Does Norton actually do anything?

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My mother insists that if I do not keep Norton on my computer and I get a virus, she won't do anything about it. (this happened one time)

I REALLYREALLYREALLY dislike Norton though. I have the firewall on it turned off because it pretty much blocks everything. Can't download torrents, can't send files/make calls through xfire, etc with it on.

What free programs are better that I could use and get rid of Norton? Or should I keep norton? I once had AVG and it managed to delete my system files when getting rid of that virus mentioned previously, so I had to reformat my laptop. >:[

By Norton you mean Symantec right? I haven't had any problems with it. You definitely should NOT turn your firewall off. It might be OK if you still have the default Windows firewall on, but that one's not quite as strong.

I'd recommend searching for a guide on how to use Norton and edit the settings and permissions, etc.
However, IMO, Norton is incredibly bloated. I've never heard any negative feedback from people who have switched from Norton to AVG, and even then, people have found less resource-hungry Anti-virus software than AVG.
So, I'd just recommend downloading AVG and getting rid of Norton... also try out SpyBot(http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html). I used it when I used Windows, and once it got me out of A LOT of trouble(30 minute boot up and such...), however, don't be dependent on SpyBot, you'll need something like AVG too.
EMZ=]

Norton does do something, it makes your computer lag! But in all seriousness Norton is better then nothing. Read up on some free virus scanners like Avast! and AVG, I use Avast! and have good things about AVG.

btw, The first time you run Avast it runs a complete scan during which you can't do anything, but that's only the first scan. Also, you can't schedule Avast! like in Norton so big scans have to be setup manually, but an "on access" scanner usually always runs to catch most viruses that could pop-up during web surfing.

I hope this helps a bit

I'm switching to McAfee because it's free with my internet service and probably won't end up eating most of my CPU, since for my computer, it's very valuable. (Yes, my computer sucks.)

Also, Norton even interrupted me playing Deus Ex on Gametap. Twenty times, and I'm not sure I'm exaggerating. It kept using the same exact warning when I continually authorized it.

Norton Antivirus and its many other forms (Norton Internet Security and such) were once good programs. They haven't been any good for years now. Your computer will be running a lot slower than it needs to be, and it will not be any better protected than by free tools.

Get Avast! (its free to use if you register it). I used to recommend AVG but they've gone the bloated way of the Norton programs since version 8.

Stop any internet connection, uninstall, reboot and make sure the Windows Firewall is switched on, install the new antivirus.

Home users generally do not need a proper firewall as Microsoft keeps on top of most exploits that would turn your machine into a zombie, so the default Windows Firewall will do. Using Windows Update (Microsoft Bug-Fixes) is therefore essential.

Good luck.

Whenever I had a virus/bug, I found Norton (or any Anti-Virus for that matter), to be completely useless. None of them removed the problem.

This is what I would like to recommend:

Anti-Virus: Sophos ( www.sophos.com )
Anti-Spyware: CounterSpy ( www.sunbeltsoftware.com )
Firewall: Comodo ( http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/ )

And if you suspect that the computer is infected, you need to install and uninstall every anti-virus you can download and there is lot's of anti-virus solutions which is free of charge today.

You can also combine with online anti-virus scanners which installs like active x components in the web browser.

From what I have read and heard about Norton, it's seems like a very fat anti-virus solution that would slow down your computer to a degree that you probably want to get rid of it.

Remember: If your anti-virus reports that your system isn't infected, it probably is.

Regardless of whether you have a PC or a MAC, you need a firewall - preferably two.

A hardware firewall is good (Many routers can be configured to do this with very little trouble)
A PC Firewall.

If you want to be able to torrent, you just need to make some changes to your firewall. Make a hole for torrenting.

Anti-Virus is usually a bit less important than Firewall provided that you're using a safe operating system (not windows) and provided that you get your mail scanned by outside parties, and provided that you don't download materials from other places.

Since you've made it clear that you're torrenting though - you need anti-virus.

he hears a who
...
im sorry that was bad.
and yeah i dont like it either(norton)

Symantec's security tools are pieces of software that reside in memory and slow your system down in order to try to protect you from malicious apps that would reside in your memory and slow your computer down. But it doesn't always work, in fact I don't remember it actually stopping a virus. I installed it on my parents' computer and they ended up with 4 different spywares...

Of course, if you actually want to avoid malware and get better performance from your computer....

Just run Linux. I'd recommend Ubuntu for the ease of use and helpful community.

IDK if it's just me, but some people seem to be really paranoid about security. Especially Linux users.
I for one, haven't done an anti-virus scan in at least 2 years, since I've never needed too.
I've used Windows, and I've torrented, I've used Linux and torrented, and I've used Mac OS X, and torrented. I don't see what's the fuss? Admittedly, I HAVE gotten a virus, once, and I am going to make a statement most people won't believe, but I did get it from Softpedia >.>.
Unless you're very careless or actually want a virus, I see it unlikely you'll get one, and I certainly see no need for 2 firewalls.
EMZ=]

A Virus Scanner won't find Spyware... you need a Spyware Checker for that .... seriously... I'm not kidding.

I don't understand why there aren't products which offer One-Stop Defense.
- Firewall
- Anti-Virus
- Anti-Spyware
- Data Protection/Encryption
- System Security Checks/Sniffing etc
- Anti-Malware / Anti-Trojan
- Browser Protection
- Update Screening/Protection/Advisory
- Best Practices Advice
- Answering Hoax Questions
- Anti-Spam
- Mail Scanning
- Phishing Scanning
- Computer Health Checks (HDD Defects etc)
- CPU and Memory Optimization
- Net Nanny style voluntary web protection/censorship
- Startup Management (stopping things from Running in Startup).

The whole lot.
In the DOS days, the Norton Utilities used to do "everything" that was missing from DOS but nowadays, each applet does only one specialist thing (and it still hogs all the memory to do it).

Remind me never to accept a torrent from you.

Believe me... If you torrent and you don't have a real-time anti-virus scanner - you're definately infected.

You want to see paranoia, talk to BSD people. They even have tin-foil hats for their laptops.

But I'm not that paranoid: I have no antivirus, in Linux I just have whatever Ubuntu's default firewall is, I torrent on occasion, I don't bother with encryption, I use webmail like AOL, Yahoo, and GMail, and my passwords aren't all that strong. Windows I am a bit more vigilant, I have basic antimalware on it. Still use the default Vista firewall. My Mac OS X install is a bit paranoid on the security settings (my firewall actually disables some iTunes features), but I don't use OS X enough that it matters.