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I've got Norton Internet Security 2009 running on my computer, along with Malwarebytes, Spybot, and Spybot Blaster. Should I get any other programs? AVG seems to conflict with Norton Internet Security (or at least it said so and said I should uninstall Norton first), and I was wondering if Spybot SD-Resident was redundant with Norton running.

Or should I nuke Norton 2009 and go to a mix of freeware? The subscription for Norton runs out in 61 days anyways, so it would be no great loss of money.

The reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to speed up my computer without sacrificing too much protection (I look at porn websites, although I don't download movies or stuff like that).

Why do you have so much garbage? Get Microsoft Security Essentials.

Running that many programs ensures none of them will work right. You should only use one anti virus program full time.

Don't use Norton. Just don't. It's gotten far to big over the years and has to many weird conflicts it can cause. I've seen to many computers which run fine until Norton is installed then hit the shitter.


Malwarebytes is a good choice for backup malware scanning tool. If your not sure something is being caught by your resident anti-virus program then make sure it's up to date and run a scan with it. Don't have it running in the background.

I'm using the Eset Smart Security package and I'm quite happy about it. Norton is fine if you like a slowass computer

I've been thinking about nuking Norton when the renewal comes up in January, but I'm trying to find a good combination of anti-malware, anti-virus, firewall, etc to replace it (hopefully a free version, but I can pay if necessary).

I'm using the Eset Smart Security package and I'm quite happy about it. Norton is fine if you like a slowass computer

By itself, the 2009 version isn't as bad as some of the earlier stuff (the 2005 package, which is what the computer came with until I upgraded to the 2009 version, was a total fucking drag - I kept it neutralized most of the time). That said, I've heard there are much faster and better arrangements, so I'm looking into those.

Recent versions of Norton are nowhere near as bad as it used to be. It's not very good at behavioral and heuristic scanning, but if the definitions are up to date it has a reasonable detection rate with a low number of false positives, and a reasonably low system impact.

Also, if you have the license key for Norton 2009 you are entitled to download and install 2010 as well.

I would recommend looking more at the antispyware stuff you have on there. I would uninstall it all except Malwarebytes, and reinstall Spybot with TeaTimer disabled, so it only does scans when you tell it to and doesn't have any permanent background processes (the free Malwarebytes only does user triggered scans anyway, so you can just disable it's startup process and keep full functionality).

If you decide not to use Norton when your license comes up for renewal, ESET NOD32 is the only one that AV Comparitives gave their highest mark to in all three categories (on-demand scan, heuristic scan, and system performance impact)

Vendetta wrote:Recent versions of Norton are nowhere near as bad as it used to be. It's not very good at behavioral and heuristic scanning, but if the definitions are up to date it has a reasonable detection rate with a low number of false positives, and a reasonably low system impact.

Also, if you have the license key for Norton 2009 you are entitled to download and install 2010 as well.

That's what I've heard - and that you get the new version for something like $25.00 instead of the usual $50.00-ish price.

I would recommend looking more at the antispyware stuff you have on there. I would uninstall it all except Malwarebytes, and reinstall Spybot with TeaTimer disabled, so it only does scans when you tell it to and doesn't have any permanent background processes (the free Malwarebytes only does user triggered scans anyway, so you can just disable it's startup process and keep full functionality).

Is TeaTimer interfering with Norton? It and Spyware Blaster seemed pretty solid at blocking stuff (the latter in particular blocked a ton of irritating banner ads and pop-ups).

If you decide not to use Norton when your license comes up for renewal, ESET NOD32 is the only one that AV Comparitives gave their highest mark to in all three categories (on-demand scan, heuristic scan, and system performance impact)

Are you recommending the whole security bundle (the Smart Security Package), or just the anti-virus/anti-spyware component? If I ended up nuking Norton, I'd need a new firewall.

Guardsman Bass wrote: That's what I've heard - and that you get the new version for something like $25.00 instead of the usual $50.00-ish price.

You probably get a discount on subscriptions, but you don't have to wait for the subscription to expire to upgrade to the new version, just uninstall the old one, download the new one from the update center and install it, and it will probably even automatically activate because the uninstaller leaves the product key details in the registry (and if not you just sign in with your Norton account or type in your existing product key and it activates then). It's also a 3 seat license by default, so you could install NIS2010 on two more machines with your existing 2009 product key.

Is TeaTimer interfering with Norton? It and Spyware Blaster seemed pretty solid at blocking stuff (the latter in particular blocked a ton of irritating banner ads and pop-ups).

I'm not sure as TeaTimer interferes with Norton particularly, but it provides a fairly dubious benefit for the resources it takes up, and you'll usually find it's more intrusive to things you're actually trying to do than it is useful for protecting you from unwanted changes.

Are you recommending the whole security bundle (the Smart Security Package), or just the anti-virus/anti-spyware component? If I ended up nuking Norton, I'd need a new firewall.

I don't know about their firewall solution, only the antivirus side.

Look at this in picking your firewall. Several free ones in their highest rating category.

Interesting link. I'd heard elsewhere that Comodo was really good in terms of a firewall, but not very user-friendly.

Do you have another link to testers that would back up some of what that group was?

Don't bother with a personal firewall other than the built-in one available in XP SP2 or later.