbox, even if they are marked "[SPAM]" (I can figure that much out on my own!).

Bottom line... computer runs much faster, I was able to uninstall Windows Defender because AVG Internet Security has a firewall and everything is ducky-wucky except for the anti-spam feature. Will report back again after I get used to the new interface and operation.

Mark :thumbsup:

[AnnMarie]

Sounds promising. Thanks Mark. :)