Anti virus programs..............

[TZ350]

Having been throughly p'd off with my new laptop ( Windows 7 ) freezing and disconnecting from wifi because of the standard installed ( but not activated ) :mad: Norton AV, I uninstalled said program, an immediate improvement. Next I want to get rid of the McAfee crap, but first would appreciate any opinions on ;

Antivirus Software with Spy Sweeper | Antivirus Computer Software with Real Time Virus Protection | Webroot (http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-products-antivirus.html)

or any other recommendations ( please, must be IT retard friendly.............:\ )

[parabellum]

Just a personal view,

I would first go to: Norton Removal Tool, (via Google), same again for McAfee and uninstall both products.

Then,

www.finalunistaller.com (http://www.finalunistaller.com) to clear out the remnants, then go back to Google and download the free version of Microsoft Security Essentials,

Make sure both Norton and Mcafee are cleaned out first as MSE doesn't like other anti-virus programmes.

My 2cents worth. (Self taught home user, not a pro.).

[stumpey]

Norton and McCafee are two separate companies providing anti virus programmes. Unusual to have BOTH loaded on a machine. If you had both operating at the same time its highly likely they were fighting each other rather than helping you. Either are reputable companies and products. Current experience with Norton is VERY GOOD, recommended actually, McCafee less so.

Sorry but its FAR MORE LIKELY to be Win 7 playing up rather than Norton, even if you had the two A/Vs running together, IMHO. If your determined not to use ONE of these two, then I second Microsoft Security Essentials. Excellent product, even more so being free. Light on resources, works well. Fit and forget. (Providing you have removed ALL TRACES of ALL OTHER A-V PRODUCTS).

As to your web suggestion, no experience of, but theres plenty of re badged stuff to spend your money on, IF you really want to. :{:ugh:

[Tarq57]

Second both suggestions above.
Heard very good reports concerning the more recent versions of Norton (since 2010).
Even if not activated, a "dormant" installed AV is still "active", and will cause interference with another installed one.
Best clean them both with the specific tools (I haven't heard of finaluninstaller; I would think the removal tools provided by the respective companies should be adequate) and give the machine a jolly good reboot, then install the AV of your choice.

If it were me, that would be (and is) Avast.
Other good free ones include MSE, and Avira.
Good pay ones...you already had one installed.

[mixture]

I would recommend F-Secure.

[vulcanised]

Very happy with Avast over several years, coupled with ZoneAlarm.

[Slasher]

Yeh I used to use the Avast/ZoneAlarm coupling and it was
very good indeed.

Peter Norton hates John MacAfee and vv, but more likely its
W7 screwing things up. After you clear that possible issue I'd
stick to only one AV program on one puter and not two.

I've been a Norton user myself for yonks, but MacAfee I hear
is just as good.

[green granite]

Peter Norton hates John MacAfee and vv, but more likely its
W7 screwing things up

Sorry Slasher, but they are supposed to write the program to work on it's intended platform, if it doesn't work properly on W7 then it's the fault of the program writer for trying to use short cuts that just happen to work..........until that is until the OS code is tightened up to close a loophole or something. Follow the rules laid down by the OS guidelines and all will be well even if the OS code has to be changed for any reason.

[ex_matelot]

I have been conducting extensive research over the past few years and, by using the medium of pornography, can conclude that AVG free has maintained the integrity of my machine despite rigourous (and sometimes ruthless0 "testing".

Any time I used Norton I ran into snags within a few months of the renwal date. I followed the removal advice that has been given already.

AVG free, CCleaner and superantispyware. Advance system care as well.



Or go Linux Ubuntu?!

[P.Pilcher]

Wife acquired a new machine with Win 7: "But I don't understand Win 7!" I cried. Nevertheless, it was acquired and put to work. Norton anitvirus shortly started screaming for some money to be spent on it so I started by using the conventional windoze programme removal tool. It disappeared and I was merely left with Win 7 moaning that it had no virus protection. Anticipating this, I had alresdy downloaded Avast which was then told to install itself. It worked perfectly and has continued to do so until the present day. Despite not using the special Norton removal tools, Norton has not raised its ugly head since being removed and despite this programme now working as it should - so we are informed - it can even be removed by using conventional techniques it would seem.

P.P.

[TZ350]

Many thanks to all who replied to my original post. I'm going with the removal tools and MSE recommendation...........I should be able to manage them without creating a disaster.............:\

[hellsbrink]

Despite not using the special Norton removal tools, Norton has not raised its ugly head since being removed and despite this programme now working as it should - so we are informed - it can even be removed by using conventional techniques it would seem.

But if you start going through your computer and registry with a fine-toothed comb you will find files, folders and a hell of a lot of registry entries left behind after "uninstalling" Norton.

[The Nr Fairy]

Two possibilities:

1. Immunet (http://www.immunet.com), and it sits alongside existing AV solutions, doesn't need signature/rule updates (the data about malicious files is stored in the cloud).

2. ESET (http://www.eset.co.uk). According to a reputable source of mine, chosen by Intel for shipping with their motherboards over McAfee's AV product as it's better.

[Mr Optimistic]

Bit late to the party but have to say that after years of avoiding Norton I now actually use it on all machines and it seems perfectly sound. Mcafee never never never, intrsuive money grabbing thing. Got 3 licences for norton for £15 so near enough free too. Pay some attention to the firewall settings though if you are in a safe environment (shared v protected).

[Mike-Bracknell]

2. ESET (http://www.eset.co.uk). According to a reputable source of mine, chosen by Intel for shipping with their motherboards over McAfee's AV product as it's better.

Or rather, chosen by Intel over Intel's own McAfee AV product to avoid anti-competition claims. :D

(not that NOD is a bad AV product)

[oldbeefer]

Was given a Toshiba netbook with McCaffee. Unusable - Task manager showed McAffee using 70% CPU when idle. Uninstalled it and put on MSE. Works like a dream now.

[OFSO]

AVG FE every three or four days, MalWareBytes FE once a week, on both the mainframe and the laptop, works for me. (The little Linux machine has no antivirus and stays infection-free all by itself).

[Tarq57]

But the little Linux machine could host files that, if transferred to a Windows machine via a flash drive, could wreak havoc.

One reason some Linux users use an AV; part of being a good netizen, I guess.

[Ancient Observer]

Picked up McAfee for "free" with BT. My old Acer, XP, SP3, half a gb Ram, seems to get along with mcAfee just fine. When McAfee does its scans, and its updates, whole pc is close to unusable, - it is certainly very slow, but when it is not scanning/updating it is fine. Not surprisingly scans are scheduled for when i'm not likely to use the pc, and updates happen when i switch it on, so i switch it on well before i plan to use it.

[hellsbrink]

One reason some Linux users use an AV; part of being a good netizen, I guess.

It's also a matter of time before more and more Linux viruses appear so it's best to be prepared "just in case".

[Pelikal]

Just read this thread as I thought it may assist me over issues I have had lately which has been driving me nuts. I have been having problems with my search queries in all the major browsers re-directing (hijacking) me to totally unrelated sites. I've also been having issues in FF and Chrome with the '404 not found' error when trying to connect to Google, of all sites.

I could connect to Google from IE so tried to find out what was going on. There is a virus out there that 'hijacks' the search query and redirects but these queries I was making about a possible virus where re-directed as well!!:ugh:

I reckoned I had a virus and used the info posted here. I did the following. It is correct that anti-virus apps can conflict, I found out. I downloaded finaluninstaller and removed 3 anti-virus programs that were installed. (The trial version only allows 3 free uses, I believe).

For security, I opted for MS Security Essentials, perhaps because it was free and so are the updates. I downloaded it and MS gave the advice to uninstall any other anti-virus apps. Anyhow, ran it and almost straight away it it indicated I was under threat. It took a long time to do the initial scan and frankly I wasn't hopeful that the issues I was having would be resolved.

Scan completed and it found 2 virii (?), another suspect and deleted these. I will say at this point that MalWareBytes had found nothing suspect ( I suppose it is possible that MalWare had a conflict with something else installed). Re-boot. Google fired up in FF, no error 404, same in Chrome and search queries seem to be working as they should in all browsers.

Both issues sorted in one go. So thank you people for sending me down a path that I wouldn't have thought of. :D. Have a safe week.