[MStennes]

My old computer has McAfee anti virus on it and my new one has Norton, my question is both of my subscriptions run out here next week and I really dont like having to renew two subcriptions when I could just do one. I like both but to me McAfee has a little more to offer. But that is not important as which one works better. Which do you like and use and why? Which is the best for catching and stopping virus's?
Thanks,
Mike

[SSupermanZ]

McAfee sux! IMO
I had Norton awhile back and never had a problem, For some stupid reason (free software?)I switched to McAfee, now I cant get rid of these viruses....It's like flies on sh!t, you swat them away and they come right back 10 fold.

[CA420]

If a new virus comes out McCrappie can't find it or isolate it.....Norton on the other hand never let it in in the first place or already quarentined it before it could cause any harm.


Norton is on top of it.

[DL]

sorry, but I have to disagree big-time....

IMHO Norton is not as good as McAfee. I have done a few tests in the past, and MCAfee came out as a winner for me. My computer was infected by several viruses, and Norton could not detect them..... an older version of McAfee did find the viruses. Also I have had Mc and Norton on the same PC for a while, and everytime a virus tried to enter my pc, Mc intercepted in-time but Norton not.

I don't say Norton is a bad program, but I hear alot of good of Mc and not so good things about Norton, and these happen to be the same experiences as mine.

I vote for McAfee, because of my experiences..

[chicane67]

I'm gonna second that. The newer McAfee Internet Security Suite 6.0 does only what Norton dreams of doing.

And besides that, if you are relying on one single piece or product to handle your anti-virus, anti-spam, fire-wall and privacy protection need's you are sadly mistaken. There is not one product on the market that will catch EVERYTHING. You might need to adjust to the idea of using a few different products to meet your needs as a whole.

I use McAfee ISS 6.0, Trend Micro's 'House call' (free on line), Spybot search and destroy, Adaware 6.0, MRU Blaster and a reg-edit program. With everything being free, with the exception of the McAfee, how could you go wrong.

Some of this even boils down to which OS you have installed as well. As you can find (on the DOE (Dept of Energy) internet security web site) that there is a ton of information on what to do and how to set up certain operating parameters in your OS, to thwart off any malicious activity. You really need to brush up on your JAVA knowledge, as that is where most of the newer viruses are encoded.

I will also second that Norton ISNT garbage, but for a home user you gotta weigh out what works in your environment. Peticularly since you dont have the IT support like most people do, like they do at work. So you are not really a-brest to what goes on behind the secenes.......

I do however know, like the systems and environment that I work in and around.....that security has to be approached from various angles and with various programs just to stay on top of all of it.

So Mike, to answer your question directly, you will need to change your approach and most likely have to use more than a single product to keep your system clean. Period.....as there is no question to that.

If you just wann keep everything out, purchase a Sonic-Wall and the anti-virus program from CA (computer associates). These are the people that I deal with for the government class firewalls and virus software. The thing is, the virus software is free off of their web site.....so all ya gotta do is purchase a Sonic-Wall.

[RamJam]

I agree with just about everything Chicane said but I like Norton better than Mc. My Norton came with a F/wall but I like Zone Alarm for that.

[img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Snatchin'gears]

Nortons had better menus than McAcne last I knew. Tried working on my sisters computer to solve some problems and went into the McCaffee to try to configure and got totally lost finally realizing some things just weren't configurable. Oh well.
Pretty much all the anti virus companies get copies of all the virus's when they are discovered to help prevent the spread when everyone can update as quick as possible.
Nortons at one time was the only real competition for MS. They left the windows game in the early 90's. They pretty much know how to do everything but I think there are sometimes quirks where MS software updates screw things up. Any updates you ever do you definately have to disable the scan. You wont always get a warning that a file is being stopped when windows in the first place during an update is controlling the system.
Stay updated all the time no matter what you do. When you first boot up and before you shut down is the minimum nowadays.

[mccorry]

McAfee is a much better program IMO. I've had many compatibility problems with Norton products...

[danhei]

These guys have a free version of their virus program that I'm very impressed with:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php
This program also seems to use less computer resources than McAfee/Norton have for me.

For general tips on avoiding viruses:
1) Keep Windows up to date. XP will do automatic downloads of patches. Something like Linux would be more secure but less user friendly for the average guy.
2) Use an internet browser other than Internet Explorer. I use Mozilla Firefox.
3) Don't download/open any email with attachments unless you know, ahead of time, that someone is sending that attachment.
4) Keep your virus program up to date. Let it download patches/new virus data as often as they become available.

Hope this helps. I know not specifically what you asked but it never hurts to remind people of these things!

Dan

[Jeff H]

We used to have McAfee at work but switched to Norton. I've used both here at home and never had a problem with a virus so they both work. I would just stick with whichever one is installed on your current computer and renew it. You have to update the definitions on either one daily to be as safe as possible.

[icollect]

One of the most amazing scams of the century is being perpetrated by a security company. Mcafee is a known criminal rouge company. this is a matter of public record.

http://www.google.com/search?q=mcafe...&start=30&sa=N

The site Advisor component of this product supposedly protects users from malicious websites. It does this through the use of Bots and it's anonymous reviewer system. If you look at McAfee's own numbers, the truth is painfully obvious. A site reviewer that has an expert rating has the ability to turn a site red. Meaning that this site is dangerous. McAfee's own numbers state that so far 394,399 reviews have been written. Many of these reviews have been directed at independent webmasters or McAfee competitors. Of these 394,399 reviews, the top 10 reviewers have written 179022 of these reviews. This means that 10 people, supposedly with no affiliation to McAfee have not only turned hundreds of thousands of sites red, but those sites that link to them. That's right folks, the future of the web, what you see, what you read, what you do, is being controlled by 10 anonymous reviewers. Are you wiling to give that much power to McAfee and it 10 henchmen. The only solution is to boycott McAfee and all it's products. They are using your money to extend their control over the content of the web, a far greater threat than any virus.

If any law enforcement officer is reading this review, I am asking for a complete investigation of this scheme. It is a mathmatecial immposibility, for such a small number of reviewers to have written so many reviews. McAfee's servers are slow, I know I have A T1. It would take years for 10 users to do this many reviews.

[67FamilyFun]

Originally Posted by icollect

One of the most amazing scams of the century is being perpetrated by a security company. Mcafee is a known criminal rouge company. this is a matter of public record.

icollect,
Welcome to TC! At the door, please pick up your hotdog with mustard along with one of these...



Besides you're all wrong, Holleys are much more versatile in this application than Quadrajet!

[Sid69Z's]

I would (and did) dump them both and go with Kaspersky. I used Norton a couple of years ago and it continually slowed my computer down and caused numerous lockups....not related at all to viruses.

So then I went to McAfee and all ran well and it worked well till it was time to renew the license and pay for another year of updates. I went to the link they sent and it was $39.99. I kept seeing this little symbol by the price and found out it was representing foreign currency. After converting it, they were going to get me for $80+ US!! So I ditched them!!!

I then did some research, read reviews and decided to go with Kaspersky. I bought it through Amazon for $50 & got a $25 rebate. So it ended up cheaper than any of the renewals after all was said & done. I couldn't be happier with it.....it does it's job and you don't even know it's there!

I just saw how old this original post was, '04 ........well, maybe it will help someone along the way!

[DanW]

Kaspersky is good, but I would first recommend Trend Micro or Check Point. Norton hogs resources and causes long start ups for me.

[sixtynine]

As others have said...... Neither, they both ..... They both eat up resources! JMHO.

Joe