Antivirus driving me mad

[Talk Wrench]

Hi all,


If anyone can help me with this one then theres a pint in it.

A few days ago, Moz Firefox decided to download an update for its self and since then I can't get online without turning my Norton Internet security off.

I have been into the "rules" menu and tried to re-add firefox but it just tells me that the program already exists.


Suggestions or solutions will be appreciated beyond belief.


Talk Wrench

[bjkeates]

I'm not sure about what exactly you'd have to do within Norton Internet Security to fix the problem, but my advice (and I'm sure a lot of other people on here would agree, given the comments made in a recent thread on Norton) would be to get rid of Norton completely and replace it with something else. Norton Internet Security is a complete drain on your system - it hogs a lot of your memory and CPU and in that respect is totally inefficient compared to many other products you could have (many of which are free.) When I removed Norton, it felt like having a brand new system - it was so much faster.

If I were you, I'd get rid of Norton. Download ZoneAlarm for firewall protection (free, and works with the latest Firefox update). With regards to anti-virus protection, I use Symantec Anti-Virus Corporate (free from my University) but there are some decent free virus checkers available on the net which will do the same job as Norton but more efficiently. I've heard AVG mentioned, there is a free version available here.

[frostbite]

Can only agree with above.

When I updated FF. Zonealarm simply popped up (because the program had changed) and asked if it was OK to allow it to connect - tick 'always', click 'allow' and no dramas.

As regards AV, I have used Avast (free) for ages. It checks incoming mail and running programs and is speedily updated nearly every day. Adaware hasn't found anything for over 2 years with this combo running.

[Mac the Knife]

I'll join the votes for AVG. Quick, doesn''t take up too many resources, doesn't ferk your system like Norton and reliable. I paid for the full story, but the free version is said to be good, though the free update servers can be slow.

AVG also do a combo firewall/AV for not much more, which is a good one-stop-shop (just installed it on a machine I built for someone).

If you want to keep your current AV you could try saving your Firefox preferences, deleting it FF and reinstalling it, though I wouldn't bet that that will work. Or you could install Opera (arguably the best of the lot) instead of FF.

[Talk Wrench]

Seems Norton ait so good.

Mac, Do you have a link for Opera?

[Richard Spandit]

My girlfriend recently had to reset her laptop to the factory default (turns out there was a hidden partition with a rescue system on it). Had to go through the rigmarole of uninstalling Norton again - not easy when there is no uninstall program already installed and it doesn't appear in the "Add/Remove Programs". Even getting the program from the Symantec website was a hassle...

Does anyone actually like Norton?

[glider]

I would think not =)

Havn't used anti-virus programs for years now, the web-based ones are just as good as any of the versions you find in the store.

As for firewalls, assuming you are using Win XP, then the built-in firewall shouldn't be any worse than ZoneAlarm, so why use more than you have to?

As I have no interest in knowing who's trying to get in to my computer, but only preventing it from happening in the first place, I'm happy to stick with XPs default firewall. Should one want more specific info of intrusion attempts then maybe a stand-alone programme like ZoneAlarm may be good.

Fly safely!

/Magnus

[Mac the Knife]

Originally Posted by Talk Wrench

Seems Norton ait so good.
Mac, Do you have a link for Opera?

Yup.

http://www.opera.com/

Opera is the fastest of all the browsers, the only one that is truly W3C compliant, is pretty secure, has lots of options and as a bonus has an excellent built-in email client.

If I wasn't so dependent on my Firefox plugins I'd switch today.



As an aside, there are good arguments for saying XP's own inbound firewall is "good enough" (and you CAN tweak the reasonable defaults a bit tighter). As regards the "no outbound filtering" - to some extent it's accurate to say that once you've GOT malware in your PC trying to connect out then you're already in the dwang...

Windows Defender - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx
- is actually pretty good (hint: MS bought it from Giant Software and rebranded it) and I'd recommend anyone running Windows to use it.

[DBTL]

Really, why waste your precious time -- all you need is:

i) f-secure antivirus+firewall set
ii) auto updating windows

nothing comes near ...

[bjkeates]

I installed Windows Defender this morning on the basis of that previous post, and it actually works pretty well. Very nice interface, easy to use, and it picked up some files lying around on my system which AdAware and Spybot S&D had both missed.

[5711N0205W]

Does anyone actually like Norton?

I vote NO, NO and NO again, as previously mentioned biggest pile of resource hogging sh.....

How to cripple a PC, AOL and Norton on the same box........

[rotorcraig]

Agree with all above.

Dump Norton. Go with AVG

Windows XP firewall is inbound only. If you get anything nasty on your PC and it starts transmitting over your internet connection XP firewall won't notice. I use Sunbelt Kerio instead which is one of several free alternatives.

RC

[Jhieminga]

I seem to be in the minority here, but I actually do use and appreciate Norton!

As for the problem mentioned, when you reinstall a new version of Firefox Norton sees this as a 'changed' program and needs your consent whether to allow it internet access. Judging by the symptoms it is now blocked. To change this you don't need to add it again, go to the list of programs (somewhere under the firewall settings, I'm at work and cannot check this) and find Firefox in this list. On the right is the setting for this program and I would guess that it will say 'blocked'. Change this to allow access and you should be sorted.

Obviously some of the suggestions above will also have the same effect. Since you've been switching NIS off it might be worth scanning your system to see if anything nasty has crept in.

[Earl]

After installing Norton System Works I found that it really slowed things down.
To uninstall it along with the Norton Antivirus included with the package just use the disc and begin installing it again.
It will then give you the option to repair or uninstall.
I switched to AVG free and so far have not encountered any problems.

[Talk Wrench]

Cheers all.

Some good feedback from you all.

Thanks for the link for opera,

Thanks for the advice about No***n.

I am planning to reformat my hard drive soon, so will take all tips on board.


This is gonna cost me

Owe you all a pint

[Saab Dastard]

I am planning to reformat my hard drive soon,

So you ARE going to install No**on then

SD