There are simply too many stories about Norton, you should stay away. Do you have Windows XP or Vista?

You definitely need and anti virus, perhaps 2 anti malware programs and a 2 way firewall.

Anti virus, these are all free programs and work very well. AVG, Avast, Comodo, Antivir - there are others too.

Anti malware, these are also free
SUPERAntispyware, AVG anti malware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Spywareblaster, AdAware 2007

Free 2 way firewalls include the most popular, Zonealarm, PC Tools, Comodo, Outpost

Most free programs need to be updated manually and ran manually, this is not a big issue but it is a VERY important job keeping updated so the computer does not become infected

No doubt there will be other programs mentioned which are no doubt as good as those I have suggested. But be sure you only download and install what has been suggested by your friends, co-workers or on a forum like this one. Too many programs are created that sound similar to those above but are in fact rogueware. These rogueware programs scan your computer and find problems you do not have and offer to remove those problems once you buy the program. They are simply money scams. Beware and be aware?

I have windows xp. we do have spybot also adaware which I update now and then. I don't know that I have any firewall , how can I find out and is it a must have?

If you go to the control panel and open the security panel you will probably see that the firewall is on, but if you haven't installed one it is the windows xp firewall which is only one way. It protects coming in, but not going out. For better protection you need both because things can slip by but if you have a chance to stop them both ways that provides better protection. Many people use the AVG free firewall. I used it for years and liked it but started having issues with it when I updated to include the spyware protection so I uninstalled it and am now using the free comodo firewall which I am liking so far. You can download those two or others from this page.

Ess what is the full name of your "Spybot"? The good one is Spybot Search & Destroy.

Which AdAware program are you running? If it is AdAwareSE you need to remove it because there are no updates after December 31st. The newer version is AdAware 2007

Do you run either of these very often? I run mine about every 2 to 4 weeks unless I feel the need to do it after I have been surfing a little carelessly. Then I run one before leaving the computer.

checked control panel and see I have windows firewall only.
I have spybot search & destroy. when I ran it today it found "microsoft windows security disabled" (something like that) I clicked to fix the problem.
I have adaware SE. I run them once a week or two. mostly because my computer is so slow and I think this might speed things up a bit.

ESS,

When you mention "slow" are you referring to when you are connected to the Internet or the system's operation in general?

Do you do regular system maintenance?

DA

everything, it's very slow just to boot up!
I do system maintenance often thinking this will help

I personally have and like, Trend Micro Pc-cillin. It covers spyware, virus, and has a firewall. Updates everyday when necessary and is simple and easy to run.

I had Norton once, and that was enough for me even though my computer guy swears by it. It's too much of a system hog for me and removing it was a royal nightmare.

I use no anti-spyware, most anti-viruses check for spyware activities automatically. But then I do not install suspicious stuff from the internet. Built-in Windows firewall is good enough to block hacker attacks. I also use a free anti-virus, see no reason to pay for one. Never had problems.
However, it greatly depends on your experience and caution. If you readily click on "Install this player to watch the video!" stuff, then you need much more than a simple anti-virus.

I use AVG antivirus, spybot, & zonealarm. A lot of spyware will download to temp folders, so running ccleaner before spybot is a good idea. If you are seriously infected disable system restore, as you are saving the spyware otherwise. Spyhunter is an excellent program. The free download does not clean, but it shows you the registry entries to delete & the associated programs (find & delete also).

Forgot to say, do not use a suite like Norton or Mcafee. They are a pain in the a**. If they go wrong you are in sh*tloads of trouble. I speak from working in a repair shop, & the most common thing preventing a computer connecting to the internet is a corrupt Internet security suite.

With Vista Home I have turned off Windows Defender and Windows Firewall. They were interfering with downloads to replace them. It seems Microsoft has been trying to garner the market with their own protection (Defender & Firewall), making it difficult to use an option.

I downloaded AVG anti virus Free version, went OK, ran a test scan , it took 1 hour and 30 min, is that normal? I don't think Norton ever took that long to scan my computer

AVG Free here takes the better part of an hour to scan my dinky slow laptop hard drive on Vista. Usually about 15gb used hdd space.

Bill, curious what program you replaced windows defender and vista firewall with ?

Hi mikie,

PC Tools Firewall Plus, AVG Anti-Spyware, PC Tools ThreatFire.

ThreatFire is recommended by a neighbor/tech.

since I downloaded AVG I can't open Norton program, why?

Sometimes there is no answer for problems like that, when you download a program any program and it causes problems your next step is to un-install that program that is causing problems and see if the computer returns to normal..

It would be helpful to know what AVG Program you downloaded it is easy to mix them up Anti Virus or Antispyware.

Also what Norton program are you speaking of?

zep.

we're using AVG 7.5 anto Virus free edition and
norton anti virus 2007

>>>> "what is the best protection for my home computer?" A: quit using MSWindows of any kind.....

Believe what ever you want to, but for the cost of a CDW, you can solve your AV/security/stability issues all at once

Get a nice and easy Linux distro......
For a whole lot less than what you're paying for AV/security software, in either time and/or money, you can get a more responsive, more secure, more stable, more robust, more adaptable,and by far less resource intensive Operating System.
And, you won't be getting 2135 pounds of useless demoware and uselessware and trashware that you never asked for that does little more than annoy you and slow your system down.

And you can use that one little bitty disc for as many installations as you like. Why, you can even swap motherboards and HDD and CPU's and never even have to think about your hardware being monitored and your being forced to buy another copy of that same OS you just paid $200 for, 'all because you agreed to let MS determine when they decide you need to buy a new copy of that same OS. Oh yeah, you did, the very second you clicked "I agree" on that "End User License Agreement" read it and see. You own nothing, maybe nor even your own personal data.

Sorry to digress. Go to the link, click on the top 10, 20, 30, whatever.

If you really want to be secure. Load Knoppix from Cd,run Knoppix in RAM, save everything you do to a Knoppix persistent image, and never log in as root.You are now pretty much virus/etc proof.

Here is a link that might be useful: The best MSWindows Anti-Virus packages

ess1
Many times when you have running more than one Anti-Virus program they will conflict with each other. Even microsoft recommends you only run one fulltime antivirus.

If you want it ..Here's a link to instructions & probably the best method to uninstall your Norton.

Here is a link that might be useful: Uninstall Norton Products

Some anti virus applications will detect an existing AV during the install process and disallow any installation until the prior is removed.

DA

I have used 2 for yrs and np's on 98se and now on XP the Best is AVG SE Free but also use Avast...and for spyware I use sQusi, used to use AdAware but sQusi is faster and I like it. I also use Windows firewall built into XP keep it turned on...

we increased RAM to 1 GB (from 256?) and it works like a charm. fun to use again. got rid of Norton, but I see Symtac Liveupcate is still there. Is Symtac Live used for anything other that Norton or can I get rid of it also?

Get rid of anything Symantic, that is Norton related, and can give you error messages...

I don't see any uninstall for Symantec.
can I just right click on it and choose delete?
when I do this I get a message saying "some applications are using Live update and may not run if I choose to delete, yes or no " (something like that)
so is it safe to choose delete or how do I get rid of it?

Symantec software has become very system integrated in the last few years. From my readings perhaps you should go to their site and determine the recommended way to uninstall one of their products. This could very easily include a dedicated removal tool.

DA

I'm at work and I was just notified my meeting is delayed so I took the opportunity to do a quick Google for you with the following result.

DA

Here is a link that might be useful: Symantec Support

who the heck are all these new people and some of the things suggested here are not the ones you want please be careful we have had some trolls here lately trying to sell their junk.

You can not run 2 antivirus programs at the same time if they are both running full time it will cause a conflict that is very well known and documented and will be told to you at any of the support forums you go to so you need to fully remove Norton since you now have AVG.
go here and use app remove and the norton removal tool from the security garden link
Antivirus Product Removal Tools
Using AppRemover it is free

spybot search and destroy was at one time very good but today there are some that are much preferred so I suggest replacing spybot and adaware with these free products, update them each time you use them and scan weekly with full scan.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (Win) - Detecting and Removing Malware

SUPERAntiSpyware.com : Remove Malware : Remove Spyware - AntiMalware, AntiSpyware, AntiAdware! get the free version

and add WOT to your browser to help protect you from bad websites also add sypwareblaster update it weekly hit enable all protection to turn shield green, no scans to do.
SpywareBlaster
WOT

use a good firewall as recommended like zonealarm free

ess, when Uninstalling Norton, you should have used the Norton uninstall tool that was recommended a few posts ago then you probably wouldnt have bits of symantec still embedded..Only one AV program but, you can have as many malware/spyware programs on there that you want ie. Malwarebytes (probably the best going) Spywareblaster, stops stuff from loading (Spybot and Adaware have become sort of second rate