Norton AV

[commoner]

Hi all....I am again for the 4th year running being pestered by Symantic to renew my Anti Virus and Firewall subscriptions to the tune of some 50 pounds or so.....thing is I am fed up with this little game and wondered just what happens if I ignore the request (demand). Does the software just stop working or what exactly?
any advice on this welcomed as I feel I have paid out enough over the years for the "service"
I could use the Windows firewall if necessary and there seems to be lots of other free stuff around too. Would I have to uninstall the Norton stuff if I don't cough up the cash?..or would it keep on working but not updating?

HELP..please.

[vehelpfulguy]

All anti-virus programs download a file on a daily (or at least regular) basis. This file contains details of all new viruses that have come out.

If you do not pay your Norton subscription then you will not be able to download this file so your A/V file will slowly get out of date.

I pay NO money for A/V or Firewall and I think you will find it is the same for many other people who know a lot about computers.

My next few appends give you alternatives to Norton A/V.

More.....

[vehelpfulguy]

A good free anti-virus is AVG.

You can download it from here

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

AVG do other free products (see that site above), but I have not used them.

AVG also do chargable products so make sure you download the FREE one.

[vehelpfulguy]

A good free Firewall is Zone Alarm.

DONT use the Windows firewall (particularly in XP) as it is not very good. It has been beefed up a bit in Vista.

You can download ZA from here

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,7228 -page,1-c,downloads/description.html

Again, ZA do chargable products so make sure you download the free one

[vehelpfulguy]

One good spyware product is Adaware, which is also free

You can download it here

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-E dition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aw are&subj=dl&tag=top5

Note you will need to download a file from their server on a regular basis (to update the list of spyware files on your PC).

You also need to run Adaware on a regular basis for it to scan your PC.

[vehelpfulguy]

Another program I like to run, which is also free, is WinPatrol.

You can get it from here

http://www.winpatrol.com/

Once WinPatrol is installed it starts up every time Windows starts up.

It then sits in the background and monitors your PC to make sure no one is changing anything.

So if someone tries to install a program (maybe a virus or spyware) it alerts you.

If someone tries to update your browser home page, or make other changes to your browser, it alerts you.

WinPatrol also lists all your start up programs so you can see what is starting when Windows starts.

It also lists all the running programs so you can actually see what is running on your computer.

It is very small but I find it very useful.

[vehelpfulguy]

Many people also run SpyBot Search and Destroy, which is also free.

You can get it from here

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/ 3000-8022_4-10122137.html

I DONT run it, not because I dont like it, but I feel I have enough protection with all the other programs I listed above.

[Neilzulu1]

Go to download.com or file hippo for free anti-virus gear :-)

[commoner]

Thanks guys all good advice.....