I’ve got Norton SystemWorks 2004. It’s time to renew my subscription, and I’m bristling at the thought of paying $40 for another year of updates. Plus, everybody knows that Norton is a huge resource hog, and I strongly suspect that it is the reason my computer is so sluggish nowadays. After reading a few articles on the internet, I’m thinking of trying the free home version of Avast! One question nags at me, however:
Does it work?
I mean, does it provide good protection, or are free antivirus programs like Avast! and AVG second-rate products?
Also, what are good alternatives to the other SystemWorks programs? I’d like to have replacements for Norton Utilities (specifically, Speed Disk, Disk Doctor and WinDoctor), Clean Sweep, and Ghost. I don’t really use the Protected Recycling Bin feature, but I’d welcome any alternatives there, too.
And while I’m at it, what’s a good free spyware detection tool? I have Webroot Spy Sweeper, and I plan to keep it, but I would like to supplement it with another program.
From independent reports I’ve seen on the internet, AVG rates among the top, and that’s just going by how well it detects and deals with viruses. Symantec (Norton) is about even on that level, but it slows down your system by a whole bunch. McAfee is one of the worser antiviral packages and similarly slows down your system.
Another key point is in how easily the sucker is to uninstall.
If you want to get rid of Norton’s, you’ll do better to reinstall Windows if you want to get your performance back. In my experience-> Unistall Norton’s, system is still slow, reinstall windows, system runs fast, install norton’s, system runs slow, uninstall, system is still slow, reinstall windows, system runs fast, install AVG, system runs fast, uninstall AVG, system still runs fast.
I dumped McAfee a while back and went with AVG and I have to say that I’m very pleased with he change. Much less intrusive and my system runs smoother and faster. Highly recommended.
The only time I ever notice it running is when it tells me it’s updating (and get this - it doesn’t need to restart every single time!), or when it tells me a site I’m at might have some spyware links. Never had any infections while it’s been running. My wife uses AVG and has no complaints about it. I’d also recommend getting a dedicated spyware scanner like Spybot and/or Adaware.
Just bought me a Lenovo R61 laptop and removed the preinstalled Notron and installed AVG and Spybot. Have Norton 360 on my 6-year-old desktop eMachine and it slows down most everything. The Lennie has a built-in camera and a fingerprint reader and Windows xp. (That’s why I bought it.) Trying to decide on the preinstalled 60-trial of M/S Office Suite 2007.