Advice needed: Should I renew my virus protection?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
SargeW

SargeW

Site Team
Joined
Dec 12, 2008
Posts
8,518
Location
Where ever we park it!
So I got an email from Norton that my virus protection is about to renew. They want $90 for a year. I have read that W-10 has some pretty good virus protection built in.  So what is the current thought process of the computer guys, yea or nay?
 
Sarge:

This article might give some insight and the references to Symantec might surprise you.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/antivirus-software-1.3668746

Gord
 
We've used Norton for years and it's saved our bacon a couple of times.  We consider it essential.  It and Mailwasher for viewing our mail BEFORE bringing it into our own computers.

ArdraF
 
From what I have read, there are a number of virus protection products that are rated higher. Same or less money especially for the first year.  Some like Avast offer home user versions for free and they offer a paid version with more protection.  PC Magazine has a number of evaluations on the web comparing both free and fee based products.

Hint: Even if you want the full feature version, install the free version first.  Most offer a substantial savings to migrate to the full version during the install process.  If installing one of the free versions, be very careful during the install process, many like to add tool bar search engines and etc by default.  Just uncheck that you do not want it and you will be better off in most cases. 
 
I can't resist making a Mac comment. I have owned a Macbook since 2009 and have never used antivirus software and never had a problem with a virus, spyware, etc.

Not trying to hate on Windows here, just wanted to mention that.
 
I have been using the free version of 360 Total Security for just over a year and I have never had any problems with viruses or spyware and no "slowing down" the computer. It even gives you your booting time.
p.s. I run Windows 10, 64 bits and my laptop boots in ? 20 seconds. ;)
 
WIN-10 has the best anti viral and removal tool that is constantly updated in the back ground. Most other programs will slow down and interfere with your system. Saying that the important question is how you use your system.  If you do a lot of searching on the web anti vires is important.  If you use gmail they have there own filtering and antiviral.  Yahoo, AOL the worst.
What seems to be the current best idea is Chrome Books but you will need access to the internet but currently there is no viruse.

One good source of any technology is The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte.  Covers anything with a chip including photography.  Been around since the old 8088 days.

Remember the most important thing you can do is back up your data BOTH on site and off.  If something happens to the RV you lose everything.  I use Carbonite.

Take care..
 
I use the Windows 10 stuff. Got rid of al the virus junk. Over the years had Norton, Bitdefender, et al. Thw Windows stuff works great and the computer doesn't bog down as it did before. I also use Iobits Advanced System Care.
 
SargeW said:
So I got an email from Norton that my virus protection is about to renew. They want $90 for a year. I have read that W-10 has some pretty good virus protection built in.  So what is the current thought process of the computer guys, yea or nay?
Click to expand...

I've been using free version of AVG (very highly rated) for years, never had a problem. Norton is very processor intensive (slows your computer down) and not as highly rated.
 
Jim Johnson said:
Ned would have given us the straight line on this!!
Click to expand...

I'm with you, JJ.  Ned would have given us clear, concise, unbiased opinion.  Miss him so much!
 
Jim Johnson said:
Ned would have given us the straight line on this!!
Click to expand...

Ned advised me to use the built in Win 10 tools (defender, etc.).  He said his advice would be different if I spent time on certain types of web sites.

I miss him too.

Jeannine
 
I've used AVG for years without problem, but the real reason is that I have dedicated a Surface computer to financial transactions (not purchasing, just banking and paying cc's, etc.). I use a seperate computer for everything else (actually one each for us). In fact I dropped AVG a year ago and have not noticed it's gone.

Ernie
 
I use the free Windows Defender AV (aka: Windows Security Essentials) from MS these days, but the free versions of Avast and AVG are rated somewhat higher in effectiveness. I see no reason to pay Norton a bunch of money for protection that is no better than average, plus I find the performance overhead of the Norton package to be substantially greater than any of the three I mentioned. Windows Defender has the least performance impact, but all 3 of those are ok.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
I use the free Windows Defender AV (aka: Windows Security Essentials) from MS these days, but the free versions of Avast and AVG are rated somewhat higher in effectiveness. I see no reason to pay Norton a bunch of money for protection that is no better than average, plus I find the performance overhead of the Norton package to be substantially greater than any of the three I mentioned. Windows Defender has the least performance impact, but all 3 of those are ok.
Click to expand...
I, too, use Windows Security Essentials, but I have added Malwarebytes Premium ($25/yr) as well.  But, by far, the best anti-virus is to avoid those "dark, dank" websites (if you know what I mean).  Actually, Malwarebytes has a free version, but the pay version gives you real-time protection.
 
I would never trust Windows Protection by itself but I'm naturally a bit skeptical of folks who Sell Anti-Viral products.

You see, back in the early days I kept asking "Are they "Seeding the market"  Turns out one company.. Was (My source says Peter Norton would NEVER do that but actually gave documented info on one if Norton's competitors who did. OH well).

That said. I use multiple anti-virus products and scan this machine daily.. I have had my no-charge products warn me off many web pages before I even connected, and I'v ehad them get rig mostly of PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs)  The only thing wrong with the PUP designation is that there is no POTENTIALLY about it, they are always unwanted.
 
Windows Defender is a decent product, already installed, and will not try and up sell you, but Avast and some others are constantly rated higher.  Seems like Microsoft is a step behind those that focus solely on the virus protection business.  Personally have been using the free Avast for years and have a number of clients running the paid versions on workstations and file servers with no complaints.

Overhead or impact on the workstation performance is minimal.  One key item is keeping your OS and browser up to date, do not use java plugins, and keep the virus definitions current no mater which product you select.  None of them are infallible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 506 (members: 19, guests: 487)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,913
Posts
1,387,274
Members
137,666
Latest member
nativoacai
Back
Top Bottom