Good alternative firewall and antivvirus to norton?

[Rudyard]

My Norton antivirus and firewall subscription are about to finish and this year I was thinking of maybe looking if there is a better solution.

Could anyone advise of a good combination of firewall and antivirus (paid or free, doesnt matter...just what is best and works).

Also if possible please advise why you think it would be better (less system overhead, better protection etc) as I see to many who just hate Norton but have no other reason other than they hate norton and If norton honestly is the best I will stick with it, but I dont know.

Any advice??

[Faustus]

You could alsoways grab a copy of AVG free, the Anitspyware they suggest thats free, and get a router so you don't need a software firewall any longer...


Or Windows Live OneCare. I'm pretty happy with it personally.

[Rudyard]

You could alsoways grab a copy of AVG free, the Anitspyware they suggest thats free, and get a router so you don't need a software firewall any longer...


Or Windows Live OneCare. I'm pretty happy with it personally.

I have thought about AVG free but am wondering if it is as affective as those that you pay for? Do the people that make it for nothing keep it up to date enough?

Also could you explain why a router makes a firewall obsolete? I use a router for internet sharing on 2 PC's but also have a software firewall which always blocks things going in and out.....how do you get control over what each program sends out or takes in with a router as mine just sits there and I wouldnt know if it was blocking/allowing anything as I get no messages.

[CrayonEater]

You need a software firewall for application control. I use Avira Anti-vir for my AV, a D-Link router DI-604/firewall, and Kerio 2.1.5 as my software firewall. KPF 2.1.5 is not a front-line firewall due to problems handling fragmented packets, but it's adequate inside another firewall and its ability to import rulesets does wonders for security. It's free. Firewalls that could function on the frontline are Netpeeker, Sygate (though Symantec wrecked that one since buying the company), and Comodo. Only Netpeeker isn't free, but it does have self-updating anti-spyware filters.

[samijubal]

I've been using AVG free for a couple of years now, it works fine, updates almost every day. I use Zone Labs free firewall too, no problems with it either.

[redwudz]

I quit using Norton because it couldn't seem to detect viruses that AVG and several others could. I kept it updated and then found out that the updates didn't detect any of the newer threats, you had to buy a new version. Then why did they keep updating it?

Anyway, AVG Free works very well and it's fairly non-intrusive. I get most of my threats from Trojans and other malware, not viruses, so I concentrate on a good hardware firewall, and programs like SpyBot and SpyWare Blaster, also updated regularly. No problems yet.

[Timoleon]

I use Avast! Free Edition for my antivirus, and Sygate for my firewall. I also have Windows Defender loaded up.

One of the best antivirus programs out there is NOD32. It doesn't use much in the way of system resources and catches virtually everything that comes its way. I've heard that NOD32 is the antivirus of choice among the cognoscenti in Redmond...

[MOVIEGEEK]

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=306104&highlight=

[Faustus]

Rudyard, AVG is only free in the Basic version (no advanced options), and to people (no business usage).

They are decently priced and DO get business and make money. Just not off simple home users.

Its good software and even though I switched to OneCare I still hold its great software.

[Rudyard]

Thanks all for your advice... I will read up on those mentioned and make my choice.

Can I take it the general opinion is norton is not the best and there are better alternatives?

Or is it much of a muchness i.e. all the same?

[lordsmurf]

AVG Free
Sunbelt Kerio Firewall

Highly suggest them both.

[guns1inger]

If you are looking to pay for an AV program, I would seriously consider NOD32 or Kaspersky. Both are rated highly and are easy on system resources. McAfee is now worse than Norton's for bloat, dog ugly interface, and system hogging.

I still use Norton's 2005 because I like the web filtering for my kids. The only time I have seen it hog resources is when they have been logging in and out of their account. The CCProxy service then starts to eat memory. Restart the service, and it goes back to a couple of meg. Firefox is a bigger memory hog than NIS.

I also run Sygate Personal Firewall concurrently (successfully, no clashes) and Privoxy. I have had no problems, no infections, and aside from the aforementioned CCProxy issue, no resource problems.

I also have the Avast! Bart CD, and from time to time have run the Avast virus scan with it, because people keep claiming Norton's is letting things through. So far, it has not found anything on my system.

[JerryB]

My Norton antivirus and firewall subscription are about to finish and this year I was thinking of maybe looking if there is a better solution.

Could anyone advise of a good combination of firewall and antivirus (paid or free, doesnt matter...just what is best and works).

Also if possible please advise why you think it would be better (less system overhead, better protection etc) as I see to many who just hate Norton but have no other reason other than they hate norton and If norton honestly is the best I will stick with it, but I dont know.

Any advice??

I'll just put in my thoughts...
as far as norton.. it a fairly good program.thier detec and cleanof virus/worms are very good , trojans.... it spotty..... email scanning fine, and internet scanning fine... however.... they are overpriced, there teck supprt not good when something goes wrong, you can never get a hold of any one live and if you do reach some...your talking to india or malaysia who does not understand pc nor understand you!! smile......... I just hate thier support!!! and then there ethics.... but any way those are my reasons. oh one other thing norton has one of the worst system overheads....just the stand alone virus detection program eatus up about 6-8% efficiency... of the pc..

recommedations as far as freeware programs... zone alarm for your firewall has always been considered very good and AVG has been considered very good, avast is also considered good but antodial reports , people find that avg find things that avast don't..

final note;;; if your also was relying on norton for antispyware protection... for free use adaware or spybot.... for shelfware use cleansweep or spydoctor.... cleansweep is very good but has a high overhead...

[Jester700]

+1 for Avira Anti Vir and Avast AV. I use each of them and both work well for me.

I use the old 2.15 version of Kerio firewall now, but have used Outpost, Sygate, and Kerio 4 as well - no issues with any of them.

[greymalkin]

I'm pitching my vote in for AVG Free. I've been using it for years and it's never let me down.

An obvious concern people have with free software is "will it work as good as the expensive software?". In my experience, AVG Free has worked better than Norton or McAfee for two reasons:

1. Resources - NAV and McAfee are resource hogs. They signifigantly decrease your computers performance. I have found AVG to have a smaller cleaner "footprint" on the pc.

2. Virus Detection - I have been in several situations where Norton or McAfee did not detect a virus when AVG did. My wife called me one time saying that she thought she had a virus. She had installed both NAV and McAfee and neither of them found anything. I had her install AVG (Which she thought was silly since there were already one antivirus program too many on the machine). Guess what? It found several viruses and the machine began acting normally again.

[SingSing]

McAfee are resource hogs. They signifigantly decrease your computers performance.

I access the web before loading the McAfee, and found the web access is much faster. Dump McAfee. There are quite a few good firewalls out there that don't hog the RAM. I use google toolbar to block pop up. I am also in the process of switching out from VirusScan to other anti-virus.

[Bjs]

AVG free ... beat's norton's ... even remove's those that found their way into restore point's
Zone Labs ... free version
Kerio Firewall .

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

Problematic ahole's

Combination attack using , hijackthis (who is actually running) , regscanner (hunt by name , dell listed reg entries) , a2hijackfree (running process's by name , write suspected exe's down) , in safe mode , brute force uninstaller (get off , and stay out ) ... Boot pc with puppy ... bootable linux ... hunt down suspect file's and delete them ... good for scewed up xp folder name's , duplicated user account's ... easy fixed .

Regscanner also good for removing programs from add/remove list that got left behind .

Pc back to almost normal ... dont do it again .

[GKar]

AVG Free
Kerio 2.1.5 (Port/IP control, outbound application monitoring and great logging)
NAT Router (with SPI preferably)

[lordsmurf]

WinPatrol is nice to have.

Also the Spybot S&D (with Teatimer!).

HOSTS Secure is another great software, it 127.0.0.1's site known to dump crap on your system.

Ad-Aware is nice, but not as a systray program, just run that one periodically, manually.

Nothing I have suggested here eats up resources. It takes some, yes, but it's a very small footprint. I'd bet everything I run is less than half of what Norton would gobble up.

I also pay for my Kerio, it's optional, and it gives me content filtering that is far better than what Norton used to do for me. It will even block software from overwriting or launching other software (you can allow it as needed, or permanently, if desired). Quite nice for software that wants to launch something else I would not approve of.

One thing I stress is, if on broadband, always use a router. I don't care if you only have 1 computer, stick the thing on a router. Most routers have added layers of protection. NAT, for example.

[Treebeard]

My Choices

AVG Free for antivirus

Outpost for firewall

[neomaine]

Avast (Its actaully found a little more than AVG-Free in my experience)
Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D
Router w/ firewall

Have them running on all four PCs at home. And, anytime friends call 'the computer expert' (I'm a DBA by trade) I do a few simple things:

- Uninstall anything Norton or MacAffee. Too bloated, too inconsistant...period.
- Install the above.
- Turn on XP firewall or have them buy a router w/ firewall w/ nat.
- Make sure automatic updates are on.

Avast takes care of itself. I initially configure Ad-Aware and Spybot for them then show them how to manually update and run them 1-2 times a month or more depending on internet usage. I do it as a simple friendly service and every single one of them has sent me $50-$100 (even a strawberry-rhubarb pie once...worth its weight in gold if there's some vanilla ice cream nearby...). If they don't think of it right away, the then ask how much the software costs. Most get pissed when I tell them its all free.... They start thinking of the money they've dumped over the years.

[caernavon]

Good suggestions here. I think it's time I took smoe of them myself.

[Seeker47]

I concentrate on a good hardware firewall

A really good one will provide the maximum protection + maximum control & versatility. Downside: $$ and much more tech knowledge is required to get the most out of it.

[ark]

Checkout:-
http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
Bitdefender is top (because of the Price)
Kaspersky is best (But 2nd place because price is double that of Bitdefender)
I was using NAV till few months back. Now I am sticking to Kaspersky. What NAV had been unable to find sitting on my HDD, Kaspersky immediately located. It has got the fastest scan + the defibitions are updated number of times every day.

[Faustus]

ark: I had a Kaspersky demo. It may be awesome but it drags my system down worse then any game I've ever played.

Not sure if thats changed though.

[CrayonEater]

Yes, uninstalling Norton's is a good matter of procedure whenever servicing a machine or a network. Norton's is bloated and frequently misses threats. Firewalls and AV have to be 1.) 100% reliable. 2.) not pose their own security problems, and 3.) cannot appreciably interfere with the primary reason for owning a computer: Doing your work. Symantec products fail on all accounts. I'd call Symantec products in general garbage, but garbage doesn't pretend to be better than it is.

Avira Antivir, Avast!, NOD32, Kaspersky's and AVG are all good (I have found the latter two to be very slow, but YMMV). SpyBot, Ad-Aware, and Spywareblaster are great for keeping the spyware away. And there are tons of free firewalls that do the job well. I already mentioned the tools I favor. I also use DNSKong to do what HOSTS *should* do - filter out unwanted domains. It's a more-streamlined method of filtering unwanted domains.

FYI, some folks are talking about "hardware firewalls". If you're not talking about a router/firewall but a real hardware-based firewall, think again. It's not for the faint-of-heart. They're excellent, but you really need to know what you're doing to set one up and keep it running smoothly, not to mention use a lot of electricity. If you do want to go this route, look at a snort_inline (Snort 2.4.x)-based setup.

[Jester700]

Since we're all throwing other security software out there, I'll +1 the following mentioned above:
NAT router (!)
Spybot S&D
IE Spyad
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Guard

That all sounds like a lot, but as LS said, the footprint is small - I never had an issue.

Also, for cleanup (no realtime filters in the free editions)
AdAware
Ewido
A squared

And bookmark Trend Micro, F Secure, or BitDefender's web based AV scanner pages as extra tools. When I'm virus hunting a client's PC, I'll connect their HD to my box and use 3 AV scanners before moving on to other antimalware progs.

[Rudyard]

Thankyou all for your help....I eneded up getting rid of norton and replacing it with Bitdefender 9 (after reading the reviews posted by ark) for my anti virus and Zonealarm (free basic firewall) which will work as my software firewall as I am behind a router, which thanks to this thread I understand better!

One thing though, someone may be able to help with...... I use outlook express for email and when I had norton there was an option to tag emails as spam and then it would send them to the spam folder rather than the inbox folder.

Now that is gone, is there an inbuilt spam filter or something I could use to create a spam folder and direct things there that are spam?

[Poppa_Meth]

Outlook Express doesn't have built in spam filters. You have to use third party software to do this for you. I'd recommend switching your email client to Mozilla Thunderbird, which has a pretty decent built in filter that learns from what you tell it is junk and what isn't. It takes a week or two to train it but after that, there is seldom anything that gets through it.

[lordsmurf]

With the full version of Outlook (not Express), you can use SpamBayes (freeware).