Norton vs. AVG

[Guest]

Hi group,

My new HP a1700n (Vista, IE7) came with Norton Anti-virus. I see a lot of
people on these boards favor AVG. Question: Norton includes a firewall. AVG
Free version does not. If I switch to AVG Free, will the firewall that is
integral to Windows be sufficient? I had AVG Free on my old computer with a
dial-up connection (no firewall) and it seemed easier to use than Norton.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Well, I have been using the Windows Firewall and nothing bad has happened.
So, using AVG Free shouldn't hold you back, But, I would use up the
subscription that came with your copy of Norton, when its finished move to
AVG.

 

[Not Me]

Personally, I haven't allowed a Norton product on my machinew since it was
bought by that other company.
I have AVG on all 11 of my systems.
On dialup, who's going to be attacking?
Windows firewall is plenty.
Even with my broadband, with my NAT router, I have never used a third party
firewall and have been fine.

 

[...winston]

Use whatever you are comfortable with.
There are a lot of opinions in this forum and many of them valid.

When referring to Nav, are you referring to NAV standalone vs NIS?
Is NAV functional ? I.e. are you having any problems ?

Some prefer AVG, I prefer Avast or N360(a security suite from Symantec).
I've used them both without problems on Vista. Another fine program is
Kaspersky.

Kaspersky has a stable history of use, N360 is too new to have a history,
Avast is free and relatively simple.

If you NAV is a trial, and cost is a concern and not planning on paying for
the def subscription later when it expires(there are a variety of trial
options included by OEM's-- days, months, year) switching over to a free
version sooner will give you time to get accustomed to its differences.

Regardless of AV choice...disable email scanning(in and out) and if IM is
not your cup of tea disable that too. Some AV have Msft Office scan plugins.
I usually toggle those off.

Firewall..Windows is adequate..though if a cable or dsl is the primary
access means, then a router is usually suggested, and significantly lightens
the load of a firewall. If you are used to manually configuring a firewall
Windows is not the most user friendly(especially if you past history is Zone
Alarm, Sygate, or Norton).

..winston

 

[Vusta]

Go AVG, un-installing Norton maybe cumbersome. I have never used the Windows
Firewall (neither in XP nor Vista), I have not heard anything really bad
about the Windows Firewall though.

Try out Comodo Firewall. It's free, good, a pain in the b@m to begin with,
setting the permissions for programs and processes, but after that, it moves
like the space shuttle through space. I converted from the ZoneAlarm (years
of use, and payed for), to Comodo. The good people at ZoneAlarm thought
denial holds power, I should them so does the consumer, but that's another
long story, and potentailly an unnecesaary longer thread.

- Vusta.

: Hi group,
:
: My new HP a1700n (Vista, IE7) came with Norton Anti-virus. I see a lot of
: people on these boards favor AVG. Question: Norton includes a firewall.
AVG
: Free version does not. If I switch to AVG Free, will the firewall that is
: integral to Windows be sufficient? I had AVG Free on my old computer with
a
: dial-up connection (no firewall) and it seemed easier to use than Norton.
:
: Thanks,
: Ron

 

[t.cruise]

As others have written, you might want to keep Norton until the subscription ends.
Personally I have not used a Norton product since the company was purchased by Symantec.
Be advised that uninstalling Norton is usually an unclean uninstall, and you will probably
have ferret out what is Symantec leaves behind after the uninstall. As for AVG, I have
used the free version for years and have never had any problems. The Windows firewall
should be sufficient.

T.C.

 

[Bill]

As others have written, you might want to keep Norton until the subscription ends.
Personally I have not used a Norton product since the company was purchased by Symantec.
Be advised that uninstalling Norton is usually an unclean uninstall, and you will probably
have ferret out what is Symantec leaves behind after the uninstall. As for AVG, I have
used the free version for years and have never had any problems. The Windows firewall
should be sufficient.

T.C.








- Show quoted text -

AVG doesn't sap your system resources like NAV or NIS does.

 

[Mark Rae]

As others have written, you might want to keep Norton until the
subscription ends.

Or not...

Personally I have not used a Norton product since the company was
purchased by Symantec.

Indeed. I used to use Norton on all my machines, but when they were
purchased by Symantec NIS got progressively worse and worse until it became
totally unusable... Every so often, it would simply lock up the entire
machine for minutes on end...

Be advised that uninstalling Norton is usually an unclean uninstall, and
you will probably
have ferret out what is Symantec leaves behind after the uninstall.

FWIW, uninstalling a Norton product is akin to cancelling a Reader's Digest
subscription... bell, book and candle...

As for AVG, I have used the free version for years and have never had any
problems.

Likewise - I also have the SoHo version for 64-bit support...

The Windows firewall should be sufficient.

I agree.

 

[Retired]

Norton is "nortorious" at being an interfering software hog. Stick with AVG.

 

[Guest]

Just to add some trivia to the thread...the beta version of AVG now includes
a firewall. But now that Vista firewall checks incoming as well as outgoing,
I'll likely stay with it.

I hope AVG does not go the way of NAV (i.e. bloatware).

Tim

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well, I have been using the Windows Firewall and nothing bad has
happened. So, using AVG Free shouldn't hold you back, But, I would
use up the subscription that came with your copy of Norton, when its
finished move to AVG.

My recommendation is the opposite. If it were me, I would waste no time
getting everything Norton off my machine, and substituting better free
software. AVG is one choice; Avast is another and the product I personally
use.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Steve Thackery]

Neither. Use the Vista firewall and NOD32 antivirus (ultra-low resource
impact, silent mode, works fine).

Steve

 

[Isaac Hunt]

Just to add some trivia to the thread...the beta version of AVG now
includes
a firewall. But now that Vista firewall checks incoming as well as
outgoing,
I'll likely stay with it.

I hope AVG does not go the way of NAV (i.e. bloatware).

Windows firewall has always offered inward protection, Vista now offers
outward protection, but I don't think it is enabled by default.
I don't use Vista to check, but I think you have to enable this function
manually.

 

[Isaac Hunt]

Hi group,

My new HP a1700n (Vista, IE7) came with Norton Anti-virus. I see a lot of
people on these boards favor AVG. Question: Norton includes a firewall.
AVG
Free version does not. If I switch to AVG Free, will the firewall that is
integral to Windows be sufficient? I had AVG Free on my old computer with
a
dial-up connection (no firewall) and it seemed easier to use than Norton.

Why AVG free?
AVG do other products, I use AVG anti Malware which is vista compliant &
works well.