tony-fr-si Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 HI'Currently, I am running Norton Anti-virus 2003 on my Windows XP/PRO Service Pack-2.The expiration date is February 2005 - my question is?:1) Should I update my subscription?2) Purchase Norton 2005 anti-virus (only)?3) Seek out a new vendor?FYI - Norton has worked well for me in the past!Thxs,Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Regulars here know that I would never let any Norton product near any of my machines. I see no reason at all why Norton A/V (or any other product from the same stable) be used anywhere when better, cheaper and often free replacements are obtainable.I use, and have used, AVG as my anti-virus program for many years without any problem and there are other FREE A/V programs available.A problem you will have, though, if you move away from Norton is removing all of its very tenacious oddments from your machine. There is a program designed to do this, however but, the name escapes me at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 A problem you will have, though, if you move away from Norton is removing all of its very tenacious oddments from your machine. There is a program designed to do this, however but, the name escapes me at the moment.If you decide not to renew your subscription, make sure that you uninstall the product before it expires! You may not be able to reboot your system with expired Norton software still installed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 If you decide not to renew your subscription, make sure that you uninstall the product before it expires! You may not be able to reboot your system with expired Norton software still installed!Another reason never to use Norton :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 All programs have their fans, and are strongly disliked by others. I for one have used Norton for as long as I have had a computer, and have always been perfectly happy with it. When I had a problem a few months ago, it was sorted out fine by e-mail. I use Norton System Works 2003, and Norton Personal Firewall 2003, and will be renewing them when the time comes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 I would reccomend using one of the very good, and free, virus/firewall solutions now available. Many reasons are above, and I as well will not let any Norton or McAfee product within 10 feet of my computer.One function they don't advertise is rewriting win.com, so uninstalling can lead to an unstable system to make you think they were more effective... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 andsome is quite right in his first sentence but few programs or companies create so much vehement dislike amongst their detractors as Norton and Symantec. With most software, and even hardware, if a product is not liked, it is ignored. Not so with Norton.In another forum I used to belong to, Norton and Symantec seemed to generate more queries and complaint postings than any other.This is my personal view and not necessarily the view of Windows Forum.As a rider to my disclaimer, above, it does appear that others here have the same viewpoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 It really is make your own mind up time. You are likely to get as many opinions as there are options. If Norton has satisfied you, why complicate things by changing, it is unlikely to break the bank. The choice is yours.There is an independent AV comparison site, but I cannot remember the URL, perhaps someone can provide a link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Found itClick onto each one in turn for a summary of their results.Click hereAs you will see, Symantec come out of this pretty well, as do Nod 32, Grisoft AVG do not do very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 If you really insist on wanting to remove Norton AV, click on this link.http://search.symantec.com/custom/us/query.htmlThen click onto search and type in "Uninstall Norton AV 2003" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Using their backup removal utility is just asking for trouble:Technical Information:Rnav2003.exe does not remove the following items: The files or registry keys for the virus definitions Subscription information Entries in the Task Scheduler Other shared files Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Using their backup removal utility is just asking for trouble:Technical Information:Rnav2003.exe does not remove the following items: The files or registry keys for the virus definitions Subscription information Entries in the Task Scheduler Other shared filesThere are tools available for the complete removal of everything, and also advice on easy registry editing to remove ALL traces. I had all this advice when I suffered a major corruption and needed a clean computer to reinstall on. The advice was very comprehensive and I printed it out and followed it step by step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korgg Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 I would very much recommned NOD32 or AVP ...I like them both, but nowadays I use NOD32 more...NA slows the system down a lot ... I still have it ... And it is VERY annoying when it scans emails or trying to copy a few gigabytes from one place to another... :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 I would very much recommned NOD32 or AVP ...I like them both, but nowadays I use NOD32 more...NA slows the system down a lot ... I still have it ... And it is VERY annoying when it scans emails or trying to copy a few gigabytes from one place to another... :angry:I prefer e-mails to be scanned, but this facility is easy to switch off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 QUOTETechnical Information:Rnav2003.exe does not remove the following items: * The files or registry keys for the virus definitions * Subscription information * Entries in the Task Scheduler * Other shared filesFuniley enough I used this yesterday on my old win98SE system. The RNAV2003.exe seems to have taken every thing off the PC. (umm including Subscription information ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 I was running AVG and got infected. I switched to Avast and have not had a problem yet.My wife and kids run AVG and none of them have had problems.I used to ( a while back) run Norton AV but was told it is a memory hog so I dumped it at the subscription renewal time.In the end this discussion is like "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" I think you will be happy with whatever program you choose. There is also a risk that you will be infected with a virus no matter what program you choose.So if you have been happy with Norton, stick with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korgg Posted January 19, 2005 Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 I prefer e-mails to be scanned, but this facility is easy to switch off.Yes ! I can switch it off... But then , when a newbie from work tries to open an attachement with a kind of worm, he does it very succesfully.. :) ..I hate when it scans all mail and gets tons of messages and I cant access my mail ... (wich, sometimes, can be very urgent)... It blocks the mail program .. Thunderbird or Outlook...So, untill I click OK on all the messages from NA, I cant read my mail... I prefer to warn me when I try to open a "bad attachment"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 19, 2005 Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 I have a quick look at my mail online using Mailwasher, and delete any strange attachments, BEFORE downloading. Then I am quite happy for all the remainder to be scanned. Yesterday due to a problem on this site, I had over 70 e-mails downloaded AND SCANNED, all in about twenty seconds. There is NO way that I would bring in e-mail without it being scanned. Viruses can be released without opening attachments these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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