Crusade against Norton
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David Kentley wrote:
Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software.
so true. maybe this week will be the week when i finally get around to ripping-out Symantec and ridding myself of its constant needy pleas for attention...
Chris Losinger wrote:
ripping-out Symantec
Word of warning, from one who's done this: It's almost impossible to completely remove the damn thing. They insinuate themselves pretty deeply, and their uninstaller is weak. My last box that had Norton Systemworks on it took a re-install to get rid of all of it.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
David Kentley wrote:
They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction.
I think you're being very diplomatic towards Norton.
David Kentley wrote:
Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
I absolutely agree. But I'll also recommend Avast as an alternative to AVG (I have both, on different computers, and they are equally great)
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Chris Losinger wrote:
ripping-out Symantec
Word of warning, from one who's done this: It's almost impossible to completely remove the damn thing. They insinuate themselves pretty deeply, and their uninstaller is weak. My last box that had Norton Systemworks on it took a re-install to get rid of all of it.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary Wheeler wrote:
Word of warning, from one who's done this: It's almost impossible to completely remove the damn thing.
Yeah, they are practically spyware/viruses themselves... I have had a little better luck with the Mcafee Virusscan then the even worse Norton...
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
David Kentley wrote:
you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software
That's the same for Creative soundcards, most Graphics card makers, cheap Printer brands, did I forget some accessory?
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
I am now running AVG Anti-Virus and their Free Anti-Spyware programs, and both seem really good and even my old PIII runs well with both of these products; that same PIII with Norton just almost unusable at times.
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
Nothing new there - both products are so invasive that they destroy the hosts. I gave up on McAfee early on, but persisted in trying to fix Norton victims simply because so many PCs arrive with it preinstalled. But with a 50% death rate for new installs I'm giving up on Norton, too. Both products suck, and there's no excuse for buying either with so many other, equally effective but far less destructive products available.
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
Sign me up for that crusade.:-D
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
i had 2 hrs of fixing a broken mcafee install over the phone talking last week. I couldn't agree more. On top of the fact that these apps consume all system resources on the machine they bombrad the user with so many messages that they don't fully understand that they become trained to click the OK button. AVG stands out from the crowd because it doesn't feel the need to show you how clever it is all the time, it just tells you about stuff when it needs your attention. Also i have never had an upgrade of AVG fail on me, something that happens with Norton / AVG on a far too frequent basis. Russ
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David Kentley wrote:
Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter.
I just did both on a friend's PC on Saturday. She had McAfee Antivirus, and its virus definitions hadn't been updated since she got the computer, so far as I could tell. At any rate, the subscription had definitely expired a while back. I knew that there were viruses on her computer, because some files had been damaged and ZoneAlarm kept saying that "Fast.exe" and several other suspicious programs were trying to access the internet. When I go to fix someone's computer, I always take a CD with diagnostics and maintenance tools on it, which includes the latest AVG Antivirus installer. I installed AVG, and lo and behold, over 450 infected files that McAfee never recognized!
I've got a nice screenshot of AVG popping up during a Sophos AV scan. The Sophos AV (our corporate standard - updated at least once a day) is showing completed ("No viruses found") while the AVG states that it detected a virus in a file that was being accessed by Sophos. Doh!:doh:
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!
Interesting that everyone has a problem with Nortan. Mine had (it is before I destroyed it) the overwhelming urge to scan my PC for virusses on a Friday evening at 8 (my personal peak hour favourite). Beware the one trying to stop it! A friend at work came to my rescue with AVG. Now I wondered why I paid so much for a virus?
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David Kentley wrote:
Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter.
I just did both on a friend's PC on Saturday. She had McAfee Antivirus, and its virus definitions hadn't been updated since she got the computer, so far as I could tell. At any rate, the subscription had definitely expired a while back. I knew that there were viruses on her computer, because some files had been damaged and ZoneAlarm kept saying that "Fast.exe" and several other suspicious programs were trying to access the internet. When I go to fix someone's computer, I always take a CD with diagnostics and maintenance tools on it, which includes the latest AVG Antivirus installer. I installed AVG, and lo and behold, over 450 infected files that McAfee never recognized!
J. Dunlap wrote:
I installed AVG, and lo and behold, over 450 infected files that McAfee never recognized!
Which is not McAfee's fault if it had not ever been updated. If it had been updated and still missed those 450 files, that would be bad.
"Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" - 2 Timothy 2:15
"Judge not by the eye but by the heart." - Native American Proverb
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J. Dunlap wrote:
I installed AVG, and lo and behold, over 450 infected files that McAfee never recognized!
Which is not McAfee's fault if it had not ever been updated. If it had been updated and still missed those 450 files, that would be bad.
"Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" - 2 Timothy 2:15
"Judge not by the eye but by the heart." - Native American Proverb
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I'm sure many of you, as I am, are called upon by friends and family to fix their flaky computers and otherwise provide advice. In the last month or so I have "fixed" three computers that were acting horribly unresponsive and were all but unusable. The solution was the same in each case, the last one solved just this weekend: I uninstalled everything that had the word "Norton" in it. About a year ago I fixed a couple of computers by uninstalling McAfee. These are both very popular software packages that people believe they "need." Unfortunately, both act as if the entire reason you purchased a computer was so that you could run their antivirus software. They take complete control of the PC and are, I believe, fundamentally broken. They do more harm than the average virus or spyware and most would be better off with nothing (given they are running XP SP2) than running these steaming piles of user obstruction. Install the free version of AVG if they need to be protected from themselves, but I encourage everyone here to remove all traces of Norton and McAfee from every system they encounter. Make the computing world a better place!