I need some 'puter advice. I've been using Mozilla Firefox and Firefox did an update

a few days ago. After the update my computer SUCKED. Pages wouldn't load, took forever to get online...worse than IE ever was. Come to find out (from Firefox website), Norton had a bug and wouldn't let Firefox run as it should. Firefox recommended uninstalling Norton and do a reinstall. I uninstalled Norton with Symantec's Norton removal tool. My computer is super fast now so that had to be the problem. I went back to Norton's site to reinstall and they want MORE $$$$$ if the AV was purchased over a year ago. Mine was. SO....instead of buying that again, is there a VERY GOOD AV software that's free or CHEAP. I want something reliable and trustworthy. Any suggestions?

I have Stopzilla, Spy Blaster, and Spybot Search and Destroy ...in case that matters.

It's free, and I haven't run into any problems.

Run Spybot S & D And it's FREE!! ;) http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

STOP USING Internet Explorer forever!! USE Firefox!!

DO NOT OPEN IT (IE) ANYMORE AND MAKE FIREFOX THE DEFAULT BROWSER ASAP!!

You will have to Re-boot (restart your computer during the changes to make it 'stick')

I have since gone over to mac, but it was the backbone of my windows security.

No problems after any Firefox updates? This was a royal pain in the butt. I really don't want to have to go through this every time Firefox updates.

:hi:

...freeked out about a week or so ago. It took several re-boots to fix.

Most of the time, Firefox updates are very smooth.

started acting up and progressively got worse.:( It's GREAT now that I've unistalled Norton! If you wish to uninstall Norton you should use their 'tool' to do so or you will have bits and pieces of the software remain on your computer and it will still mess up your computer. Here's a link to their tool which completely removes it:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

I had to "re-admit" everything, but just the one time. In other words, I had to give Zone Alarm permission to open Firefox and certain pages when it first updated, but only once.

They're all system hogs, though, aren't they?

After I downloaded Firefox 2.0.0.4, it wouldn't do anything because ZoneAlarm refused to recognize it.

I tried several "fixes" found on Firefox forums and in the release notes. None worked, so I finally just uninstalled ZoneAlarm and am now relying on the Windows (XP) firewall, with some trepidation.

bitdefender 8 free edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Download/downloadFile/340/EN/
strange tho it lags my daughters pc while it works fine on mine - (same os: xp pro)

or

sysclean
Not easy to use, u download an exe here http://www.trendmicro.com/ftp/products/tsc/sysclean.com and put in any folder u like

and then download the zip with definitions and save in same folder http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern-cpr-disclaimer.asp you may also want the latest spyware pattern file http://www.trendmicro.com/download/spywarepattern.asp

versions, along with the usual slew of spyware/adware stuff.

Been using these for years without ever having a problem-- viruses, spyware, various pings and such all taken care of swiftly and securely.

BTW, you might want to try Opera as a browser-- most of what Firefox does it did first, and it rarely causes such headaches. I keep both around, and use Firefox for some sites that like it better, but normally use Opera for its speed, ease, slightly better security, and crashproofing.

It's a great innovative browser, but the only drawback is that you'll need Firefox for the few sites that don't like Opera.

They write horrible software.

http://free.grisoft.com/

With AVG and Firefox I haven't had any problems. I am behind a router with a built-in firewall.

and a link: http://free.grisoft.com/

:hi:

I'll bet you have a conflict with IE and I'll also bet you have a Spyware or a 100 installed! :P

Download and install and update and then SCAN with Spybot S & D!

Spybot S & D is FREE!
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

Internet Explorer is the nuiscence! (my spelling is getting worse now)

all of the problems our customers have can eventually be traced backed to Norton.

for some good reccomendations: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=242&topic_id=1314&mesg_id=1314

Everyone interested is protecting themselves should do that. Norton is notorious for being both a resource hog and ineffective at doing what it claims to do.

and it will not significantly effect the performance of your system.

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/231/us/crp/2?prd=isw

Been using it for years and have never been infected. Daily updates, small footprint, and has found several threats that both McAffee and Symantec missed. If you have some bucks, I'd encourage you to upgrade to Pro, the more we support the good guys, the longer they will survive.

Zone Alarm is a good, free, firewall and the two combined will keep you safe.

I now have AVG Pro running in both desktop & laptop. Some time back, I had installed the paid version of the Zone Alarm Suite. It was far from "intuitive", setting it up. Later, the Firewall closed down for almost everything, and I couldn't find a fix in the Help pages, no matter how hard I searched. Zone Alarm never replied to my requests. I'm no computer whiz by any stretch, and my first few assumptions are that I'm the one doing something wrong. But I expect a LITTLE consideration from the other side (especially if I've paid for it!) -- a better thought out user interface for starters.

As for Norton, I went to REMOVE it from an earlier computer a while back, since it was screwing up and I wanted to install something else in its place. KEERIST!! It took over an hour, and involved several restarts. My ("uneducated") guess is that was deliberate churlishness on their part.

pnorman

They've been bought and vsmon has always been a freaking pig. Now that they're big time, I expect they'll suck worse and worse over time until I will no longer put up with it.

The best firewall solutions are generally the hardware variety used in most routers. Symantec has become more of a virus than the virus' it's supposed to stop and, once installed, a novice can never get it out of their windoze system entirely. McAffee is just as bad and both these monstrosities prey on people's ignorance and fear to extort billions from them.

The best solution of all is to go with a UNIX or some flavor of LINUX OS and not to be bothered with any of them.

but I'm assuming that the AVG Firewall is doing it's job. However, I can't seem to find any "log of blocked attacks". I'm on my second router {Linksys w/wireless-G], and I'm not quite ready to spring for another one yet. But here's some hardware I have upstream of the router --- StingRay: http://techabsorbed.com/Reviews/Security/Stingray-Intelligent-Hardware-Firewall.html

It glows orange to angry red whenever it senses (and blocks) attacks. I'm puzzled since there are no "firmware upgrades" or new definitions, but it seems to get good reviews all over the web. Anyone here familiar with it?

pnorman

Crappy software. Used to be one of the best companies but once Peter was gone, the software QA was tossed out the window. All their software now is leaky, overly invasive, awkward, poorly developed, awful interface and more.... dump it and enjoy your computer once more.

Is just 'removing the program' the only step you have to do to take out Norton?

plus the nasty-blasters you already use. I've just finished taking Norton off a friend's kid's computer and IMO any program that needs a special tool to uninstall is just plain creepy.

virtual firewalls, etc. It's a wonder you guys ever get to do anything with your computers. :argh:

Security by obscurity really isn't any security at all..Never log on to the internet without a condom!! ;)

Been using it for years, and it's never let me down. Updates itself quietly and has a good track record.

Cheap and has a nice firewall...

Proactive detection rate is really low, essentially making it useless except for a backup on-demand scanner IMHO. Best free AV is AntiVir (you just have to put up with the annoying popup when it updates). Personally, I use NOD32 (not free) as my real-time AV as it has the best heuristics and AntiVir for the weekly on-demand scan. Best of both worlds.