I'm fed up with symantec, AV advice needed

[MS]

Hi,

I'm fed up with symantec; almost every time I need a subscription renewal
for Norton AV / Internet Security I'm told my product is no longer
'supported' and I need an upgrade, when all I want is new AV definitions
and security updates. For 2 days I've been trying to get a response from
their website but as soon as you enter the product you want renewals for
the page fails to load. Faced with this I rang them, spent 15 mins on
hold, then spoke to a very unhelpful woman who's English was not great,
answered 'exactly' to 2 of my questions (in so doing failing to answer
them) and who seemed irritated by my questions. So I will look elsewhere...

What decent AV software should I look at for a PC running Win2000 Pro? Is
there any good free software with regular AV updates out there? Or
reasonably priced software that will charge me a modest fee for the
following year's AV updates without hitting me every time for the whole
cost of the software?

Many thanks,

MS

 

[Todd H.]

What decent AV software should I look at for a PC running Win2000
Pro?

Give NOD32 a try.

 

[Mich]

Hi,

I'm fed up with symantec; almost every time I need a subscription renewal
for Norton AV / Internet Security I'm told my product is no longer
'supported' and I need an upgrade, when all I want is new AV definitions
and security updates. For 2 days I've been trying to get a response from
their website but as soon as you enter the product you want renewals for
the page fails to load. Faced with this I rang them, spent 15 mins on
hold, then spoke to a very unhelpful woman who's English was not great,
answered 'exactly' to 2 of my questions (in so doing failing to answer
them) and who seemed irritated by my questions. So I will look elsewhere...

What decent AV software should I look at for a PC running Win2000 Pro? Is
there any good free software with regular AV updates out there? Or
reasonably priced software that will charge me a modest fee for the
following year's AV updates without hitting me every time for the whole
cost of the software?

Many thanks,

MS

AVG free works fine for me
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
Mich...

 

[sylerner]

I have been very happy with F-Secure, which is one of the few that also
scans for rootkits.

 

[SP]

Give some of these a try. I like TrendMicro. Most have a 90 day free trial.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/downloads/default.mspx

Steve

 

[Michael Jaeger]

Give NOD32 a try.

I'd like to second this suggestion.
I am a long-time satisfied NOD32 user.

Mike

 

[* * Chas]

Hi,

I'm fed up with symantec; almost every time I need a subscription renewal
for Norton AV / Internet Security I'm told my product is no longer
'supported' and I need an upgrade, when all I want is new AV definitions
and security updates. For 2 days I've been trying to get a response from
their website but as soon as you enter the product you want renewals for
the page fails to load. Faced with this I rang them, spent 15 mins on
hold, then spoke to a very unhelpful woman who's English was not great,
answered 'exactly' to 2 of my questions (in so doing failing to answer
them) and who seemed irritated by my questions. So I will look elsewhere...

What decent AV software should I look at for a PC running Win2000 Pro? Is
there any good free software with regular AV updates out there? Or
reasonably priced software that will charge me a modest fee for the
following year's AV updates without hitting me every time for the whole
cost of the software?

Many thanks,

MS

Almost anything except McAfee is going to be an improvement over NAV!

I like NOD32 followed by F-Prot.

Chas.

 

[Craig Davies]

Hi,

I'm fed up with symantec; almost every time I need a subscription renewal
for Norton AV / Internet Security I'm told my product is no longer
'supported' and I need an upgrade.

Seems a clever way from Symantec to make money

 

[Donny Broome]

Say hello to AVG AntiVirus Free Edition
http://free.grisoft.com/


--

 

[BoB]

There are several good free AVs to choose from with many users
finding they provide adequate protection for their needs.

AVG
Avast
BitDefender8
AntiVir <Scan only
F-Prot for DOS <Scan only

There are several good commercial AVs to choose from, which may
be advisable if you are involved with networking, file sharing,
messenger services or other of the more risky activities.

NOD32
Kaspersky
BitDefender9

All AV sites are easily found with a Google search. Some of the
above offer Suites which include firewalls etc, but all have
'antivirus only' programs.

Kaspersky v6 is about to be released and is getting good reports.
NOD32 has many supporters. BitDefender 9 has good AV tests/reviews
and good purchase/renewal costs.

There are also many other less popular but adequate antivirus
programs available. I suggest that a free trial version always
be used to the maximum extent possible to ensure your choice is
is fully compatible with your system configuration before laying
out any money. Not all AVs work nicely on all OS configurations.
More than one AV can be installed at the same time if you do not
run more than one at a time in real-time. I am presently testing
most of the AVs listed above and have not made my final decision
yet.

BoB

 

[Glen McLean]

Hi,

I'm fed up with symantec; almost every time I need a subscription renewal
for Norton AV / Internet Security I'm told my product is no longer
'supported' and I need an upgrade, when all I want is new AV definitions
and security updates. For 2 days I've been trying to get a response from
their website but as soon as you enter the product you want renewals for
the page fails to load. Faced with this I rang them, spent 15 mins on
hold, then spoke to a very unhelpful woman who's English was not great,
answered 'exactly' to 2 of my questions (in so doing failing to answer
them) and who seemed irritated by my questions. So I will look elsewhere...

What decent AV software should I look at for a PC running Win2000 Pro? Is
there any good free software with regular AV updates out there? Or
reasonably priced software that will charge me a modest fee for the
following year's AV updates without hitting me every time for the whole
cost of the software?

Many thanks,

MS

I used McAfee for a year or so and hated it. I used Symantec for a couple of years and really hated
it.

Tried AVG. It was OK, I'm not knocking it, but I didn't like the interface (at the time).

I have been using avast! (free version) for a couple of years now, and love it. Daily updates
(sometimes twice a day), no drain on system, does what it is supposed to do and does not get "in my
face" all the time.

www.avast.com