AVG anti virus

Niceguyeddie616

So I'm finally going to do what I should have done two years ago. I'm getting rid of Norton Antivirus and installing AVG. Before I do that, I was just wondering some other things about the Norton stuff I have before I uninstall them. I have Norton Systemworks and Norton Internet Security installed on my computer. I'm thinking of just getting rid of all my Norton stuff, but is it safe enough to do so? Is there anything worthwhile to these programs or is it reasonable to just get rid of all of them?

bombardier

Get rid of them. You will be better off without. There's plenty of free and better and faster alternatives for security.

BoomShake

Symantec Norton products are a disease.
As you've already found, the AVG Free Antivirus is an excellent and free alternative. I used it for years without a problem. I've also used the great one (better than AVG) called NOD32, but unfortunately it's one you have to pay for.

For firewall, go with the free Comodo Firewall. Fairly simple and intuitive, customizable, works very nicely.

For malware, go with a team: Spybot Search&Destroy and AdAware 2007 Free.

Looking at Systemworks, it says something about windows settings. Sounds like a job for Tweak UI, one of Microsoft's windows powertoys. Customize a crapload of settings.

For temp and crap file cleanup, I use CCleaner, and it gets the job done.

edited to fix adaware link

Cojones

Could I recommend that you use Avira Antivir instead of AVG? It's fairly resource light and if you can put up with an ad a day then it's a pretty good choice. Detection rates are about as high as they get and the disc scanner is called Luke Filewalker, to boot.

Shark_MegaByte

Back up your important files before you uninstall Norton AV. It's so nosy and clumsy that uninstalling it has sometimes created major problems with Windows. I had to wipe and reinstall XP once because of this.

Niceguyeddie616

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think my router that I use at my parents house has a built in firewall, and I know that my school definitely has a network one. Is there any way to check if i'm behind a built in router firewall? and whats wrong with the one windows provides? For spyware I use Ad aware SE Personal and Windows Defender, and haven't had any problems with spyware and malware at all since i first got this computer. Are there any good programs that scan your computer for errors sort of like Scandisk did? Norton does this thing called "One Button Checkup" that fixes little errors here and there that it finds, it runs pretty much every day. Do I even need a program like this or will I be fine without it?

Chubbly

BoomShake, your link's seem to go to the same place.

Here is the AdAware 2007 Free link:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

DrFrylock

Norton is cancer. I recently got a friend-of-a-friend's computer to fix that had about five seemingly unrelated problems - random system hangs, inability to shut down, CPU usage hitting 100%, inability to open Microsoft Word. Guess what? All caused by Norton 2005. I uninstalled it and the computer went into a mode where things were working great.

I love AVG. Of course, I don't know if it's missing any detections, but I ran for years without an antivirus and everything was just fine. I do the occasional Ad-Aware scan and let my hardware firewall keep bad guys out. I don't like software firewalls because I don't really need a little window coming up every two minutes asking me whether the evil ping.exe should be allowed to access the Internet.

BoomShake

about hardware vs. software, go read THIS

tl;dr: "The bottom line is that with any home-office broadband connection, a hardware firewall should be considered a bare minimum, and supplementing it with a software firewall on one or more computers (and don't forget anti-virus software) is almost always a good idea."
according to this, one-button checkup does the following

about that one-button checkup thing

Specifically, it checks for common types of

Windows Registry foul-ups and mismatched entries
Problems arising from a buildup of leftover Internet browsing files
Missing desktop and other shortcuts
Disk-based problems
Performance and system woes

CClearner will cleanup old registry entries, invalid shortcuts, etc. as well as clear out temporary files (including the ones from internet browsing). Disk based problems you can just run scandisk and then a defragmenting program. You should be defragmenting every once in a while anyway. I don't know what sort of "performance and system woes" they're on about, but it sounds like bs to me. Just ctrl+alt+del, go to the processes tab, see what's gobbling CPU and/or memory that way.

wunderbar

I'm a fan of Avast! Antivirus.

I use Windows Defender and Spybot for spyware scans.

Reiten

Definitely back up everything important when installing or uninstalling Norton. It sets its hooks very deeply into your system. I know multiple people that have lost everything when installing or uninstalling Norton. I think Norton also offers a specialized removal tool on their homepage. Backup, then use it.

naporeon

On the systems I've got that need antivirus software, I actually shell out the change for Kaspersky. It caught something in passive mode that AVG and PC-Cillin had both missed in active, safe-mode scans, and I've been sold ever since.

Smasher

AVG is good, but be aware that some users (myself included) have problems running steam games when AVG is installed. It was so annoying for me that I ended up uninstalling it and using Avast! instead.

SamuraiRock

As Reiten said, if you contact Norton (I had to contact them to get it about a year ago, might have changed, and really they SHOULD offer it on ther site easily) they'll give you a removal tool. I recommend using it otherwise you'll never get rid of it all

stigweard

Google SYMnrt.exe and you'll get a link on the symantec site for the removal tool. Use the uninstallers first, and then run that to try and clear anything it leaves behind. Even after using that tool, the license server they install is left behind, or at least some part of it.

EddieDean

What do you guys think of Zonealarm for a good firewall?

Cojones

ZA works well, I used it for a few years and had absolutely no problems.

I hasten to add that the best protection is always, always sensible browsing.