Does Norton actually do anything?

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Someone told me that Avast is good. Anyone know anything about Avast?

Yes . Avast! is a good scanner in my opinion. It has an on-access scanner that might prevent any viruses from sneaking onto your computer, but it usaully good to ran the major scanner once and awhile too. Some things you might need to know first is that you need to register it, but this is simple as the code is set to you via email, the scanner will stop working after about a year in which you'll have to re-register it (still need to do this for my families main computer.), and that you have to manually open the main scanner.

I like Norton, if I accidentally go to a bad website, it tells me. It also deals with the problem at that time. The worst problems I have to worry about with Norton are tracking cookies, which takes about 2 minutes to get rid of. I like how Norton tells you how dangerous the threat is or is not.

As long as you have a decent hardware firewall (ie configured router) you generally don't need any extra security software (firewall,spyware,av) as long as you:
A) keep your software up to date
B) don't install anything bad ie. user error
That leaves your slightly vulnerable to new and unpatched exploits but these usually aren't a big deal unless your a security target or get unluckily targeted by someone wanting to much about on your box with skills or links to fresh exploits.

Or run linux/OSX.

Emor wrote:

IDK if it's just me, but some people seem to be really paranoid about security. Especially Linux users.

You want to see paranoia, talk to BSD people. They even have tin-foil hats for their laptops.

I ended up switching to AVG Professional 10 years ago, on a tip from a friend. Not had any obvious problems yet, at least.... Also, Firefox seems to flag up some dodgy websites. My issue with Norton was how extemely intrusive and time-consuming it was, especially for a premium product that really ought to be better designed. Half the time I'd fire up my laptop and go "Oh, I can't actually do anything today. Norton's using it."

My only experience of Norton was when I bought my first desktop PC six or seven years ago. It came with the antivirus system preinstalled, but it turned out to be a trial version, and after a month or so it began to play up, badgering me constantly to pay a subscription to continue using it.

I hadn't a clue how to remove it, as my knowledge of computing at the time was practically nil (couldn't even copy and paste), so I made use of the technical support service provided by my internet service provider (BT). They took almost two hours to uninstall it, and the technician told me that I'd have had to get Windows reinstalled if the final attempt to remove Norton hadn't worked.

I then got McAfee installed (recommended by BT), but after a few months that started causing problems as well and had to be removed. It also told me that numerous perfectly safe websites were dodgy, and failed to protect the PC against a whole load of malware.

Since then I've stuck with Microsoft's own antivirus products (Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7, Windows Defender on Win 8.1 and Win 10). These used to have a poor reputation, but it seems that the latest versions of Windows Defender are quite highly regarded. At any rate, I've had no virus or malware incidents, or problems of any other sort, since ditching Norton and McAfee.

Never trusted this anivirus. There are much better alternatives.

Glad 11 1/2 year old thread was bumped-up. I've switched entirely over to the free-version of AVG. Based on reviews, I might probably upgrade to a paid subscription of AVG.

Also of note, the paid subscription to AVG includes system maintenance capabilities. Any experiences with the paid subscription to AV, and AVG's system maintenance?

Norton/Symantec is the work of the devil, it belongs in the same category as Windows 10. Insidious resource hogging rubbish.

I run AVG on a couple of old Windows boxes and it does it's job nicely.
My everyday machine is a MacBook Pro and doesn't have any antivirus on it.
Firewall wise I've got a hardware firewall facing the outside world and all inside devices sit behind NAT.

I bought Norton SystemWorks PE in 2001, purely for Norton Ghost. For the first time, I was able to back up and restore my computer properly, which meant I didn't have to worry about getting into a mess any more. It was one of the best things I ever bought.

I don't remember much else of any great use in the package.

I have not use Norton since the Win 9x Days. I use Avast Free on my laptop. If I go to any risky sites or downloads I will do it in a VM or use an android device to do it.