Removing Norton

[Barbedweir]

Besides the standard Add/Remove Program, what else am I going to have to do to get rid of all of Norton?

I let mine expire as I dont think it is very effective and is a memory hog.
going to try the free version of AVG to see how I like it.

I have heard that getting rid of all of Norton can be a pain ( T or F)

[Savistik]

The latest edition of Norton is a total turnaround for them. Efficient, small footprint, and very effective. Getting rid of old Norton installs can be a pain, though.

Of course, free is free.

Here's a very good round-up of the latest AV software: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/protect_your_pc_from_guys_like_this

[chapel]

you could try this tool here:
http://www.technibble.com/repair-tool-of-the-week-norton-removal-tool/

[Demari]

HardDrive + Fragmentation Grenade is the only solution I've found. No help there really.

[ThaMan]

The latest edition of Norton is a total turnaround for them. Efficient, small footprint, and very effective. Getting rid of old Norton installs can be a pain, though.

Of course, free is free.

Here's a very good round-up of the latest AV software: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/protect_your_pc_from_guys_like_thisJust because it is a smaller footprint than in the past doesn't make it a "total turnaround". Every computer I've ever worked on, that I've un-installed Norton, and installed something else, the new Anti-virus found infections.

I have no faith in Symantec's products.

[Savistik]

I'll grant you that it's got a bad history.

However, I'll bet that every computer ever uninstalled has a lapsed virus protection signature as well. The general need for a new AV software package is precipitated by the presence of a new virus because they didn't keep up the old AV protection.

[ThaMan]

Probably half of the ones I un-installed were lapsed. Not very good odds.

[Savistik]

Since Norton has a 30 year streak of vb100 perfect scores, I'm betting that if 50% of those uninstalls weren't lapsed, the user had turned off the protection. I've seen that in action and I will say that older versions were really obnoxious on user-notifications so the tendency was to turn them off.

If you check out the 2009 version of Norton, you'll find it's faster, uses less resources than it's competitors (much less than the free ones), and is vb100 certified. That's not just my experience and opinion. It's the conclusion of most reviewers as well.

[ThaMan]

Well, since I just purchased 35 copies of AVG with a 2 year subscription, it will be at least that long before I try Norton. Frankly, as much disdain as I have for Symantec, I'll probably not try it then. Besides, that gives them 2 years to totally F it up again, if in fact, it is fixed now.

Thanks for the info though ;)

I'm not really trying to give you a hard time Savistik, and I do appreciate the info. However, after the years of bad taste, it will take quite some time before I loose the total loathing I have for Symantec.

As much as I hate Apple iTunes, Symantec is right there with them. But then again, Symantec started out a Mac software house.

[Barbedweir]

I have had Norton on my Laptop since I bought it 5 years ago....always keep it running and updated constantly. There have been at least 12 different viruses that have messed with that laptop. One virus even infected my daughters ipod or so the apple tech said. I took my laptop in a couple times to have them look it over and they found viruses as well that Norton was missing. So MY experiece with Norton has not been great. Thus my reason for looking to try something else. My PC time has expired and I am not re-upping it.

[Savistik]

If you paid for 5 years of Norton annual updates and still got viruses, I can see where you'd be miffed at them. However no AV is perfect and Norton is also notorious for not making clear to people that they have to actually pay for annual renewals even after buying the product.

A Windows virus, however, might infect, but would not affect, an iPod. Apple did ship a bunch of them with Windows viruses on them because they had deficient protection at their end.

[DrBuzz_LOA]

Norton has never let a virus on my machine. I hate the overhead but it has been a good product for me.

[Barbedweir]

My Norton on my Laptop is auto-renewal on my CC. I am going to leave it on there since its already paid for for another couple years. Just want to try something else out on my gaming PC>

[Kheldin]

I've taken a massively infected hard drive and side-by-side tested it against Norton, McAfee, AVG, and Avast!

Every single time I've done this side by side test AVG and Avast! always find and remove more infections (AVG usually being on top).. Norton and McAfee ALWAYS fell short. I guess I just have to wonder why free products work better than paid (then again, I'm a Linux guy too) and this is usually the case. I used to like Norton, around their 2003 version, but after that they turned it into bloatware.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of American corporate-minded software developers, the Europeans are light years ahead IMO.

[Savistik]

I've taken a massively infected hard drive and side-by-side tested it against Norton, McAfee, AVG, and Avast!

Every single time I've done this side by side test AVG and Avast! always find and remove more infections (AVG usually being on top).. Norton and McAfee ALWAYS fell short. I guess I just have to wonder why free products work better than paid (then again, I'm a Linux guy too) and this is usually the case. I used to like Norton, around their 2003 version, but after that they turned it into bloatware.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of American corporate-minded software developers, the Europeans are light years ahead IMO.
I'd be curious to see the details on testing this. Did you buy a new copy of McAfee and Norton each time? Also, Avast and AVG include additional detection and removal tools that plain Norton AV and McAfee AV don't include. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it is true.

The corporate version of Norton is much leaner than the consumer version (which I've never understood) and has worked quite well over the years.

[ThaMan]

Also, Avast and AVG include additional detection and removal tools that plain Norton AV and McAfee AV don't include.That's one reason that I switched our office from McAfee over 2 years ago. McAfee makes you pay for the other stuff. It's included with the AVG.

Plus, when we switched, the system performance went way up.

[Savistik]

No arguments on that and for Norton. :)

Norton 2009 Internet Security does reverse that except for the "free" part. The performance boost was worth it on my 3.5 year old laptop though. The laptop (which I'm using right now) wasn't a slouch in its day with a T2500 Core Duo processor, but even after I put 2GB and a 7200 RPM drive, it kind of limped until I ditched Avast and AVG (I tried both).

[onstill]

Avast and AVG both have antispyware modules which is why they run so much slower. I run symantec corp edition plus spybot and malwarebytes and between the 3 of them nothing has survived on my pc that something else found.

Norton AV was always ok the one that slowed systems down was Norton Internet Security as it adds spyware and firewall to the package (just like the free ones). The lastest version they streamlined the extra modules which is why its running so much faster. I still perfer seperate non active spyware scanning as it makes systems run SO much faster. If i think i caught something just run spybot/malwarebytes and it kills it.

[ThaMan]

Now-a-days the spyware and malware is getting just as bad a virus and trojans. I went to a seminar the other day on Security, and they had someone speaking from the Secret Service there. He said that it is almost getting to the point where you have to throw the hard drives away if they get infected, some of the malware is THAT bad.

If you do get infected, it's better to re-partition the hard drive, because just formatting won't always get rid of it.

I'll stick with something that keeps me from getting it in the first place. I don't trust most removal techniques. But I have 40+ computers that I am responsible for too.

[Saelwen]

Yikes. That's horrible.

I used to get real pleasure out of using Norton's backtracking features and tattling on script kiddies. I figured I was doing the world a favour.:barebutt:

Although, I'm using AVG free right now, and have been for a few years. Is that as efficient as a paid account?

[ThaMan]

Although, I'm using AVG free right now, and have been for a few years. Is that as efficient as a paid account?
As long as you have your Windows Firewall running, you should be fine with the free version. Especially if you have a router. That is what I have running on all my family's computers, and half of mine at home. The other half, I use work's paid version, since I do work on them.