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Thread: Anti virus softare? Sick of Nortons....

  1. #1
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    Anti virus softare? Sick of Nortons....

    I've had it with Norton's constant push to get me to buy some new thing from them. I am getting spammed by a virus protection program.... How agrivating. My annual renewal is coming due in couple weeks. Any other solid programs I should consider? What about this "PC Matic" that's suposedly a US product?

  2. #2
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    If you are running windows, go with the built-in application. It's free and the reviews show that it does a good job.
    Grant
    Ottawa ON

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Drew View Post
    I've had it with Norton's constant push to get me to buy some new thing from them. I am getting spammed by a virus protection program.... How agrivating. My annual renewal is coming due in couple weeks. Any other solid programs I should consider? What about this "PC Matic" that's suposedly a US product?
    in my humlble experience most software companies bombard their customers with ads to buy the next version or an upgrade. Switch to linux for real virus protection.
    Last edited by Chuck Wintle; 01-17-2022 at 3:14 PM.

  4. #4
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    I use Bitdefender. They are all annoying to some degree but BD allows you to op out of most of their spam.
    I dumped Norton several years ago. It slowed my PC to a crawl.
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  5. #5
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    +1 for Bitdefender. It seems they automatically install their VPN client and then nag you to use it, but you can uninstall the VPN client easy enough and that ends the nagging.
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  6. #6
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    The problen with Norton is it buries itself so deeply into your system and boot sector, the only way to get rid of it is a new hard drive.
    I'm running Kaspersky. You'll get Buy me pop-ups no matter what you run.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  7. #7
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    I am using McAfee.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  8. #8
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    I agree with Grant. Windows built in works good - I have had no issues at all (I had on and off issues in the past with both Norton and McAfee). Family member in IT also uses it. I do run Malwarebytes, which I think is a good idea no matter who’s AV you run.

  9. #9
    Webroot is decent. Only upon expiration do you get reminders/popups. No upgrade ads throughout the year. Occasional email charting a health report.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grant Wilkinson View Post
    If you are running windows, go with the built-in application. It's free and the reviews show that it does a good job.
    ^^ This. I see zero reason to pay for third party software for AV when running Windows.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
    You do not need "anti-virus software".

    https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/best-antivirus/ - the key line being, "And after all that, we learned that most people should neither pay for a traditional antivirus suite, such as McAfee, Norton, or Kaspersky, nor use free programs like Avira, Avast, or AVG. The “best antivirus” for most people to buy, it turns out, is nothing. Windows Defender, Microsoft’s built-in tool, is good enough for most people."

  12. #12
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    I do run windows. I'm on 10 now. I'm surprised to hear windows recommended. I was under the impression it sucked and only Mac was good.

  13. #13
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    I abandoned Norton forever at least 15 years ago. It actually took a format/reinstall to get rid of all of it. The windows built in stuff has consistently been very well reviewed for many years. That's all I use.

  14. #14
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    I'm curious if anyone has ever had problems running only Windows Defender (with Windows 10). I've been running that combination on three personal PC's for the last couple of years - based on the recommendation of a computer repair shop I do business with - and have not seen or heard of any issues. The repair shop recommended that I occasionally run the trial Malwarebytes program but that hasn't caught any issues either.

    I don't miss the McAfee reminders at all. (Note: Malwarebytes did catch/repair some issues when I was using McAfee.)
    "Don't worry. They couldn't possibly hit us from that dist...."

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Drew View Post
    I do run windows. I'm on 10 now. I'm surprised to hear windows recommended. I was under the impression it sucked and only Mac was good.
    Every time this particular question has come up here for a long time, to my memory, the embedded tools that come with Windows have gotten generally a good recommendation, at least for recent Windows versions...Win7, Win8.x, Win10 and Win11. They work well, update automatically and don't have much of a computing hit.

    BTW, I run MacOS as my primary environment, only using Windows for CAD/CAM. I was generally not using AV for awhile but currently do use Malwarebytes. While MacOS is targeted less, it's still vulnerable. Of course, always using care is the best first defense regardless of OS!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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