Yes, Eve,
Wait until you’ve uninstalled Norton.
Professional IT guy checking in here: AVG is what I use at home, and what I install on every machine I set up for friends, along with ZoneAlarm for a firewall and Spy bot Search and Destroy for eliminating spyware. Google’s new browser toolbar completes the package for a nearly perfect, free, user-friendly experience.
How does one get these ZoneAlarm and Spy bot and Google browser toolbar you speak of?
I concur. Norton is the spawn of the devil.
Rob
Internet Technical Support
Here is a link for ZoneAlarm. I’m not sure if you know what it is, so I’ll tell you. It’s a frewall. It helps keep bad things out. There are a lot of bad things out there besides vuruses.
here is Spybot Search and Destroy. (scroll to about midway though, and click on the first ‘download here’ button to download.) It gets rid of spyware and ad-ware. These are programs that can cause pop-ups, or send your private info somewhere else, whihc may result in more spam. ome really nasty ones can even get credit card info if you’re not careful. Very useful to have.
here is google toolbar. It puts a little bar under your address bar in IE, and basically it’s like having google at every page. You type something into it, and hit enter, and a google search page pops up. A time saver. In addition, it blocks pop-up ads.
I agree with the ‘free’ suite: but you must also add AdAware for the complete experience.
I think I will just chuck my computer out the winder and go back to using my typewriter. I’m confused and exhausted just reading about all the stuff you need to avoid disaster!
just buy a Mac (IANAMac User)
I have Norton Antivirus 2002 and every year when the subscription runs out I simply uninstall it and reinstall it and I get another year’s subscription. Never fails. Can’t say this will work for everyone, but it does work for me.
Okay, I heard good things about Kaspersky Labs AV software and downloaded the 30 trial version of the Pro version to see what it was like, this after getting fed up with Nortons resource hogging.
So far so good, much less resource hogging, it updates regularly and doesn’t bother me with pop up windows all the time.
Has anybody else out there used this software? Any good/bad stories about it? It doesn’t seem to be very well know but the reviews I’ve read online and in the computer magazines seem to rate it.
grey_ideas
[Eve goes to get her Underwood typewriter out of mothballs]
Ah. An owner of the rare cashmere Underwood.
Then what will you do on your weekends, insetad of detoxifying your PC yet again? 
Eve, I’m sorry that Norton giving you such difficulty. The quality of the company as a whole has degraded over the last few years. AVG is a very good product, but you should only try to install it if you feel very comfortable. And you should be very sure to remove Norton first. It’s not too hard, but I want to be sure you feel confident about it.
Also, what ran out was your subscription for new virus definitions. Norton will still protect you from the old viruses, but if someone writes a new one, you’re going to be a little vulnerable.
Any questions? (I’m the person who installed it on Eve’s computer the first time, after her entire laptop got blown up real good.)
Network Administrator and all around computer Geek checking in: Norton is the shit! As in it should be used for fertilizer, not on your computer. AVG is a good product, but after reading some reviews I switched to Trend Micro PC-Cillin Internet Security. It comes with its own firewall, spyware, and anti-spam tools so you don’t have to have multiple products installed on your computer if you don’t want (I still use Spybot to be sure because I am paranoid). I’ve never had a problem with either AVG or PC-Cillin.
Trend Micro Personal Edition
You, I trust, dahling. And you know the extent of my computer knowledge. The Helpline asks me what kind of computer I’m on and I go, “Ummm . . . it’s beige.”
But I would never ask anyone to schlep out to NJ again, especially in this weather. Maybe in the next coupla weeks, can I give you a call on the phone and you could talk me through uninstalling Norton and installing AVG?
I’ll send ya an autographed book!
Eve, it’s the season to do good things for your fellows. I’m not sure if I can make this saturday, I may have to go to the hospital and pick up something my father left, but next is open. Plus, by then, I may have something good for you. (I’ll try this week to muckle something special up)
Still got the laptop?
Don’t worry. Everything is completely under control.
Wait, that’s Christmas. Eh, no matter. Either this weekend or next Sunday. (26th)
You’ve still got my e-mail?
This feature of ZA doesn’t work very well, and just tends to slow things down. Turn it off (right-click the ZA icon in the lower right, Restore ZA Control Center, Anti-Virus Monitoring, Off button). Actually, unless you’ve paid for ZA Pro, the AV monitoring feature will turn itself off after one year.
You got a problem with Christmas Eve? I hear she’s really hot.
McAfee is the reason I’m cancelling my AOL account come New Years. You’ve heard the commercials about how wonderful it is to get free virus protection as of late last month. Norton sucks, and my trial of that just ran out, so I thought I ought to take advantage of the free McAfee since I’m paying for it through aol anyway. I installed it, then I turned the computer off not long after. When I started the computer it wouldn’t boot up all the way, and just got as far as my desktop wallpaper with no menubar or icons. I restarted it a dozen or so more times over the next hour or so, and had the same result each time. Eventually I had to do a system restore and reinstall half of my damn programs. And unsurprisingly, AOL wouldn’t boot for two days. Fuck it. AOL keeps eating my mail, each new version is more screwed up than the last, and this shit is the last straw. I’d rather of had a fucking virus on my computer than do a system restore because it’d of taken less time to repair.