Security: Should I ditch Norton for Virgin Media

[dolph]

My annual renewal subscription for Norton Anti Virus is due within the next fortnight. My broadband is supplied by Virgin Media as part of the TV/Phone/Broadband package.

They, Virgin, will supply a complete security system for free due to my level of broadband with them. It is called PC Guard by Kapersky(?) I believe.

Should I save the cost of Norton and go with Virgin.

Also both my sons run their PC's through my broadband wireless set up will they be covered or is it just for my PC.

 

[TheOriginalTonkaToy]

Kapersky is a good anti-virus client. Other free ones that I'd recommend are:

AVG
Antivir (Avira)
Comodo
Avast!

So, save yourself some money and ditch the Norton

 

[dave.m]

Ditch Norton by using the Norton Removal Tool, don’t use the Add/Remove section in Windows.

The PC Guard is a watered down version of Kaspersky, so, although it is free to you, you are better off with some free programs.

The best free firewall is in the Comodo Internet Security. When you come to install, select just the Firewall and Defense+.
Watch for the pre-ticked option to install Yahoo, untick it before clicking ’Install’.

The Microsoft security Essentials contains a real-time antivirus program and antispyware protection.
I used it for a couple of months on XP and have now installed it on my new Win7 computer.

Winpatrol is a very good system protector that monitors your system for any changes and alerts you before they can be made.

They are the three programs that I use for real-time protection and I the have a couple of programs to run routinely every week to make sure nothing as got passed those mentioned above.

I use:
Malwarebytes, click the blue download button for the free version.
SuperAntiSpyware.

All you need to do is click to open them and check for updates , then run a Quick Scan once a week with each program, but try to stagger them on different days.

ALL the above are FREE.

Once you have decided what to do, down load each program and save to your Desktop or Download Folder, BUT DO NOT INSTALL them yet.
Download the Norton Removal Tool then disconnect from the internet.
Remove Norton, then install each program and re-connect to the internet and update each one, running a quick scan where ask.

Do this on all the computers on your network. A bit of time but worth it.

 

[Chukka63]

i always use AVG for nowt and never had any problems.

 

[ChrisJ78]

Another vote for Avast from me. I use Spybot SD for spyware removal.

 

[olly_k]

Avira is one of the best freebies. resource lite too!

Threatfire is cool.

I personally like Zonealarm for firewall.

2nd for winpatrol excellent software!

Oh and Noscript for Firefox is excellent if not a pain initially!

 

[kevindgas]

we use virgin pcguard and have done for 5 years never had any trouble with it.

 

[Rider]

I've used or tried most of the security programs mentioned apart from PCguard. Even so, I have come to prefer Norton (NIS 2010 - upgraded from NIS 2009). I trialled it for a while based on research of detection rates and various comparison tables/reviews and ended up paying for a year's subscription. I find it a lightweight security suite that needs little or no user input. A different animal to earlier versions by all accounts. Not free of course but not too expensive either.

 

[daozen]

As far as I'm aware Virgin medias security is a rebadge kaspersky, my flat mate uses it its rather good and shes had no problems.

I personally use windows firwall and security essentials and have had no problems.

 

[DaveJaVu]

NOD32 AV is for me, not free, but the best I have found.
Along with SuperAntiSpyware.
Windows firewall is good enough, no need for additional firewalls.

Norton along with McAffee should be avoided at all costs.

 

[Rider]

I think it could be the case that no AV program is entirely up to protecting a computer these days. Only a reasonable job can be expected of any of them in my opinion. You can visit many security forums and read of cases where it's claimed that a program didn't protect against a virus or other malware. Browsers have been hijacked etc. This can also often be found by typing into Google 'did not detect' preceded by any security program's name. In view of this, I'm not sure that AV and other types of detection program should be relied on as primary defences or cures.

I reckon sandboxing is the way to go. Keep all malware contained so that it cannot get to the system and make changes to it that might be difficult or impossible to completely remove. I keep other security software in place but really, the only time it's going to be needed is if a mistake is made and something risky is opened outside of the sandbox (a file attachment for instance) or if malware breeches the sandbox, which is unlikely.

Even then, if something does infect the system one way or another perhaps the best cure is to use a previously made disk image to restore it. This is very much quicker to do than trying to track down and remove malware or repair any other kind of problem. It takes about 15 minutes to restore the system from a disk image and once done, whatever had gone wrong would be completely cured.

Works for me.

 

[DaveJaVu]

I think it could be the case that no AV program is entirely up to protecting a computer these days. Only a reasonable job can be expected of any of them in my opinion. You can visit many security forums and read of cases where it's claimed that a program didn't protect against a virus or other malware. Browsers have been hijacked etc. This can also often be found by typing into Google 'did not detect' preceded by any security program's name. In view of this, I'm not sure that AV and other types of detection program should be relied on as primary defences or cures.

I reckon sandboxing is the way to go. Keep all malware contained so that it cannot get to the system and make changes to it that might be difficult or impossible to completely remove. I keep other security software in place but really, the only time it's going to be needed is if a mistake is made and something risky is opened outside of the sandbox (a file attachment for instance) or if malware breeches the sandbox, which is unlikely.

Even then, if something does infect the system one way or another perhaps the best cure is to use a previously made disk image to restore it. This is very much quicker to do than trying to track down and remove malware or repair any other kind of problem. It takes about 15 minutes to restore the system from a disk image and once done, whatever had gone wrong would be completely cured.

Works for me.

I agree,
Its still up to the user to have a reasonable amount of common sense, ie. not opening any attachments they dont know the source of, clicking banners on websites and so on....
God knows how many pc's Ive sorted for people who just click on everything and open whatever...

Also, you must ensure whatever software you do have is kept updated and run regular scans...

Dont just rely on the good old 'system restore' as most virus routines use this to keep re-installing themselves (without getting too techy...)

Dave.

 

[Rider]

Just to clarify the 'restore with disk image' part, just in case it's thought I meant System Restore. It's more something made with Acronis, Ghost, Macrium etc. The entire working system gets cloned to DVD, a spare partition or hard disk while the system is working well. When anything goes wrong that proves too difficult to put right (malware or other faults), the OS complete with programs installed and settings made can renewed/restored using the disk image.

 

[tapir]

My 2 cents - Norton is bloatware, same as McAfee.

vote for Kaspersky from me, very good at what it does, and doesn't eat system resources.

If you don't like it, you can always uninstall and go back to another application.

 

[DaveJaVu]

Just to clarify the 'restore with disk image' part, just in case it's thought I meant System Restore. It's more something made with Acronis, Ghost, Macrium etc. The entire working system gets cloned to DVD, a spare partition or hard disk while the system is working well. When anything goes wrong that proves too difficult to put right (malware or other faults), the OS complete with programs installed and settings made can renewed/restored using the disk image.

I know exactly what you meant, problem is most wont. People think that just doing a sys restore sorts everything out.......wrong.
Best thing to do is not get the crap on your pc in the first place.