attn Alex Nichols re XP Firewall

[pat]

Attn: Alex Nichols MS MVP
Thanks for your answer re XP firewall. I've used Norton
NIS for the last 4 years without having something to
complain about; however I would'nt touch their other
products.
You say " I see far too many troubles with system hangups
and crashes that get traced back to having Norton products
around" Which other similar products do you suggest pls.
pat

 

[New user]

Pat, you are one of the few indeed. I and many others have had numerous
problems related directly with Norton products. I would not use any Norton
product and I would never NEVER recommend any else using them.
As an aside, I have been in repair and computer related (directly) services
since 1972

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I used, and recommended, Norton Antivirus and then Norton Internet
Security, for many years, on Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP, all
without any significant problems. (I can't say the same for some of
Norton's other products, though. System Doctor, Crashguard, and
CleanSweep all proved to be more trouble then they were worth.)

However, when my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton
Internet Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially
higher than last year's subscription), I decided to try less expensive
solutions. I downloaded and installed the free version of GriSoft's
AVG (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ) and the free version
of Sygate's Personal Firewall (
http://smb.sygate.com/free/default.php ). Both have proven to be
easily installed, easy to use, and quite effective. Additionally, and
in partial answer to your question, I was pleasantly surprised to see
a small but very noticeable improvement in my PC's performance, once
I'd replaced the Symantec product.


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Alex Nichol]

You say " I see far too many troubles with system hangups
and crashes that get traced back to having Norton products
around" Which other similar products do you suggest pls.

For AV, the free AVG 6 from www.grisoft.com does a good job: I suggest
it to friends but myself use the paid for eTrust who are currently
offering a free trial year at
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/
but I don't know if it is really any better. For a Firewall, the
eTrust trial includes a firewall based on the Zone Alarm engine, or get
Zone Alarm free version from www.zonelabs.com

And I avoid any resident system utility suite by *any* maker.

 

[New user]

I believe that AVG (www.grisoft.com) for anti-virus will serve very well,
Zone Alarm works well (for most people),
But the practicing "good browsing and email habits" seem to work the best of
all.
I really haven't had any problems with the "Built-in" firewall that comes
with XP either.
Alex, What are your preferences? Have you encountered an excessive amount of
"problems" with Norton products?
What are your feelings on Norton?
Like to know
Thanks

 

[New user]

Alex;
Go to www.google.com
search for "Norton Problems"
You will be given 1,560,000 entries for Norton. I agree that not all are
directly related, but those figures are astounding.
as an aside, AVG produced 500,000 entries.
"1/3 of the entries showing that Norton showed."
What do you think? Please inform the group of your personal favorites.

 

[CZ]

I used, and recommended, Norton Antivirus and then Norton Internet
Security, for many years, on Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP, all
without any significant problems. (I can't say the same for some of
Norton's other products, though. System Doctor, Crashguard, and
CleanSweep all proved to be more trouble then they were worth.)

Bruce:

That is also my experience with NAV and NIS with the same op systems.

 

[CZ]

I downloaded and installed the free version of GriSoft's
AVG (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ) and the free version
of Sygate's Personal Firewall


Bruce:

Re: AVG v6 free product:
It does not run in Safe Mode (NAV does)

The Sygate PE free product is an excellent product.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Go to www.google.com
search for "Norton Problems"
You will be given 1,560,000 entries for Norton. I agree that not all
are directly related, but those figures are astounding.

I don't think numbers like that are astounding or that they mean
anything at all significant.

Do the same for "Windows XP problems," "Windows 98 problems,"
"DOS problems." You get similar numbers in the 2.5 to 3 million
range for all three. DOS problems gets 2,610,000 hits, and
Windows 95 problems gets only 2,490,000. Does that mean that
there were fewer problems with Windows 95 than with DOS? Does
DOS's 2,490,000 problems compared to Norton's 1,560,000 problems
mean that Norton is much more problem-free than DOS?

And note that "linux problems" gets 5,660,000 hits, almost twice
as many as Windows XP does; does that mean that linux has twice
as many problems as Windows XP?

Numbers of Google hits tell you very little, if anything.

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

pat wrote:

For AV, the free AVG 6 from www.grisoft.com does a good job: I suggest
it to friends but myself use the paid for eTrust who are currently
offering a free trial year at
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/
but I don't know if it is really any better.

I'm also a very happy free AVG 6.0 user - it rocks!

For a Firewall, the eTrust trial includes a firewall based on the
Zone Alarm engine, or get Zone Alarm free version from
www.zonelabs.com

Other free firewalls include Kerio (which I use), Sygate Personal
Firewall (which nags a bit for my taste) and Outpost (which I haven't
tried, having settled on Kerio by them).

I haven't had great mileage with Zone Alarm, so I switched to Kerio,
and haven't had any reason to go back.

And I avoid any resident system utility suite by *any* maker.

Me2!

Risk management and decent apps go a long way to keep you safe;
consider the av as the "goalie of last resort". It also helps to get
the system not to hide information you need to assess risk, and then
build your own "safe hex" skills to act on the info you get.

-------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

Running Windows-based av to kill active malware is like striking
a match to see if what you are standing in is water or petrol.