Mcafee, Norton or something else?

[Brennan]

Which do you think is better for virus protection/removal and internet security , which was made better

[Darthtanion]

Norton is better than McAfee by a long shot but it is also a resource hog if you add anything but the AV software. There is a free alternative, however, called AVG that is reportedly quite good. Also available for free is ZoneAlarm, a software firewall to help protect your machine from script kiddies and the like.

[ANZAC_ELITE]

Originally Posted by Brennan

Which do you think is better for virus protection/removal and internet security , which was made better

my two cents worth. I have 3 pc's in my house all XP Pro SP2, they run AVG 7 Free, Spybot S&D and Adaware SE. I connect via the lan to the net with an adsl modem with a built in firewall.

Basically I do not run any other firewall except the SP2 one

All the above are freeware.

We just don't get viruses, (the odd trojan when the boy is downloading) it's simple cheap and effective.

As a back up scan I use Trendmicro Housecall or Panda once or twice a month to check for anything that may have slipped through.

Personally, my opinion only, if you are going to use Norton (ewwwww) then don't get SystemWorks or the like, just get the AV. Zone Alarm has a free version firewall but it can be a pain with its net access configuration.

As Darthtanion has said Norton is a resource hog, and it's AV misses a lot (read nearly all) trojans.


Cheers

[Thoric]

i use both Norton AV 2004 Pro, and Norton Internet Security 2004 Pro, and ive never had a virus or trojan, or any adaware or anything (except in IE temp files). they might use a bit more resources than some others, but they are excellent in providing security.

[mgj2345]

I'm using Trend Micro's PC-Cillin...it works well, and uses a relatively small amount of system resources.

[sr4470]

I'm using Trend Micro's PC-Cillin...it works well, and uses a relatively small amount of system resources.

I second that. Also, the firewall is much more "intelligent" than the Norton one.

[Yawgm0th]

Agreed with Darth. I have a legal Symantec AV Corp which I prefer over AVG, but otherwise AVG is the way to go (meaning I'd take it over regular McAfee or Norton). I rarely use my software firewall since I'm behind a router and not likely to get anything from the other computers (though it's possible, and my machine isn't as secure as it could be), but I use Zone Alarm when I do. I'd run it all the time, but it's a major resource hog.

[tuxfreak]

it's not free, but f-prot is a very good AV for the price (~$30 US). It does offer a 30-day free trial if you want to give it a test run. I should also mention that f-prot is free for Linux users (at home).

as for a firewall, I'd highly recommend sygate, although I'd much rather see you use a hardware firewall or something like smoothwall

There is also Clamwin (or CalmAV for Linux), which is free, but only for advanced users imho. Despite being a bit less noob friendly, ClamAV/Calmwin are the the best AV scanners I have ever seen, period.